| Mid-Autumn Festival, 中秋节 (zhōng qiū jié) in Chinese, is also called the Mooncake Festival or the Moon Festival. As the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn is an official public holiday. In 2023, the festival falls on September 29th, which is close to China’s National Day on October 1st. Therefore, people living in China will enjoy an 8-day public holiday (from September 29th to October 6th). In China, Mid-Autumn Festival is a reunion time for families, a little like Thanksgiving. Chinese people celebrate it by gathering for dinners, worshiping the moon, lighting paper lanterns, eating moon cakes, etc.  Mid-Autumn Festival Stories There are many legends about Mid-Autumn Festival. The most popular stories are about Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit. The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is associated with the popular legend of Chang'e (嫦娥), the goddess of the moon, and Hou Yi, the husband of Chang'e. He was rewarded with an elixir of immortality by the Queen Mother when he shot down nine of the ten suns and saved people from their smoldering heat. In Chinese folklore, he did not drink it straight away because he did not want to gain immortality without his wife. So, he asked Chang'e to keep it safe for him. Unexpectedly one mid-autumn day, while Hou Yi was out hunting, an evil person tried to force Chang'e to hand over the elixir. Chang'e swallowed the elixir however and flew higher and higher. She then chose the moon as her immortal abode, to be close to her beloved husband and look down on him on Earth. Hou Yi was very sad and made sacrifices to Chang'e with incense, cakes, and fruits. Legend has it that there is a rabbit companion with Chang'e on the moon, white as jade, so it is called 'jade rabbit'. As time passed, the jade rabbit became synonymous with the moon in Chinese culture. The custom of worshiping the moon on Mid-Autumn day has been passed down from generation to generation. Why Mid-Autumn Festival is Celebrated? The Mid-Autumn Festival has a history of over 3,000 years. It was a royal sacrificial ceremony associated with moon worshiping and agricultural activities. People worshiped the moon to give thanks for the harvest and to encourage the "harvest-giving light" to return in the coming year. The changes in the lunar phases provided guidance for the farming schedule; therefore, people believed that worshiping the moon could bring a good harvest. In modern times, most people have sufficient food supplies, but the Mid-Autumn Festival is still significant because the full moon during the festival is a symbol of family reunions. As the festival evolved over time, it has gained additional meanings and now includes prayers for good health and happiness. |
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