12 hours ago, haresfur said:
I saw that, too. Interesting
However, I would point out that they're not all mooncakes in the image. Only he round ones are; the circular shape resembles the moon and is an important part of the symbolism.
The pig shaped one in the centre is a 猪仔糕 (zhū zǎi gāo), Zhuzaigao, piglet cake. These are also traditionally eaten at the mid-autumn festival, but were originally made for children. They consisted of the same mooncake crust as the traditional Cantonese type of mooncake, but were not stuffed with the heavy contents. Instead they were solid crust., which was thought would be better for kids who wouldn't be able to stomach the heaviness of the regular mooncakes. Today, they are sometimes sold stuffed, but just as often, not.
The fish shaped cake to the pig's tail end is not related to the mid-autumn festival, but is a 新年魚年糕 (xīn nián yú nián gāo), New Year Fish Shape Cake. They are one type of 年糕 (nián gāo), Nian gao or New Year Cake and are made from steamed glutinous (sticky) rice. These are traditionally served at Chinese New Year. It may be that someone has taken the Niangao shape and turned into a "mooncake" but the fish still remains symbolic of New Year in Chinese culture.
I have no idea what the red rabbit-looking thing is.
