![]() ![]() Therefore, during Tang Dynasty, Mid-Autumn Festival was officially recognized as a national festival. Once people have this unified belief, it binds a new country. Spreading of culture, especial a common festival, usually symbolizes the true conquer of a new land. By the time of Han Dynasty, people gradually changed their ritual from simply celestial worship to earthly celebrations like honoring the elderly and making mooncakes, the round shape of which symbolized togetherness and reunion.įrom Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, with the extension of the nation land, then Southern festival slowly spread across the new land – the Northern area. “Mid-Autumn Festival” was first termed in Han Dynasty literature – a classic book named Rites of Zhou, according to which people back in Qin Dynasty started welcoming winter and honoring the moon in the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. During the Han Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival became popular in Southern areas in China. Its origins stem from celestial worship, which evolved from celebrating and praying to the moon on the autumn eve in the ancient times. The Mid-Autumn Festival is derived from the traditional Autumnal Equinox Moon Festival. When it comes to the 15 th day of 8 th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, people gather with their loved ones, look up in the moon, eat mooncakes, and pray that all loved ones, lovers and families, will be reunited. People were deeply touched by the story of Houyi and Chang’e, and since then people have placed their own sentiments of longing for love and reunion on the moon where Chang’e lived. In the end, like all love tragedies, like Romeo and Juliet, Houyi and Chang’e loved each other but they were forever separated on earth and moon. And then miraculously, when he looked at the full bright moon, he saw Change’s and the pet bunny’s silhouettes, he knew immediately that was his wife. He cried every day and night with his eyes in the sky looking for his beloved wife. When Houyi got back and found out what happened, he was devastated. This beautiful but fragile woman had no other means to fight back but to swallow the pill and therefore flew up to the sky with her pet bunny. ![]() He knew about elixir and when Houyi left home for hunting, he hid behind and tried to coerce Chang’e to give up the elixir to him. He was envious of everything that his master had. Our wickedness here is named Pangmeng, who was actually one of Houyi’s followers. ![]() Whenever there is a hero, there is the wicked. Houyi gave the pill to his loving wife Chang’e since he didn’t want to end up in heaven alone. The Goddess of the Kunlun Peak, Queen Mother, rewarded Houyi with one elixir pill which would give one an immediate one-way ticket to immortality and heaven. Houyi was therefore respected by earthly people and blessed by heavenly God. From then on, the only sun rises and sets, and this created days and nights. He climbed all the way up to a mountain called Kunlun Peak and shot down 9 suns and left only one. Here, our protagonist is a skilled archer named Houyi who decided to save people from the perpetual misery. ![]() If you ask someone like me, who belongs to the latter group, about Mid-Autumn Festival, I can only share a very limited knowledge beyond a fairytale which all Chinese children will remember.īefore all the dynasties, there were 10 suns in the sky scorching the earth and killing all inhabitants (consider it an ancient version of extreme global warming.) All heroes come from suffering. Chinese who live abroad tend to have deeper attachment to the traditions than those who still live and breathe on the Chinese soil. ![]()
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