Why is pomelo always included in the Mid-Autumn Festival feast?

Customs vary from place to place, but pomelos are never absent from the Mid-Autumn Festival feast, due to their interesting symbolic meanings.

A Mid-Autumn Festival feast is incomplete without a platter of five fruits, featuring a variety of fresh fruits in vibrant colors and flavors. The arrangement and selection of fruits vary depending on the family and region. However, a pomelo is always present on the platter.

Besides the fact that the Mid-Autumn Festival is also the harvest season for the freshest and most delicious pomelos of the year, offering pomelos on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month also carries many long-standing traditional meanings. Since ancient times, people have believed that displaying pomelos on this day will bring good luck, as a blessing to the household. The round shape of the pomelo symbolizes abundance, reunion, and the completeness of the whole family.

Mid-Autumn Festival is always considered a family reunion holiday in many Asian countries. It's seen as a time when children and grandchildren who work far from home return to gather with their families, grandparents, parents, and relatives. According to Epochtimes, in Chinese, the word for "grapefruit" (youzi) is a homonym for "wandering," implying the hope that those who are far from home will return after working abroad. Additionally, the word for "grapefruit" (you) in Chinese sounds similar to a word meaning to bestow blessings, bringing good fortune and peace to the family.

For couples hoping to have children, offering pomelos as a sacrifice during the Mid-Autumn Festival is even more meaningful. In the local dialect, the word for "pomelo" (youzi) is pronounced similarly to "having a child" (hữu tử), and the plump pomelo symbolizes a pregnant mother. Therefore, eating and offering pomelos on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month also carries the wish to soon have a precious child.

In Vietnam, people not only display ripe pomelos in the five-fruit offering but also create pomelo-shaped dog figurines for children during the Mid-Autumn Festival. This custom originates from the ancient Vietnamese legend of "Cuoi the Moon-gazing Man."

In that story, Cuoi's dog volunteered to donate its intestines to replace those of Cuoi's deceased wife. Because of this, his wife was resurrected from the dead. To show his gratitude for this loyal and compassionate act, Cuoi molded a set of intestines from clay to replace them, and unexpectedly, the dog also came back to life. Since then, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, people often place a dog made from pomelo on the offering tray as a way of honoring good deeds.

According to Ngôi Sao (Star)