The legend of Mid-Autumn Festival is very rich, and the fairy tales such as the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang's felling of laurel and Jade Rabbit's smashing medicine are widely circulated.
Mid-Autumn Festival Legend Story 1: the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon
In ancient times, there were ten days in the sky at the same time, and the crops were withered and the people were miserable. A hero named Hou Yi was of infinite strength. He sympathized with the suffering people, drew his bow, shot down more than nine suns in one breath, and ordered the last sun to rise and fall on time to benefit the people. Hou Yi's wife's name is Chang 'e. Hou Yi spent all his time with his wife except hunting. Many people with lofty ideals came here to study as a teacher, and Peng Meng, who had ulterior motives, also mixed in.
One day, Hou Yi visited friends in Kunlun Mountain and asked the Queen Mother for a pack of elixir. It is said that taking this medicine can instantly ascend to heaven and become immortal. However, Hou Yi was reluctant to leave his wife and temporarily gave the immortal medicine to Chang 'e for collection. Chang 'e hid the medicine in the treasure box of the dresser. Three days later, Hou Yi led his followers out hunting, and Peng Meng, who had ulterior motives, pretended to be ill and did not go out. Soon after Hou Yi led the crowd away, Peng Meng broke into the backyard of the inner house with a sword and threatened Chang 'e to hand over the elixir. Chang 'e knew that she was no match for Peng Meng. In a crisis, she turned and opened the treasure box, took out the elixir and swallowed it in one gulp. Chang 'e swallowed the medicine and immediately floated off the ground, rushed out of the window and flew to the sky. Because Chang 'e was concerned about her husband, she flew to the nearest moon and became a fairy.
In the evening, when Hou Yi came home, the maids cried about what happened during the day. Hou Yi was shocked and angry, and drew his sword to kill the villains. Peng Meng had already fled. Hou Yi was so angry that he was heartbroken and looked up at the night sky to call Chang 'e. At this time, he found that today's moon was exceptionally bright and bright, and there was a shaking figure resembling Chang 'e. When Hou Yi missed his wife, he sent someone to Chang 'e's favorite back garden, put a table incense, put on Chang 'e's favorite honey and fresh fruit, and offered a remote sacrifice to Chang 'e in the moon palace. After hearing the news that the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon became an immortal, people set up incense tables under the moon to pray for good luck and peace to the kind Chang 'e. Since then, the custom of Yue Bai in Mid-Autumn Festival has spread among the people.
Legend of Mid-Autumn Festival Story 2: Wu Gang Cutting Guangxi
Legend has it that there is a laurel tree in the moon, and Huainanzi has said that "there is a laurel tree in the moon". Later, the legend is more specific, and WU GANG, a man who cut laurel, was added next to the laurel tree. The legend of the laurel tree and WU GANG in the middle of the month is the most concrete one contained in the first volume "Tianzhi" before Duan Chengshi's "Youyang Miscellaneous" in the Tang Dynasty. Its cloud says: "As the old saying goes, there are laurels and toads in the moon, so different books say that the laurel is 500 feet high, and there is a person who often digs it, and the tree creates it." The surname is Wu Minggang, a native of Xihe, and he has learned from immortals and ordered to cut down trees. " It means that Wu Gang once followed the immortal to the heaven, but he made a mistake, so the immortal sent him to the moon and ordered him to cut down the immortal tree-laurel. The laurel is as high as 500 feet, and it can be cut together. Emperor Yan used this endless labor as a punishment for WU GANG. In Li Bai's poems, there is a record that "if you want to be in the middle of the moon, you will pay for the cold."
Legend of Mid-Autumn Festival Story 3: Jade Rabbit Beats Medicine
This legend was first seen in "Dong Escape from Han Yuefu": "The Jade Rabbit kneels down for a long time to pound the medicine toad pill, and presents a jade plate to your majesty. After taking this medicine, you will get a fairy." According to legend, there is a rabbit in the moon, which is as white as jade, so it is called "Jade Rabbit". This kind of white rabbit holds a jade pestle, kneels down and smashes medicine into toad pills. Taking these pills can lead to immortality. Jade rabbit is probably the earliest playmate of Chang 'e in Guanghan Palace.
Summary: The first three Mid-Autumn Festival stories are full of myths and legends. As for the relationship between the three, there is one saying: It is said that Yi got the elixir from the Queen Mother of the West and gave it to Heng E for safekeeping. When Feng Meng heard about it, he went to steal, but if he didn't steal, he would harm Heng E. In desperation, Heng E swallowed the elixir and flew to the sky. Unable to leave the village, Heng E stayed in the Moon Palace. It was unbearable to be lonely in the Guanghan Palace, so he urged WU GANG to cut down laurel trees, let Yutu pound medicine, and wanted to make it into soaring medicine, so as to return to the world and reunite with Yi as soon as possible.
The following three legends have a certain historical prototype and are closely related to well-known historical figures and historical records. Let's continue to savor it!
Legend Story 4 of Mid-Autumn Festival: Xuanzong Traveling to the Moon
According to legend, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, Shen Tianshi and Taoist Hongdu all looked at the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Suddenly, Emperor Xuanzong raised the idea of visiting the moon palace, so Tianshi did it, and the three of them started to go to Qingyun and roam the moon palace. However, the palace is heavily guarded, so it is impossible to enter, and you can only overlook the imperial city of Chang 'an. On this occasion, I suddenly heard the sound of fairy tales, beautiful and wonderful, and moving! Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was always familiar with melody, so he memorized it in his heart. This is precisely "this song should only be in the sky, and how many times can the world hear it!" In the future, Xuanzong recalled the music and singing of Xiane in the Moon Palace, and composed music and choreographed it himself. This is the famous "colorful plumage" in history.
Mid-Autumn Festival Legend Story 5: Yue Bai, The Story Of Diu Sim
The Story Of Diu Sim was the singer of Stuart Wangyun at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. She was very beautiful and had the appearance of being truly beautiful. Legend has it that The Story Of Diu Sim was born, and in three years, the local peach and apricot blossoms bloomed and withered; At midnight in Yue Bai, The Story Of Diu Sim, Chang 'e felt ashamed in the moon and hurried into the clouds; The Story Of Diu Sim's figure is pretty, her ears are blue, her willows are swaying when she walks, and she is more elegant when she is quiet. The beauty of The Story Of Diu Sim is spectacular. It is precisely because of this beauty that Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu, who are domineering over power, turned against each other and made the turbulent ruling and opposition parties feel a little peaceful.
Mid-Autumn Festival Legend Story 6: drinking Alone with the Moon
The poet Li Bai wrote about himself in drinking Alone with the Moon among the flowers. The sentence "to bring me my shadow and make us three" is wonderfully conceived, which shows his lonely and bold feelings. "Li Shi Zhi Jie": "This is a drink for the moon alone, and it is also fun to be open-minded." When the poet enters the stage, the background is the flower room, the prop is a pot of wine, the role of the poet is only himself, the action is to drink alone, and with the words "no blind date", the scene is very monotonous. So the poet suddenly had a whim, pulling the bright moon on the horizon and his own shadow under the moonlight, and even himself, turned into three people, raising a glass and drinking, and the deserted scene became lively.
Mid-Autumn Festival Legend Story 7: Moon Cake Uprising
It is said that eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival began in Yuan Dynasty. At that time, the broad masses of people in the Central Plains could not bear the cruel rule of the ruling class in the Yuan Dynasty and rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty. Unite various resistance forces to prepare for the uprising. However, the officers and men of the court searched very closely and it was very difficult to pass on the news. Strategist Liu Bowen came up with a plan and ordered his subordinates to hide the note containing the "August 15th night uprising" into the cake, and then sent someone to send it to the uprising troops in various places separately to inform them to respond to the uprising on August 15th night. On the day of the uprising, all the rebels responded together. Soon, Xu Da captured the Yuan Dynasty and the uprising was successful. When the news came, Zhu Yuanzhang was so happy that he quickly gave a message that all the soldiers would have fun with the people in the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, and he would give the "moon cakes" that were sent in secret when he started fighting that year as seasonal cakes to his ministers. Since then, the production of "moon cakes" has become more sophisticated and more varied. After that, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival spread among the people.