442: Mid-Autumn Festival’s Favorite Treat Has a Secret Political Past

Traditionally gifted this time of year to family, friends, and even business associates, mooncakes have become synonymous with the Mid-Autumn Festival—so much so that other names for the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month are Moon Festival and Mooncake Festival.

But what many may not know is that these cakes have a long history, dating back more than 3,000 years—including a period when they were used as tools in political uprising.

The earliest version of mooncakes, called Taishi cakes, can be traced back to China’s Shang and Zhou dynasties (1600 BC to 256 BC). Named in honor of a prime minister at the time, these cakes had thin edges and were thick in the middle. The cakes then evolved into Hu cakes, which were made with sesame seeds and walnuts from western China.

Mooncakes themselves were introduced during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) when General Lijing and his troops, under the command of Emperor Li Shimin, were victorious in their offensive campaign against the Turks (which resulted in the Tang annexing the Turks’ territories), on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. A Tibetan trader offered the emperor some round cakes to celebrate this victory, as well as a token of appreciation. The emperor then introduced the cakes to his subjects and the cakes gained popularity among the people. It is said that later in the Tang Dynasty, Yang Yuhuan, imperial consort for Emperor Li Longji was the one to name the round cakes mooncakes.

Later, during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), mooncakes were referred to as court cakes, popular in the palace as well as among the people, and symbolizing reunions among family and friends. The first written records of characters for the word “mooncake” were seen in a book from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

The Mooncake Uprising

While mooncakes are typically associated with celebrations, legend has it that these treats were also utilized to overthrow the government. This took place during the late Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), which was established by Kublai Khan and led by Mongols. The regime at the time was so oppressive and the Chinese people were so closely ruled that Mongolian guards were stationed outside all of their homes. And if that weren’t bad enough, Chinese families were expected to feed these guards food and wine.

Zhu Yuanzhang (1368-1398), a rebellion leader and founder of the subsequent Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), united resistance forces to prepare an uprising against the Mongols. But they needed a way to get the word out to people. So Zhu Yuanzhang’s advisor Liu Bowen suggested using mooncakes, since Mongols didn’t eat them. In one story, the cakes were stuffed with messages, notably, “Kill the Mongols on the 15th day of the eighth month.” In another version of the story, secret messages were encrypted into the auspicious characters on the cakes—and since mooncakes are usually gifted in boxes of four, the messages were undetected until the cakes were sliced and arranged in a certain way. However the messages were conveyed, they worked, and the Mongols were overthrown and Zhu Yuanzhang ushered in the Ming Dynasty.

Even though mooncakes had, at this point, been around for centuries—and had been tied to mid-autumn since those early days—it’s said that the custom of making and gifting the cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival started during the Ming Dynasty.

And to this day, mooncakes are still eaten on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month.