The moon festival is one of the mooooooooooooooooooost important festivals in China and Vietnam. As we know Chinese follow the lunar calendar and not solar. What is lunar calendar? It is the moon’s cycles around the earth unlike solar calendar which is the earth’s movement around the sun.
Do you know what a moon festival is?
It is a Chinese harvest festival like Thanksgiving (America) and Pongal (India). It is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the 8th moon. The moon appears larger than at any time of the year. The moon represents happy life. It happens around September -October of solar calendar. People meet friends and family outside under the moonlight and eat yummy moon cake. They have lion parades; face painting, fun stuff for kids, children parade on the streets, singing with colorful lanterns in hands and cool hats for girls. There are several different shapes of lanterns including butterflies ,rabbit, flowers, lady bugs, fishes, and stars. In China, because the moon festival honors the female goddess of the moon, the women in the family prepare for the holiday and the girl kids gets lots of cool stuff!!!! In Vietnam, it is celebrated more as children's festival by the sound of drums and the twinkle of star-shaped lanterns (den ong sao). People trade boxes of moon cakes with friends and family.
History of Moon Festival
Here is one version of the Chinese legend. Chang E once was dancing in the Jade Emperor’s court. She accidently broke a vase, so the Jade Emperor sends her down to earth to live as a human being. When Change E grew up she married an archer name Hou Yi. One day 10 suns were burning the earth with heat, Hou Yi being a powerful archer shot down 9 suns with his magical arrow. The Jade Emperor was impressed and he gave Hou Yi a pill. If he ate the pill, he will be immortal but he needs to wait for some time before eating it. Hou Yi took the pill home and hid it. Chang E found it and ate it. She became very light and flew to the moon and became the Goddess of Moon. Hou Yi, went to the sun and built a palace there and so Hou Yi represents the Sun God. Some say Chang E is not alone in the moon. There is a Jade rabbit making pills of immortality and a wood cutter name Wu Gang who was punished by the Jade Emperor for his laziness and was asked to cut down trees on the moon. The Jade Rabbit became immortal when he sacrificed himself to a fire to feed an old man. Some say Jade Rabbit was formed when Chang E spit out some portions of the pill she took.
Do you know why moon cake is so special?
History of Moon Festival
Here is one version of the Chinese legend. Chang E once was dancing in the Jade Emperor’s court. She accidently broke a vase, so the Jade Emperor sends her down to earth to live as a human being. When Change E grew up she married an archer name Hou Yi. One day 10 suns were burning the earth with heat, Hou Yi being a powerful archer shot down 9 suns with his magical arrow. The Jade Emperor was impressed and he gave Hou Yi a pill. If he ate the pill, he will be immortal but he needs to wait for some time before eating it. Hou Yi took the pill home and hid it. Chang E found it and ate it. She became very light and flew to the moon and became the Goddess of Moon. Hou Yi, went to the sun and built a palace there and so Hou Yi represents the Sun God. Some say Chang E is not alone in the moon. There is a Jade rabbit making pills of immortality and a wood cutter name Wu Gang who was punished by the Jade Emperor for his laziness and was asked to cut down trees on the moon. The Jade Rabbit became immortal when he sacrificed himself to a fire to feed an old man. Some say Jade Rabbit was formed when Chang E spit out some portions of the pill she took.
Do you know why moon cake is so special?
THE LION PARADE
THE YUMMY MOON CAKE
Here’s why. Long time ago China was ruled by Mongols. The Chinese were devastated. They wanted to overthrow Mongols. The Mongols did not eat moon cake, so the Chinese hid their plan of attack inside the moon cake. They passed moon cake from house to house. The Mongols were flabbergasted by the attack and the Chinese won. To this day, moon cakes are credited for victory.
Now you know a lot about the Moon Festival, I hope you will like to visit one. I had been to one at OSU and saw lion parades and had yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy moon cake.