Festival Foods and Their Meanings
FoundationNew Year cake for rising high, sweet dumplings for reunion, zongzi for Qu Yuan, mooncakes for Mid-Autumn — festival foods carry blessings.
- The names and shapes of festival foods carry wishes.
- Cake rises high, fish brings surplus, dumplings mean reunion.
- Zongzi remember Qu Yuan in a story over two thousand years old.
文體小知識：說明文逐個介紹節慶食品，說出它們的名字由來和美好的寓意。
§Text Passage
1When Chinese people celebrate festivals, special foods are never far away. These foods are more than delicious — their names and shapes carry good wishes, handed down from generation to generation.
2At Lunar New Year people eat New Year cake: the word for cake sounds like the word for high, meaning rising higher every year. At the family reunion dinner there is always fish, because fish sounds like surplus — wishing plenty year after year. On the fifteenth of the first month, round sweet dumplings symbolise the family together and complete.
3At the Dragon Boat Festival people eat zongzi, glutinous rice and fillings wrapped in leaves, in memory of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan; the story goes that people threw rice balls into the river to protect him, and over time these became zongzi. At Mid-Autumn Festival people eat mooncakes, as round as the full moon, meaning people and moon reunited.
4When the next festival comes, taste the special food and listen to elders telling the stories and wishes behind it. You will find that these little foods hold the Chinese people's beautiful hopes for family and life.
1Summary 重點摘要
New Year cake for rising high, sweet dumplings for reunion, zongzi for Qu Yuan, mooncakes for Mid-Autumn — festival foods carry blessings.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
The meaning or wish hidden behind a name or shape.
The food specially eaten at a certain festival.
The cake eaten at Lunar New Year, meaning rising higher each year.
Round glutinous rice balls symbolising reunion.
Glutinous rice and fillings wrapped in leaves, eaten at the Dragon Boat Festival.
The patriotic poet of the Warring States era, remembered at the Dragon Boat Festival.
The round cake eaten at Mid-Autumn, meaning people and moon reunited.
Family gathering together, whole and complete.
Words that sound the same or similar, such as cake and high in Chinese.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Match festivals with foodsTraditional festivals in Hong Kong each come with their own foods, so first learn the pairs: New Year cake and turnip cake at Lunar New Year, zongzi at the Dragon Boat Festival, mooncakes at Mid-Autumn, and sweet dumplings at the Winter Solstice and the Lantern Festival. Some people think any food suits any festival, but each food is bound to its festival. Matching them well, you never mix them up and instantly understand which festival the elders mean.
- Step 2: Hear the homophone wishesChinese people love to send wishes through words that sound alike. Gao, the word for New Year cake, sounds like high, so eating it wishes everyone a rise year after year; yu, the word for fish, sounds like surplus, so a fish at the reunion dinner wishes plenty every year; hair moss sounds like get rich — another good omen. Some people take these for plain food names, but hearing the sound-alikes, you understand why elders prepare certain foods at certain festivals: blessings everywhere.
- Step 3: Understand the shapesThe shapes of festival foods carry meanings too. Sweet dumplings and mooncakes are round, and roundness stands for completeness — the family together and life made whole. Sharing mooncakes at Mid-Autumn and rolling sweet dumplings at the Winter Solstice both express the hope of the family staying together. Some people think shape is only for beauty, but watching the shapes and colours at festivals, you can read the wishes inside and feel how the Chinese treasure family.
- Step 4: Know the festival figuresBehind some festival foods stand stories of historical figures. Qu Yuan was a patriotic poet of the state of Chu more than two thousand years ago; after he drowned himself in the river for his country, people threw rice balls into the water so the fish would not harm him, and this grew into eating zongzi at the Dragon Boat Festival, while the dragon boat races were first held to search for him. Some people think zongzi is merely a snack, but knowing the story gives eating it a deeper meaning and teaches the spirit of patriotism.
- Step 5: Observe the festival foods at homeBefore a festival the family prepares all kinds of festival foods — a fine chance to observe. Ask the elders: which New Year treats did we buy this year? Lotus seed candy carries the wish for children year after year, and candied winter melon the wish for sweetness — each has its omen. Some people think the candy box is a mere snack tray, but while helping to set it out and listening to the elders explain, their blessings and hopes pass down generation after generation.
- Step 6: Take part with your handsThe best way to know festival foods is to make them with your own hands. At the Dragon Boat Festival, wrap zongzi with the elders: fold the leaf into a funnel, add glutinous rice and mung beans, lay a piece of meat on top, wrap it up and tie it firmly with string; at the Winter Solstice, roll sweet dumplings with Mum, shaping little dough balls one by one. Some people think watching is enough, but having made them yourself, the culture behind the foods is remembered firmly, and the festival becomes more meaningful.
4Diagrams Diagrams
5Worked example Example
Example: at the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, Granny serves a steamed fish and a plate of New Year cake. What does each dish mean?
- Fish sounds like surplus — may there be plenty every year; leaving a little uneaten is even luckier.
- Cake sounds like high — may the family rise higher year after year, step by step.
- The dishes' names carry the family's beautiful blessings for the new year.
- Tell the family these meanings at dinner, and the elders will be delighted.
- Answer: The steamed fish means plenty every year and the New Year cake means rising higher every year. Their names use sound-alikes to carry blessings, serving the family's hopes for the new year at the reunion table.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1Which food belongs to the Dragon Boat Festival?
Q2What does New Year cake mean?
Q3Why eat mooncakes at Mid-Autumn?
Q4Which ancient figure do zongzi remember?
Q5Which food is linked to the wish of plenty every year?
8Recap Recap
- The names and shapes of festival foods carry wishes.
- Cake rises high, fish brings surplus, dumplings mean reunion.
- Zongzi remember Qu Yuan in a story over two thousand years old.
- Mooncakes like the full moon bless people and moon reunited.
- Listen to the stories at festivals, and culture passes on.