The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节), also called the Moon Cake Festival, is one of the most important annual festivals for the Chinese people and is an official holiday. Perhaps most importantly, it is a day for family reunion. This lively festival takes place on the 15th day of the 8th Chinese lunar month every year, so its exact date by the Western calendar is different every time. Full of joy and happiness, friends and loved ones gather to celebrate a time when the moon is at its fullest and brightest of the whole year, and everyone gathers together to delight in eating moon cakes and appreciating the spectacular beauty of the full moon.
The Mooncake Story
During the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolians. Rebel leaders unhappy with the overlords, plotted to overthrow the government. As the Mid-Autumn Festival drew near, the rebels ordered cakes baked and distributed to the villages. Messages of the outline of the attack were baked into the cakes.On the night of the Festival, the rebels with the help of local villagers, successfully overthrew the government and later established the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.). Hence from then on, the Mooncake Festival is celebrated on a large scale.
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The story of the Mid-Autumn Festival
There are many folktales surrounding the Mid-Autumn Festival. Here is a popular version among Chinese children:
A long time ago in China there were ten suns in the sky. Because of this it was very hot! The blazing suns dried up the rivers and there was a serious drought. People were running out of water to drink and the crops in the rice fields were withering. A famous archer, Hòu yì, was summoned to shoot down 9 of the suns in the sky. He did it successfully and was rewarded a “pill of the immortality.” Hòu yì went home and gave the precious pill to his wife, Cháng’é, for safekeeping. A visitor of the archer’s, however, heard about this pill and wanted to steal it from his wife. As the visitor was about to steal the pill from her Cháng é swallowed it. After she took the pill Cháng é felt lighter and lighter. Then she started to float. She flew all the way to the moon. When Cháng é got to the moon she coughed up the pill and the pill became a rabbit. The rabbit was the only companion Cháng é- the Moon Fairy- had on the moon and is named the “Jade Rabbit.”
When Chinese people talk about the “lady in the moon”, they are talking about Cháng é, the Moon Fairy.
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WINTER SOLSTICE
