Mid-Autumn Festival on the streets…

Twenty years living in the city, I've truly never once gazed at the autumn moon, celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, or been captivated by the rhythmic drumming of the frog drums fading into the ethereal moonlight. For those twenty years, the autumn moon only shimmered in my memories, leaving me feeling lost and empty inside my home…

But this autumn is different! After two years of the Covid pandemic, when people's lives had sometimes fallen into silence, now they've sprung up like a compressed spring, everyone feeling excited and wanting to rush towards each other to push life forward.

From the very first days of the eighth lunar month, I could hear the autumn wind chasing leaves across the sidewalks, a feeling of wistfulness. The sky changed color, a chilling hue; those who are sensitive will feel a pang in their hearts, vaguely remembering a whispered word.

That atmosphere evokes the feeling of "Remembering the Twelve," "the lingering sadness of autumn, the numbing sadness of autumn, the melancholic sadness of autumn, but not so agonizing as to make one weary of life. That's because the autumn wind is sad, but the autumn sky is beautiful, the most beautiful of all is the autumn moon, so beautiful that it makes one sad but still want to live to enjoy the silvery light throughout the sky, trees, clouds, and water – if one were to die, it would be such a waste."

Memories of the hazy autumn moon linger in my mind: "The moon's fragrance fills the air as we journey; the moon adorns the gentle hair of the rustling bamboo groves; the moon's inviting lips welcome the softly flowing river." That sweet, yet distant, moon of my homeland. For dozens of seasons of persimmons and young rice, who has gone to welcome the moonlight on the soft grass by the wind-swept dike? Who has waited for whom by the village bamboo grove on the night of the drum festival? Who has lingered with whom as we bid farewell at night, our songs fading into the moonlight…

For decades, there was no autumn moon in the city. Because of the dazzling streetlights. Because of the blinding high-voltage lamps. Because of the hurried footsteps of people picking up and dropping off their children at school... No one driving through the city would stop to look up at the sky for the autumn moon. Doing so would be alien to everyone, alien to the city dwellers themselves today.

So, only the autumn sky, the autumn wind, the silvery, chilly colors of autumn can penetrate the skin, the flesh, enter the eyes, and make the nose sting.

Then one evening, on a familiar street in Phu Ly, the shouts of children and the music of the Mid-Autumn Festival lantern procession filled every alleyway. Look! The Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns twinkled in a multitude of colors. Chickens played under the moonlight… old and young alike followed along excitedly and enthusiastically. Many people hadn't had dinner yet. Many had just returned from work or school, and upon seeing the lantern procession on the street, they naturally blended in, forgetting their hunger and even their way home!

How strange! Among the lantern procession, there were people who hadn't spoken to each other for so long, who hadn't been able to meet to share the collective joy they once had... now they were shoulder to shoulder, laughing and talking "as if there had never been a separation." People from Kim Bang, Binh Luc, Ly Nhan, Duy Tien, Thanh Liem, and Phu Ly... in this moment, they suddenly felt like one family, talking and laughing with love and affection.

The city's Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival lasts from the beginning of August until after the full moon. It's unlike any other year! City children, who have never experienced the festive atmosphere of a traditional autumn, with its vibrant scenes of everyday life under the autumn moon, yet imbued with human aspirations and beliefs, are now immersed in this traditional cultural flow.

A world of fairy tales and myths comes alive in the eyes of children. Little ones search for Cinderella, long for the Moon Goddess, and await the Moon Man; those who love folklore look forward to "carp playing in the moonlight," hoping for high scores in exams. Little girls with rosy cheeks like young peaches and sparkling eyes gaze at the Mid-Autumn Festival feast, meticulously arranged and skillfully carved into animal shapes from pomelos and grapefruit…

Unlike us children in the past, when children see mooncakes, they are indifferent and uninterested! Life is already comfortable, and food and drinks are no longer appealing or exciting for many children!

The festive atmosphere on the streets of Phu Ly in autumn is strangely captivating. Who came up with these activities that make everyone, from the elderly to children and even young men and women, abandon their evening routines, go out, and immerse themselves in the joyful atmosphere of autumn and the Mid-Autumn Festival? Who made people like me, after decades of living in the city, suddenly remember that we were once rural children, with a childhood and a vivid autumn memory?

This is what the pedestrian streets in my city look like this autumn!

Jiangnan

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