Nostalgic photos of Vietnam's Mid-Autumn Festival in the old days
When the Mid-Autumn Festival (Tết Trung Thu) began, and who brought it from China to Vietnam and when, is not recorded in any reliable historical source. All that is known is that the festival has existed in Vietnam since time immemorial, and it has changed continuously through the ups and downs of history.
For young children, the Mid-Autumn Festival meant above all its signature treats, chiefly two kinds of mooncake, the soft sticky-rice bánh dẻo and the baked bánh nướng, sold mostly in shops on Hàng Đường Street (run by Vietnamese) and Hàng Buồm Street (run by ethnic Chinese) in the Old Quarter of Hà Nội, Vietnam's capital. What fascinated the kids was standing and watching the bakers at their counters, whose molds struck the tabletops with a lively clatter, in a rhythm, now slow, now fast, that was a hallmark of the streets.
Let's look back at these photos of Mid-Autumn Festivals past and see how the old-time flavor of this traditional holiday has gradually faded over the years.
A shop selling Mid-Autumn Festival goods in the early 20th century.
After the treats came the toys, above all the lanterns lit on Mid-Autumn night while waiting for the moon to rise or carried in processions through the streets. Shops sold lanterns made of bamboo strips covered with cellophane in the shapes of animals, most often rabbits and fish.
There were also folding lanterns made of colored paper, and the most elaborate yet most captivating of all, the đèn kéo quân, a revolving "marching soldier" lantern depicting many folk tales through spinning silhouettes: the heat of the candles creates air currents that push a wheel around the lantern's axis. These lanterns were concentrated on Hàng Mã Street but were also sold on Hàng Gai Street…
Children excited about the Mid-Autumn Festival in the old days.
Children at a toy stall.
Lanterns, carp lanterns and revolving "marching soldier" lanterns were always the envy of children.
A crab-shaped lantern was what children longed for during the whole month before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
All kinds of toys on sale at old-time markets.
A lion dance at a Mid-Autumn Festival of the past.
An old-fashioned food shop, now just a memory.
A Mid-Autumn feast tray of the past, laden with all kinds of fruit.
An extended family gathered around a Mid-Autumn feast (early 20th century).
Children delighted with their star lanterns, known as đèn ông sao (1989).
Hà Nội, Vietnam's capital, in the 1990s: a woman selling spinning lanterns "pitches" her wares to a little girl beside a roadside tea stall.
A Mid-Autumn Festival market in Hà Nội in 1987.
Mooncakes from Đông Hưng Viên, a famous bakery in Sài Gòn (now Hồ Chí Minh City), photographed before 1975.
Mid-Autumn toys of the past were tied to national traditions (early 20th century).
An older brother fixing his little sibling's lantern, an unforgettable sight for anyone who grew up in the 1980s or earlier.
Sài Gòn during a Mid-Autumn Festival of the past (1990s).
