The festival started more than 2,000 years ago as a post-autumn harvest celebration, which was devoted to thanking the gods. 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. 8 The festival also coincides with the end of the autumn harvest, marking the end of the Hungry Ghost Festival, which occurs during the seventh lunar month. 7 The Mid-autumn Festival is associated with the moon and “moon appreciation” ( shangyue) parties, particularly because the moon is at its brightest during this time. 6 Shaped round like the full moon, mooncakes signify reunion. The full moon is considered a symbol of reunion, as such the Mid-autumn Festival is also known as the Reunion Festival. 4 Moon-viewing parties is one way to enjoy the occasion, with family and friends sitting in gardens lit by paper lanterns, sipping tea, nibbling on mooncakes, and if so inspired, composing poetry in venerable Tang Dynasty fashion. 3 The custom of offering sacrifices to the moon has been replaced by celebrating the festival with family and friends. 2 These days, however, it has become more common to give mooncakes as gifts than to eat them during the festival. 1 In Singapore, mooncakes and lanterns are offered for sale as early as a month before the festival. It is called the Mid-autumn Festival because the 15th day is the middle of a month, and the eighth lunar month is in the middle of autumn. Get to know more stories about Mid-Autumn Festival including the Jade Rabbit.The Mid-autumn Festival (or Zhong Qiu Jie in Mandarin), also known as the Mooncake Festival, falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Because of the overdose, Chang'e kept on floating until she landed on the moon, instead of just floating up to heaven in the clouds. Unable to wait for her return to heaven, Chang'e swallowed the entire vial of elixir. Upon arriving home, Hou Yi stored the vial in a case and warned Chang'e not to open the case, before going off on urgent business. The Queen Mother warned Hou Yi that the elixir must be shared between him and his wife or else they would not become immortal together. The Jade Emperor was so sad and angry at his nine sons' deaths that he punished Hou Yi and Chang'e by making them live as mere mortals on earth.ĭistressed by his wife's grief over becoming an ordinary mortal, Hou Yi journeyed to meet the Queen Mother of the West and requested a vial of her elixir. So, Hou Yi shot down nine of the sons, leaving just one. The Jade Emperor asked Hou Yi to stop his 10 sons ruining the earth. One day, the ten sons of the Jade Emperor transformed into ten suns, causing the earth to scorch. In another popular version of the legend, Chang'e and her husband Hou Yi were immortals living in heaven. Chang'e and Houyi the Archer (Version 2) Want to share the Mid-Autumn Festival story with your family? The 3-minute video below will show you all about it. Since then, on lunar month 8 day 15 every year, which has become Mid-Autumn Festival, people look forward to their reunion (and their own family reunions). Worshipping the moon and eating mooncakes have become traditions of Mid-Autumn Festival. Moved by their true love, the Mother of the Moon allowed Chang'e to reunite with Hou Yi every year on the full moon of the eighth lunar month. He caught sight of a swaying figure that was exactly like Chang'e. Then he displayed the fruits and cakes that Chang'e had enjoyed to convey to Chang'e that he missed her. He shouted to the sky and surprisingly discovered the moon was extremely bright that night. Hou Yi was heartbroken when he was told what had happened to Chang'e.
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