National Adult Literacy Database

December 14, 2009

This week, our story comes to us from Nanaimo, BC. The author, June Nguyen, was recently enrolled in the literacy program at Literacy Central Vancouver Island (formerly Literacy Nanaimo). Her name is Nguyen (Last name) Thi Thu (Middle name) Dung (First name). Her English name is June. She is 26 years old and she has been in Canada since November 2003, when she moved from Vietnam. Right now June is a student at Vancouver Island University to upgrade her high school with the ABE program, and then she plans to take an accounting course.

Traditional Star Lantern

by June Nguyen

Year after year, on September 2nd, people in Viet Nam celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. It is a wonderful traditional festival for children in Southeast Asia. Children parade on the streets, singing and carrying colourful lanterns of different sizes. The popular lanterns are shaped like fishes, butterflies or stars. You will see the beauty of the lanterns when the candle is lit. However, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is a good time for the parents to spend time with their children and do something special with them. For example: they help their child make the lantern and choose the shape of the lantern. Then the children can get ready for the festival. Today I would like to share with everyone how to make a simple star lantern.

First of all, to make a star lantern, we need to have ten pieces of pre-cut bamboo all the same size and another five small pieces of bamboo to make the star open up. One of the small pieces of bamboo needs to have a big stem, because it will hold the candle standing upright. Next, coloured paper is needed to make the lantern, so we need to find cellophane or shiny paper and any stickers you like to decorate the lantern. Equally important, we need a candle, steel wire to tie two bamboo sticks together, glue to stick the paper on the bamboo and scissors to cut the paper.

Secondly, to have a star lantern, we need to put everything together. Let’s start with ten pieces of bamboo. We need to cut semi-circles at the end of all the bamboo sticks. This notch allows to connect two pieces of bamboos together and to easily join the ends of the bamboo by steel wire. Now we have two separate star shapes. Both shapes have to be tied together by steel wire at the five points of the star. Then five small pieces of bamboo are stuck in five places to get the star wider.

Last, to have a beautiful star lantern, we need to wrap shiny coloured paper around the star shape, but one of the ten sides remains uncovered. This opening allows us to put a candle inside and the smoke to escape. Then we decorate all sides of the lantern with stickers. Next, we put a short, thin candle on the wire bamboo stick at the bottom of the star. It is attached by a wire coil that is tied to the bamboo. Most importantly, we need to find a long stick with a string attached to tie to the top bamboo piece of the lantern. Now we can carry the star lantern everywhere we go with the candle giving light.

I enjoy very much making a star lantern because it reminds me of my childhood, my traditional culture and the time I had spent with my family together on those days. How lovely to sit around the table on the Full Moon Day, eating moon cakes filled with lotus seeds, ground beans, and orange peels. The moon cakes have a bright egg yolk in the center to represent the moon. Those cakes are really rich in taste. Next to the cake are four cups of tea waiting for someone to sip it and to admire our lanterns.

That is everything. I would like to share my traditional festival with anyone who loves to spend time with their family.

[This story was taken with permission from In Our Own Words, September 2008, published by Literacy Nanaimo.]