What is the legend of the Mid Autumn Festival?
3 min read
Asked by: Kim Merrick
The story of Chang E is the most widely accepted tale regarding the moon and the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that in ancient times, ten suns existed and the extreme heat made people’s lives very difficult. It was the hero Hou Yi, who, owing to his great strength, shot down nine of the ten suns.
Why do we celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival?
The day of the Mid-autumn Festival is traditionally thought to be auspicious for weddings, as the moon goddess is believed to extend conjugal bliss to couples. The festival started more than 2,000 years ago as a post-autumn harvest celebration, which was devoted to thanking the gods.
What is the story behind moon cakes?
Chinese will gather together and eat slices of mooncake on Mid-Autumn Festival, a national Bank Holiday. Like many Chinese customs, the origins of the mooncake lie in ancient times, in this case a time of social and political triumph – the overthrowing of the Mongol dynasty.
What is the popular legend surround Mid-Autumn Festival?
Legend of Mid-Autumn Festival
The most popular legend surrounding the festival is the story of Chang Er flying to the moon. Once upon a time, it was said that there existed ten suns in the sky and the extreme heat caused much difficulty in everyone’s’ life.
What is Mid-Autumn Festival called in Chinese?
With the arrival of September and hints of cooler temperatures also comes one of most important traditional festivals in the Chinese calendar, the Mid-Autumn Festival, or Zhongqiu jie (中秋節), also known as the Moon Festival.
When did the Mid-Autumn Festival first start?
In the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), the 15th day of the 8th lunar month was established as the “Mid-Autumn Festival”.
What does the egg yolk in the mooncake represent?
Most mooncakes consist of a thick, tender pastry skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling, and may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in their center that symbolizes the full moon.
What is another legend besides the story of Chang E behind the Mid-Autumn Festival?
Diaochan Worshiping the Moon
Chang E, the beautiful Goddess living on the moon, felt inferior of her beauty and then hidden behind the cloud. Since then, Diaochan was widely known for his beauty even superior than Goddess Chang E.
Why is a rabbit a symbol of the Mid-Autumn Festival?
The three immortals were moved by the rabbit’s sacrifice, and decided to make the rabbit an immortal, sending her to live in the Moon Palace with Goddess Chang E. Therefore nowadays when Chinese people decorate Mid-Autumn Festival, they would use rabbit as one of the decorations.
What does Chang E represent?
Chang’e (Chinese: 嫦娥; pinyin: Cháng’é, unofficially rendered as Chang-Er or Chang-o for simpler pronunciation), originally known as Heng’e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon.
