every day's a holiday!

September 12, 2011September 22, 2011

Mid-Autumn Festival

September 12, 2011

The Mid-Autumn Festival is known as Eighth Moon because it falls of the full moon of the eighth month. It’s also known as Mooncake Day, because billions of mooncakes are prepared for this holiday. (Though billions aren’t necessarily eaten. It’s more like the Chinese holiday fruitcake.)

For generations, moon cakes have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert.

www.chinavoc.com – Mid-Autumn Festival

One story of the popularity of mooncakes dates from the 1300’s AD. China was ruled by the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, that overthrew the Chinese Sung Dynasty. To coordinate a secret attack on the ruling power, Han Chinese rebels hid secret messages inside mooncakes, which were then distributed throughout the kingdom. The revolution was a success.

Joyce Hor-Chung theorizes that had mooncakes been more tasty, there would have been no revolution, and the Yuan might still be in power today.

The importance of Eighth Moon in China goes back to the third millennium B.C. The traditional origin story of the holiday revolves around a beautiful young woman of unsurpassed beauty, and a rabbit.

Okay, not what I had in mind.

Getting colder.

No, the woman in question was Ch’ang-O, wife of Hou Yi. Hou Yi, you’ll remember from your textbooks, was the greatest archer in the land, famous for shooting down nine of the ten suns that scorched the earth, back in the Great Deci-Solar Debacle of 2170 BC.

Hou Yi had an elixir, a pill for attaining immortality, but he was told he would have to pray and fast for a year before taking it. His wife Ch’ang-O was as curious as she was beautiful. Finding the pill hidden in the rafters, she swallowed it and immediately began floating toward the moon. She landed on the great white orb, where she’s been stranded ever since. Instead of a “Man in the Moon”, the Chinese refer to Ch’ang-O, the Woman on the Moon.

There on the moon lives the immortal Ch’ang-O, with only a Jade Rabbit to keep her company (and, we can assume, an occasional astronaut). The Jade Rabbit on the moon is an important character in Chinese folklore. His sworn duty is to continually make the elixir of immortality for the Gods.

Origin stories vary, but they say Hou Yi eventually built a house on the sun, (Yang) and visits Ch’ang-O on the moon (Yin) once a year on the full moon of the eighth month, which is why the moon is so full and bright on this night.

Today families and friends gather to share mooncakes, pomelo, stories, and good times. Lanterns are lit, Mid-Autumn trees are planted, dandelions are plucked, and incense is burned in honor of the goddess on the moon, Ch’ang-O, who will increasingly watch over the earth as temperatures drop and summer makes way for fall.

Google Moon

Mid-Autumn Festival

Enjoying the Wind and Moon Together

September 12, 2011September 13, 2011

The St. Patrick’s Battalion

September 12

Today the Irish are as inseparable from the American identity as the stars on the red, white, and blue. But at one time the Irish were as discriminated against as any ethnic group. Immigrants who had crossed the Atlantic, fleeing the Emerald Isle’s deadly potato famine in the 1840s soon learned what N.I.N.A. stood for–No Irish Need Apply.

The wave of German and Irish-Catholic immigration in the mid 19th century was met with an equal wave of xenophobia called Nativism, an anti-Catholic, anti-foreigner movement sweeping through the mostly-Protestant states. This patriotic sentiment was compounded with a territorial war with our neighbor to the south, Mexico, in the 1840s.

John Riley, a native of Clifden, County Galway, was a young veteran of the British Army when he entered the U.S. through Canada. He joined the army in Michigan, and served in the 5th U.S. Infantry Regiment. But the animosity he experience against his religion and his countrymen caused him to desert the army prior to the Mexican-American War.

All told around 1000 Irish deserted the army before and during the war. They were not the first soldiers to do so, but 200 of them did the unforgivable. They banded together and enlisted with their fellow Catholics in the Mexican Army.

The St. Patrick’s Battalion, or San Patricios, fought in all five major battles of the Mexican-American War. General Santa Anna once said, had he a hundred more troops like Riley’s men, he would have won the war.

At the Battle of Churubusco in 1847, the San Patricios met their end. Of approximately 200 men, 35 were killed and 85 were taken prisoner. Nearly 50 prisoners were sentenced to death by hanging. Riley escaped execution because he had deserted prior to the declaration of war. He was merely given 50 lashes on the back, branded with the letter “D” (for deserter), and forced to wear an iron yoke around his neck for the duration of the war.

The prisoners were hanged between September 10 and September 13, by order of General Winfield Scott, in full view of both armies at the battle of Chapultepec, and were forced to watch from the gallows as the U.S. flag replaced the Mexican flag above the town. The victims included one soldier who had had both legs amputated the day before.

The U.S. Army denied the existence of the St. Patrick’s Battalion until a Congressional investigation in 1915.

In Mexico, the Irish martyrs are remembered during two holidays: St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, and the Commemoracion de los San Patricios on September 12, the anniversary of most of the executions.

And on this one day, Riley’s hometown of Clifden, Ireland, flies the Mexican flag in honor of the men of St. Patrick’s Battalion.

Deserters or Unsung Heroes?

St. Patrick Battalion

Rogue’s March

No Irish Need Apply – Fact or Fiction?

September 11, 2011September 13, 2011

Grandparents Day

2nd Sunday in September

You are the product of four people. You may not have met all of them, you may not have met any of them, but if just one of them hadn’t existed, well, you wouldn’t be here either.

They’re your Grandfolks. They grew up in a very different world from you, two generations removed.

Grandparents Day is a relatively new creation, compared to Mother’s and Father’s Day. Like those two, we have a West Virginian to thank for its inception. Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade lobbied throughout the 1970’s for a holiday that would recognize the contributions of older adults, namely grandparents. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the second Sunday in September “Grandparents Day”.

Unlike Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Grandparents Day has no apostrophe…

“But it’s an oversight that serves the holiday well. Mrs. McQuade did not envision the holiday as “belonging” to grandparents. Instead, she saw it as a day of celebration involving the whole family, a day to connect the generations.”

The History of Grandparents Day

The September date was chosen to symbolize the autumnal season of life. The Chinese also hold a festival in the ninth month to celebrate and respect their elders. It’s known as Chong Yang, or Double Ninth (9-9). While Grandparents Day in the United States is a minor holiday, largely overlooked in a youth-obsessed culture, holidays that honor elders in Eastern and African cultures have been celebrated for centuries, possibly millennia.

Both in the U.S. and overseas, the roles of grandparents are changing. Many grandparents find themselves as primary caregivers for their grandchildren.

“The number of grandparents raising grandchildren increased by 40% from 1980 to 1990 (National Center for Health Statistics, 1998). In 1996 the NCHS reported that one million American children, lived in a grandparent’s home without a parent present.”

— Access to Academics for All Students

But grandparents are also more athletic and productive than ever before. As one quote goes, “Some of our modern grandparents are so young and spry they help Boy Scouts across the street.”

Ellen DeGeneres confirms: “My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-seven now, and we don’t know where the hell she is.”

Henry Youngman tells another success story: “My grandmother is over eighty and still doesn’t need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle.”

One thing hasn’t changed. There is a special relationship between grandparents and their children’s children. Sam Levenson theorized, “The reason grandchildren and grandparents get along so well is that they have a common enemy.”

But perhaps as the the truth is less cynical. As anxiety of child-rearing fades and the end seems nearer than the beginning, grandparents are left with a greater appreciation of what truly matters than anyone else on the planet. They respect the purity and simplicity only children possess—or “borrow” really.

“Grandmothers hold our tiny hands for just a little while… but our hearts forever.”

+ + +

Grandmother’s house (It was always “grandmother’s house”, even though it was just as much grandfather’s) was a treasure trove of goodies: “Junkios”—cereals our parents would never allow—chocolate pudding, jell-o, and every type of candy. Afternoons were spent enjoying the Family Film Festival, where we were introduced to the strange, wonderful cinematic magic of our forefathers.

Nothing could compare to the safety and security of grandmother’s house. Grandparents were all-knowing when we were ignorant. As they age and dip into the irretrievable world of Alzheimers’, it’s sad to watch our roles reverse. Not that we’re wise now, we just know what they taught us.

September 10, 2011September 10, 2011

Teachers’ Day – China

September 10

Teacher: I thought I told you to stand at the back of the line!
Pupil: I tried, someone was already there.

Mother: What did you learn in school today?
Student: Not enough, I have to go back tomorrow.

(from http://china-corner.com)

Created by a group of China’s most esteemed professors, Teachers’ Day was celebrated in June in the 1930s. The Manifesto on Teachers’ Day explained the professors’ hope that the holiday would inspire the nation to:

create better living conditions for teachers
safeguard teacher’s work
improve teacher’s qualities. (Chinese Festivals, 2005)

In 1939, the Ministry of Education moved the holiday to August 27, the birthday’s of China’s great teacher Confucius. (Taiwan still celebrates Teachers’ Day on Confucius’s birthday, which is now observed September 28.)

In 1951 the new Communist Chinese government bumped Teachers’ Day to May 1, Labor Day, but as you can imagine, the event was overshadowed by one of China’s biggest holidays.

In December of 1984 the Beijing Evening Paper published an article citing a suggestion by Professor Wang Zikun who proposed that teachers be given their own day once again. The idea quickly gained support and a September 10th Teachers’ Day was put into law the following year. Why September 10th?

According to travelchinaguide.com:

The reason to choose this day is because when the fall semester begins, a fine studious atmosphere will be created if activities of respecting teachers and valuing education are held.

Students unfurl a 100-meter banner on Teachers Day (Now, class, how many inches is that?)

China has two other holidays dedicated to specific professions: Nurses (May 12) and Journalists (November 8).

Just for fun:

Say and write “Happy Teachers’ Day” in Chinese at goodcharacters.com

http://china-corner.com/topics/teacherday.asp

September 9, 2011September 10, 2011

Independence Day – North Korea

September 9

Each Fall over 100,000 participants perform and compete in the Mass Games, one of the few public events in the otherwise tight-lipped nation of North Korea. The Games coincide with North Korea’s Independence Day on 9-9.

Korea was ruled by the Joseon Dynasty from the 14th century on. In 1897, the king thought it would be a good idea to make Korea an empire, and became Korea’s first–and last–Emperor. The Empire that succeeded the 500 year-old Dynasty lasted only 13 years.

Aiding its demise was the Taft-Katsura Agreement between the U.S. and Japan. Japan recognized the U.S.’s sphere of influence in the Philippines in return for recognition of Japan’s sphere of influence in the Korean peninsula. At the end of the Russo-Japanese War, in which Russia and Japan vied for territory, Japan came out on top, and pressed Korean Ministers to sign the Eulsa Treaty. (The Korean Emperor and Prime Minister never signed the treaty, and in fact implored other governments not to recognize its validity.) Over the next five years, Korea fell increasingly under the thumb of Japan.

Two million Koreans participated in the independence demonstrations of 1919 and 1920; 46,000 were arrested and 7000 were killed.

During World War II, Korea faced brutal conditions under Japanese occupation. Millions were conscripted into wartime labor. Tens of thousands of women, known as “comfort women”, were forced into sexual slavery for the military.

After Japan’s defeat, Korea was split along the 38th parallel, to be administered by the Soviet Union in the north and the U.S. in the south. The 38th parallel would form the front line of the Cold War in the 1950s, as well as an ideological border between capitalism and communism into the 21st century.

In May of 1948, elections held in South Korea led to the independence of the Republic of Korea on August 15.

In the North, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was proclaimed on September 9 of that year.

“Dear Leader” Kim Jong-Il normally attends the annual Mass Games on the country’s independence, but foreign observers speculate he may be ill, citing doctors’ visits and Jong-Il’s absense from the spotlight.

One Japanese professor theorizes that the North Korean big cheese has actually been dead for 5 years. That one of his ‘stand-ins’, who were used as decoys when he was alive to ensure his safety, has been playing the part since 2003.

[published 2008]

September 9, 2011September 10, 2011

Chrysanthemum Day – Kiko no Sekku

September 9

“In no other country in any part of the world is the Chrysanthemum held with such esteem and reverence as in Japan…

“…the most popular fête in Japan is held on Chrysanthemum Day, which falls in the ninth month of the year. The people on that day throw petals of the flower into their “saki” before drinking, as they believe it portends good luck and happiness and has the power of dispelling evil.

“Not until the year 1789 was the first advent of the Chrysanthemum into Europe from the Far East authentically recorded. In that year a M. Blancard introduced three plants to his native town, Marseilles. These were regarded at the time as large-flowering Chamomiles, not Chrysanthemums.”

Book of the Chrysanthemum, by Percy S. Follwell, 1907

Today is the equivalent of China’s Double Ninth Festival, held on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month. In Japan, Chrysanthemum Day follows the Gregorian calendar, falling on September 9th. Also known as Kiko no Sekku, it is one of Japan’s sacred festivals, or matsuri.

In 2009, Japan had a rare chance to celebrate Triple Ninth—the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth year of the century. 9-9-9 won’t happen again until 2109!

September 8, 2011September 10, 2011

Nativity of the Virgin Mary

September 8

Happy Birthday Madonna!

No, not that one.

On September 8, the Catholic world celebrates the birth of the Virgin Mary.

Little is know of Mary’s birth from the Bible. The Gospel of James (which didn’t make the final cut) list her folks as Joachim and Anne (Hannah). The couple was childless until they were visited by an angel who informed them a child was forthcoming. Anne promised the child would be brought up to serve the Lord.

Mary would have been born “Mariam” or מרים

For two-thousand years, the Virgin Mary has been the symbol of feminine spirituality in Christian culture. While Eve was unfairly vilified as the bringer of original sin throughout the Middle Ages, Mary represented the opposite, the ultimate purity and the the bringer of God.

Pope John Paul ll in his 2000 millennium message elevates the status of both Eve and Mary. He describes Eve as the original symbol of Humanity, the mother who gave birth to Cain and Abel, and Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, as a symbol of the New Humanity; one in which All Humanity is One in Spirit with God. This statement changes the context which the Christian doctrine has relegated to women; that the Spirit of God resides equally in male and female.

Contemplation of Mary – St. Mary’s at Penn

Visions of the Virgin Mary have been spotted by worshippers throughout the Christian world. One of the most famous of these was witnessed initially by three children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917.

On the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, many Mediterranean and Latin-American villages carry her statue from local churches through the streets. Local Spanish processions are known as Virgin de la Pena, Virgin de la Fuesanta, and Virgin de la Cinta. Peru has the Virgin of Cocharcas, and in Bolivia it’s the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Virgin of Guadalupe procession in Bolivia (c) Reuters — Virgin of Guadalupe procession in Bolivia © Reuters

And it may not be Madonna (Madonna Louise “Like A Virgin” Ciccone)’s birthday, but singer-songwriter Aimee Mann turns 51 today…and rumor has it she’s still a Virginian.

Easter comes and goes
Maybe Jesus knows…

Aimee Mann, “Thirty One Today”

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

September 7, 2011September 6, 2011

Brazil – Independence Day

September 7

Had the Pope’s arm slipped just an inch that day in 1494, the people of Brazil might be speaking Spanish right now. But the vertical line in the Treaty of Tordesillas that split the world outside Europe between Spain and Portugal held steady. The Pope alloted the easternmost chip of the Americas to Portugal, while Spain got the rest.

The history of Brazil would unfurl quite differently from the rest of its neighbors, and indeed from all of the Americas.

As Portuguese explorers pushed eastward that chip of South America soon became the largest colony on the continent. A land that contained vast jungles, endless rivers, and bountiful resources unimaginable to the Europeans back home in Portugal.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon of France invaded Portugal.

The King of Portugal, João VI, fled to Brazil and declared Rio de Janeiro the new capital of Portugal and its possessions. (Imagine King George III coming to America and declaring New York the capital of Great Britain.)

Napoleon then did an about face and turned his troops on Spain. (This wasn’t hard to do, since the French army was already in Spain. Spain had given Napoleon permission to cross through to attack Portugal.)

As a result, South America was a scene of pandemonium for the next two decades. The Spanish colonies refused to answer to the French and declared their autonomy one at a time. Even when Spain kicked the French out of their homeland, the people of South America maintained their independence, leading to several lengthy wars between Spain and its colonies. From Buenos Aires to Santiago to Lima and beyond, the wars were hard fought and costly, both in terms of resources and human lives.

The situation in Brazil was different. João VI fell in love with Brazil, and when the French were booted out of Portugal in 1815, he refused to come home. João made Brazil its own kingdom, an equal partner with Portugal. But the folks back home were not so thrilled about this. They demanded that the royal family return to Portugal and that Brazil be made a colony again.

Eventually the king was forced to return home to maintain order in Portugal; his 23 year-old son Pedro stayed behind and became regent of the Kingdom of Brazil.

Pedro defied orders to return to Lisbon. The Portuguese Parliament limited his powers, and attempted to make Brazil a subservient colony once again. Upon hearing this news at the bank of the Ipiranga River, Pedro famously declared: “Independência ou Morte!” (Independence or Death!) The Grito do Ipiranga (Shout of Ipiranga) took place on September 7, 1822.

Pedro was proclaimed Emperor of Brazil on October 12, his 24th birthday.

In 1831, Pedro abdicated the throne to his 5 year-old son, Pedro II and returned to Portugal. Pedro II ruled as Emperor for nearly 50 years. In 1889 the Emperorship was abolished and Brazil became a republic.

http://gosouthamerica.about.com/od/brahistory/qt/IndependenceDay.htm