中秋節 / 中秋节
zung¹ cau¹ zit³
The Mid-Autumn Festival in Cantonese is 中秋節 / 中秋节 (zung¹ cau¹ zit³). Wiktionary also lists 八月十五 (baat³ jyut⁶ sap⁶ ng⁵).
Meaning: harvest festival (noun)
Ways to say it
| Cantonese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 中秋節 / 中秋节 | zung¹ cau¹ zit³ |
| 八月十五 | baat³ jyut⁶ sap⁶ ng⁵ |
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival. You can greet someone by saying 中秋節快樂!, which means Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
What does it mean word for word?
The term 中秋節 is composed of 中 (mid), 秋 (autumn) and 節 (festival/holiday). The phrase 八月十五 literally means 'eighth month, fifteenth [day]', referring to the specific date on the lunar calendar when the festival occurs.
Which one should you use?
While 中秋節 is the formal name of the holiday, 八月十五 is a common way to refer to the festival by its specific date.
Is it said differently in some regions?
中秋節 is used in Hong Kong and most regions. In Guangzhou and surrounding areas, speakers use 中秋. In Macau and some parts of Guangdong province, 月光節 is used to mean Moonlight Festival.
How do you pronounce it?
zung¹ cau¹ zit³
Did you know?
- In Cantonese culture, the phrase 團圓 'reunion' is the emotional core of 中秋節, emphasizing that the roundness of the moon mirrors the circle of a complete family.
- While the festival is named for the moon, the traditional food 月餅 'mooncakes' often contain salted egg yolks to symbolically represent the full moon.
- To describe the act of celebrating by looking at the moon, Cantonese speakers use the specific verb-object phrase 賞月, or 'appreciating the moon'.
Examples in context
- 我鍾意中秋佳節嘅月餅糖果！I love the mooncakes and candies during the Mid-Autumn Festival!
- 今年中秋我地一齊去欣賞煙花!This year, let's go together to watch fireworks during the Mid-Autumn Festival!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “mid-autumn festival” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
