Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival,also known as Chinese Moon Festival,takes place at the 15th day of the eighth Chinese lunar month.The reason for celebrating the festival during that time is that it is the time when the moon is at its fullest and brightest.

The Mid-autumn festival is one of the two most important occasions in Chinese calendar (the other being the Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year) and it is an official holiday.It is a time for families to be together,so people far from home will gaze longingly at the moon and think about their families.

The traditional food for mid-autumn festival is the moon cake which is round and symbolizes reunion.

The Lady Chang'e Flying to the Moon

According to legend,in the distant past,there used to be 10 suns in the sky one year.The scorching heat dried up the lake and people were at death's door.Just at that time,a hero named Hou Yi heard about this predicament.With his extraordinary power,he then pulled his supernatural bow and shot 9 needless suns down on the peak of Mount Kunlun.

Hou Yi of course made distinguished contributions to people and was respected,loved and supported by them.A large number of persons of ideals and integrity flocked to Hou Yi to take him as their teacher and seek instructions out of admiration.Among those learners,there was no lack of the treacherous and cunning learner,such as a learner named Peng Meng.

Before long,Hou Yi got married to a beautiful and virtuous girl named Chang’e.They loved each other very much and got along very well.One day,Hou Yi went to Mount Kunlun to meet friends when he encountered the Queen of Heaven who gave him an elixir of life.It was said that half of the elixir could make a person live forever and the whole elixir could make a person become an immortal instantly.

However,Hou Yi was unwilling to leave his wife,and he gave the elixir of life to Chang’e for safekeeping.Chang’e put the elixir of life into a case of her dressing table,which was seen by Peng Meng who was very treacherous.Three days later,when Hou Yi went out for hunting with his disciples,the disingenuous Peng Meng pretended to be ill,so he didn’t go with them.Shortly after their leave,Peng Meng broke into Hou Yi’s House with a double-edged sword in his hand.Peng Meng threatened Chang’e to hand over the elixir of life.Chang’e knew that she couldn’t manage to protect the elixir of life.

So,at a crisis,Chang’e fetched the elixir of life from the case and swallowed it promptly.Suddenly,Chang’e floated away from the ground,dashed out of the window and flew towards the sky.It was said that Chang’e became an immortal and stayed on the moon which was the nearest to the earth as she was anxious about his husband Hou Yi.

At nightfall,Hou Yi went back home and was told what happened during his absence from his maids.Hou Yi became extremely enraged and he immediately went to kill Peng Meng.However,Peng Meng had already escaped.The heart-stricken Hou Yi shouted to the sky and shouted Chang’e,just at that time he surprisingly discovered the moon was extremely bright and clear that night and he caught sight of a swaying figure that was exactly like Chang’e.

Hou Yi hastily asked his maids to put an incense table in the back garden and put fresh fruits and moon cakes which were the favorite food of Chang’e on the table,holing a memorable ceremony for Chang’e who lived on the distant moon.When the local people heard that Chang’e flew to the sky and became an immortal on the moon,they all arranged incense tables below the moon for the worship of the goodness Chang’e,praying for happiness and safeness.Since then,worshipping and appreciating the moon during Mid-autumn festival has become popular until now.

Eating Moon Cake

Eating moon cakes while watching the full moon is a central part of the mid-autumn festival throughout China,and is a symbol of family unity.At the very beginning,the moon cakes were served as a sacrifice to the Moon.The words moon cake first appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty,even though,at that time,the moon cakes were not round.Nowadays,moon cakes are given as presents to loved ones and it represent people’s wishes to be together during the mid-autumn festival.Apart from these two traditional customs,different regions have their own celebrations.