Rows of stalls along Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street in District 5,Cholon Chinatown selling mooncakes(月餅; pinyin: yuè bĭng).
Mooncake festival is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival where the Chinese pray to the mythical Moon Goddess of Immortality.
Mooncake in Vietnamese is Banh Trung Thu.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a very auspicious event of the Chinese which falls on the 12th day of September 2011(the 15th day of the eighth month in the chinese calender).
On this very day is also the Ong Bon Pagoda Festival where there will be incense offering ceremony to the Chinese gods Ong Bon, Quan Cong, Quan The Am, Ba Chua Sanh.
Whereas in many coastal localities from Ngang Pass to Ha Tien, Phu Quoc Island,there will be the festival of welcoming the Lord Whale from the 15th to the 17th day of the eighth lunar month.
The Whale is a holy sea creature, the savior of fishermen and those living in the sea in general.
There the sacrifice offering ceremony and a procession of dragon boats welcoming the Water General (Nam Hai Tuong Quan) and will be accompanied by hundreds of boats of various sizes and decoration. There will be many cultural activities taking place, stirring up the festive atmosphere as this is one of the biggest festivals of the fishermen.
A corner shop at Go Cong Street selling some of the tradition Chinese cultures festival products. Here visitors can find the lion dance costumes and lanterns.
The lanterns and the lion head are all handmade and finely crafted.
Traditionally the Chinese use Lion and Dragon dancers as a symbol of auspiciousness and blessings to mark key dates such as Chinese New Year or the opening of a new business premises. The difference is lion dance only requires two people whilst the dragon dance needs a team of at least 15 people to perform the task.
A smaller sized lion dance headgear novelty and the laughing Buddha headgear are popular novelties for the children.
In China, the lions are considered as a symbol for joy and happiness.
From the fourth day to the fifteenth of the New Year festival, lion dance groups tour from village to village in traditional China and excite all the spectators with their electrifying performance.
However, the lion dances of Northern China and Southern China display a great difference in their appearance and the art of demonstration.
The Northern style Lions have muzzles which make them resemble like dogs, and are deep orange and red in color.
The Southern style Lions have flatter faces similar to lions, but are adorned with a horn and two antenna style whiskers.
If you were to watch the Chinese movie entitled "Once Upon A time in China"(Wong Fei-Hung),the lion dance acrobatic duel stunt by the Chinese martial art triad groups are very fascinating.
The lanterns have been designed to attract the interest of children with the many cartoon features,even adults can join in to carry the lanterns on that day.
The head mask that look like a person face is actually the "Laughing Buddha" who is a buddy to the lion dance troupes.
His ultimate task is to tease and fool around with the lion while it was dancing so as to make it dance and roll-over making all sorts of dancing patterns. He will normally has a fan with him.
Banner reads "Chung Mung Hai Ho" meaning "Wishing You Good Luck".
Chinese like to have the color red(pinyin:hong ser) because it symbolizes good fortune and joy.
A red envelope(pinyin:hong bao) is a monetary gift which is given in Chinese society during holiday or special occasions.
The red color of the packet symbolizes good luck.
Red is strictly forbidden at funerals as it is a traditionally symbolic color of happiness.
Vietnamese colours name: Màu trắng(white) -Màu đen(black) - Màu đỏ(red) -Màu vàng(yellow) - Màu xanh lá cây(green) -Màu xanh (blue) - Màu nâu(brown) - Màu cam(orange) -Màu xám(gray) - Màu hồng(pink) - Màu tím(purple)
Paper Lanterns and Chinese praying peripherals shops all along Hai Thuong Lang Ong Road(the main artery road into Cholon Chinatown).
A round lantern is a common features but the Vietnamese seemed to prefer the conical or balloon shape.
I think it also resembles a heart shape and look very nice indeed. They are not paper made but from silk fabrics.
These shop sells a larger version that are normally hung in shopfronts,shopping complexes, residential houses and temples.
For the children,the smaller lantern version comes in various shapes some depicting animals like butterflies,fish,rabbits,dragon etc.
There are also lanterns which spin around when a candle is placed inside (den Keo Quan), symbolizing the seasonal spinning of the earth around the sun.
Modern days lantern are plastic made and battery operated. On the night of Lantern festivals,the children will parade on the streets and singing with colorful lanterns in hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment