The Legend Behind The Moon Cake

The moon cake is not just a tasty cake eaten during the Moon Cake Festival. There is an inspiring story behind it.

During the Yuan Dynasty (1271- 1368 AD) when China was ruled by the Mongolians, the people found the tyranny of the government unbearable. They plotted to revolt and to end their suffering.

Zhu YuanZhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644 AD) united the different resistance groups to organize the uprising. However, they encountered a problem.

How were they to inform the different groups of the battle plan without being detected by the government forces? It was almost impossible to pass messages. Then the counselor Liu Bowen thought of an idea.

The leaders of the rebellion ordered the people to bake moon cakes and inserted into the cakes was the outline of the attack against the government. These cakes were given to the resistance groups who had been told via the messages in the moon cakes, to rebel on the night of the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month. The Mongolians were not interested in the pastries of their inferior subjects so the message got through to the resistance movement.

The rebellion was a success and the Mongolian rule ended with the overthrow of their government. The Ming Dynasty was established by Zhu and this success was commemorated annually by eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The tradition of eating moon cakes on the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month has lasted through the centuries and the cakes have evolved into different kinds of pastries with various fillings and flavors.