Celebrating the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival | Chinese Moon Festival

On the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the Chinese and many Asian countries celebrate the Harvest Moon. This festival is called the Chinese Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie). The date changes yearly on the western calendar. This festival is the second most important festival in the Chinese Lunar Calendar after the Spring Festival. Each year, when the festival comes people go home from every part of the country and the world to meet with their family and have dinner with them. Chinese people believe that on that day, the moon is the roundest and brightest signaling a time of completeness and abundance.

The legend behind this festival supposedly occurs around 2170 B.C. The earth had 10 suns and everyday one of the suns would circle the earth. One day all 10 of the suns circled the earth at same time, burning the earth with their heat. A tyrannical archer named Hou Yi saved the earth by shooting down 9 of the suns with his bow and arrows. A goddess gave Hou Yi the elixir of life as a reward for saving the earth. This elixir would have made Hou Yi immortal. Chang Er, his wife, drank the elixir of life to save the people from her husband’s tyrannical rule. After drinking the elixir, Chang Er began floating and flew to the moon. Hou Yi loved his beautiful wife so much he could not bring himself to shoot down the moon.

Wu Gang worked as a wood cutter. He always dreamed of becoming an immortal, but he never worked hard to learn the necessary theology. The Jade Emperor became angry with him because of his laziness. To punish him, the Jade Emperor planted a great cherry tree, which was 5460 feet high, on the moon and told Wu Gang if he chopped it down, then would become an immortal. With these words, Wu Gang was very serious, but he could never finish his work. The cherry tree healed every time that Wu Gang chopped it. Wu Gang wouldn’t give up. He tried time and time again. On un-cloudy nights people can see shadows on the moon. They are made by the huge cherry tree.

One day, three immortals that were living in heaven came down to the earth. They asked a fox, a monkey and a rabbit to find some food for them. The fox and the monkey both found something for the three immortals while the rabbit could find nothing. The rabbit felt very sorry for the three immortals. Finally, he jumped into the fire and said to the three immortals, "Eat me, please!" The three immortal were deeply moved by the rabbit. They decided to give the rabbit the title of "Jade Rabbit" and let him stay with Chang Er in the Moon Palace.

A traditional dish served at the Chinese Moon Festival is Moon Cakes.  I have a video shown below that will show you how to make them. This is a late addition to this Hub. I had a difficult time finding one that was done in English.

Expida offers Last Minute Deals in Vegas - Hotels from $79 - Expires 10/15/10 Get your top travel deals before they expire. Excellent hotel and Air Fare rates. Many hotels are offered! Pick your place to stay and have fun!

View Expida's Top Travel Deals at Expedia.com View a listing of Expida's top current deals. Many destinations and hotels are offer!

I hope you found this article about the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival interesting and informative. Please feel free to leave your comments and share your own opinions and comments plus give your thumbs vote. Send me a email if you have a request on a topic of interest. It’s FREE to join my Fan club, subscribe by Email, my RSS Feed or join me on Hubpages with a click of your mouse.

Join Hubpages and Make Money Click Here