Mid-Autumn Festival

About the Festival: Name: 中文：中秋节，仲秋节，八月节 English：Mid-Autumn Festival, Mid-August Day Moon-cake Festival Origin of the Name: It falls on lunar August 15th, so it is called the Mid-August day . Since the autumn season consists of lunar July, August, and September, so it is also called the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Festival History Mid-Autumn (仲秋) began to appear in a book 《周礼》 about 2000 years ago. Initially, Chinese would hold a ceremony to worship the God of Land (土地神) to express thanks for giving the harvest.

Legends about the Festival

Legend 1 Hou-Yi Shot Suns Down A long long time ago, there were ten suns in the sky. They dried almost everything to burn. People suffered terribly. So, the Heaven Emperor sent a god Hou-Yi and his wife to Chang-E to human being world to solve the problem. He shot down nine suns and kept only one in the sky, as that is the best and useful to human beings. However, some else envied him very so they went the Emperor and said some bad word about him. The Emperor decided to deny Hou-Yi and his wife return to Heaven.

Legend 2 Chang-E (嫦娥) Story There are three different stories about Chang-E. One story said that Hou-Yi went to see Xi-Wang-Mu, an heaven Queen-like fairy, and begged her for some medicine that could make both living forever if they shared the medicine, or make one ascend back to the heaven world if just one intake it. Since Chang-E did not like to live in human world, she took it by herself when Hou-Yi was out, and she flew to the Moon, and lived in the moon palace lonely, with a jade rabbit with her only.

The second story says that Hou-Yi had an affair with a River God’s (河伯) wife. When Chang-E found it, she was very upset and thus decided to eat the medicine by herself rather than sharing it with Hou-Yi. When she flew up to Moon, she recall all good things Hou-Yi did for him. She regret for not sharing the medicine, but it could not be undone. So she is living in the moon palace sadly now.

The third story says that after Hou-Yi shot down nine suns, he was treated as human being hero, and thus many youth came to be his students. Among his students, there was a greedy one, who wanted to have Chang-E as his own wife and also have the medicine. One day, when Hou-Yi was out, this guy tried to force Chang-E to give him the medicine. To hide the medicine, Chang-E put the pill into her mouth, but that made her flew up. In order to be close to Hou-Yi, she decided to fly to the moon, rather than back to the heaven world.

Can you find Chang-E, Wu Gang, and the rabbit on the moon Can you find Chang-E, Wu Gang, and the rabbit on the moon? They were supposed to be visible to us on this brightest day.

Girls may also beg Chang-E to make them also so beautiful. Other Stories: One story says that the Moon God is an old female who can heal human being diseases. Another story says that the Moon God is an old man, called Yue-Laor (月佬) who is a match-maker. He ties a red thread between a boy and a girl to make them a couple, even before they were born. Therefore, youth would like to do a worship ceremony on the festival day to wish the Yue-Laor could arrange the best marriage partners for them. Girls may also beg Chang-E to make them also so beautiful.

How to Celebrate the Festival Families get together. Eat moon-cake and rich meal Offer Sacrifices the Moon Celebrate the harvest. Visit relatives and Friends.

Families get together and eat moon-cake

Sacrifice the Moon

Moon in our Life

Another Chinese Valentine Day The moon has witnessed many love stories. So that there are countless poems and stories about the moon. When a lover asks another about “How much do you love?”, the other may answer “The moon knows about it”. When a person had some affair with another person, s/he may excused her/himself that, “it was the moon that made me fell in love with you.”

Many poets wrote a lot of poems with the moon as the subject to express their various feeling, especially their nostalgia. More especially under the brightest moon, if a Chinese person cannot go home to have a family union to celebrate the festival, s/he would be very homesick. S/he would sit under the same moon and lift a cup of wine, inviting the moon, toast towards to remote parents, friends, and all be loved. Wish all healthy, love each other forever, though they are separated by mountains and/or seas.

水调歌头 苏轼 明月几时有，把究问青天。不知天上宫阙，今昔是何年。 水调歌头 苏轼 明月几时有，把究问青天。不知天上宫阙，今昔是何年。 我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。 起舞弄清影，何似在人间。 When will the moon be clear and bright? With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the azure sky I don't know what season it would be In the heavens on this night I'd like to ride the wind to fly home Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions are Much too high and cold for me Dancing with my moon-lit shadow It does not seem like the human world

Rack Your Brain: Guess the Riddles Idioms and Allusions 转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。不应有恨，何时常向别时圆。 人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。 但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。 The moon rounds the red mansion Stoops to silk-pad doors Shines upon the sleepless Bearing no grudge Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart? People may have sorrow or joy, be near or far apart The moon may be dim or bright, wax or wane This has been going on since the beginning of time May we all be blessed with longevity Though far apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together. - Poem written during the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival of 1076Y? by Su Tung Po (Translated by Shun-Yi Lee in 1998) Rack Your Brain: Guess the Riddles Idioms and Allusions

Riddle Guessing Game A traditional activity around the Mid-August Festival. The pleasant season makes it a perfect outdoor activity, better than on the Lantern Festival in February. 寺上有一牛， 二人抬木头， 门下张开口，家中有女守？ （Four Chinese Words） 言边主下月，二人土上蹲。 (Two Chinese Words) 夕下又一夕，射言表表心！ (A Chinese word)

Idioms and Allusions 风花雪月 sentimental writings of the exploiting classes  每逢佳节倍思亲： On festive occasions more than ever one thinks of one's dear ones far away. It is on the festival occasions when one misses his dear most. 但愿人长久，千里共婵娟 Wish us a long life so as to share the beauty of this graceful moonlight, even thousands miles apart./ Though miles apart, could men but live forever dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly 月是故乡圆 Bright is the Moon over my home village. 千里姻缘一线牵 Two beings destined to marry each other, though thousands of miles apart, are tied together with an invisible red thread by an old man under the moonlight.

Follow–up Activities Suppose you are a tour guide and it happened to be the time of one of Traditional Chinese Festivals or a local traditional festival of the place where you are visiting . Introduce the festival to the foreign tourists. 附：Traditional Chinese Festivals 农历正月初一春节(the Spring Festival) 农历正月十五元宵节(Lantern Festival) 农历五月初五端午节(the Dragon-Boat Festival) 农历七月初七乞巧节(中国情人节）(Double-Seventh Day) 农历八月十五中秋节(the Mid-Autumn Festival) 农历九月初九重阳节(the Double Ninth Festival) 农历腊月初八腊八节(the laba Rice Porridge Festival) 泼水节 The Water-Sparkling Featival 火把节 The Torch Festival 藏历年 Tibetan New Year …...

http://organizations.frostburg.edu/CCC/

http://organizations.frostburg.edu/CCC/

About the Festival On lunar August 15th, so it is the Mid-August day. Since the autumn season consists of lunar July, August, and September, so it is also the Mid-Autumn day. It is just after the harvest of all crops, so it is a festival to celebrate the harvest.