Gemstra & The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival
The Gemstra team has been traveling the globe the past month seeking partnerships. One of their most recent trips was to China where they met with potential investors to make Gemstra China a reality. In between investor meetings and presentations, the team had time to take in a little bit of local flavor.
One of the cultural events happening in China around this time of the year is the Mid-Autumn Festival. During the modern celebrations of this festival people gather together for music and socializing. Time tested traditions like lantern lighting, dancing, and indulging in special pastries are still practiced also. Parades with dragon themed characters are common and could be compared to some of the fall activities celebrated in the West around this time of the year.
During the course of my research I found something notable about this centuries old festival that, believe it or not, that mirrors some of today’s crypto traditions.
Another name for the Mid-Autumn Festival is the moon festival. It makes sense. Around this time of the year, the moon can appear larger due to the proximity of the celestial body to earth. The history of the moon festival links back to an ancient Chinese story.
According to Lihui Yang's Handbook of Chinese Mythology:
In the ancient past, there was a hero named Hou Yi who was excellent at archery. His wife was Chang'e. One year, the ten suns rose in the sky together, causing great disaster to people. Yi shot down nine of the suns and left only one to provide light. An immortal admired Yi and sent him the elixir of immortality. Yi did not want to leave Chang'e and be immortal without her, so he let Chang'e keep the elixir. But Peng Meng, one of his apprentices, knew this secret. So, on the fifteenth of August in the lunar calendar, when Yi went hunting, Peng Meng broke into Yi's house and forced Chang'e to give the elixir to him. Chang'e refused to do so. Instead, she swallowed it and flew into the sky. Since she loved very much her husband and hoped to live nearby, she chose the moon for her residence. When Yi came back and learned what had happened, he felt so sad that he displayed the fruits and cakes Chang'e liked in the yard and gave sacrifices to his wife. People soon learned about these activities, and since they also were sympathetic to Chang'e they participated in these sacrifices with Yi.
To this day, in honor of the festival’s ancient roots, Chinese people will make, share, and eat “Mooncakes” around this time of the year. Typical mooncakes are round pastries, measuring about 10 cm in diameter and 3–4 cm thick, and are commonly eaten in the Southern Chinese regions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau. A rich thick filling usually made from red bean or lotus seed paste is surrounded by a thin (2–3 mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs. Mooncakes are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by tea.
While eating these mooncakes during the festival, Chinese people will gather outside under the engorged moon and celebrate family and the rich Chinese culture.
A moon worshiping party, if you will.
In crypto how often have you heard the terms “when moon?”, “this one is mooning!”, or “see you on the moon!”?
In 100 years when researchers gather the meta data of all of the online message boards and crypto blogs they may very well come to the conclusion that the early adopters of crypto did indeed worship the moon. Crypto enthusiast use the distance of the moon, as well as it’s mysterious nature to define the promised land of a successful investment. They use it to describe a goal of success and untold riches.
Could it be that right now, as we speak, we are laying the foundations for our own “moon festival”?
Maybe sometime in the not so distant future, just like Satoshi Nakamoto has his own mythology surrounding him, successful crypto projects like Gemstra will be celebrated and worshiped with lanterns, dancing dragons, and mooncakes, just like what is going on in China right now.
Until then, I wish the Gemstra team more success as they return to China for another round of investment presentations. Maybe, if fortune smiles upon them, they will have some time to enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival and indulge in some mooncakes of their own.
For more information about Gemstra please visit www.gemstra.com