There are two legends which claim to explain the tradition of eating mooncakes.

There are two legends which claim to explain the tradition of eating mooncakes.

One Tang Dynasty myth holds that the Earth once had 10 suns circling it. One day all 10 suns appeared at once, scorching the planet with their heat. It was thanks to a skillful archer named Hou Yi that the Earth was saved. He shot down all but one of the suns. As his reward, the Heavenly Queen Mother gave Hou Yi the Elixir of Immortality, but she warned him that he must use it wisely. Hou Yi ignored her advice and, corrupted by fame and fortune, became a tyrannical leader. Chang-Er, his beautiful wife, could no longer stand by and watch him abuse his power so she stole his Elixir and fled to the moon to escape his angry wrath. And thus began the legend of the beautiful woman in the moon, the Moon Fairy.

One is a myth from the Tang Dynasty, which tells that the earth was surrounded by 10 suns at that time. One day 10 suns appeared in the sky at the same time, and the huge heat almost scorched the earth. Thanks to an archer named Hou Yi who shot down nine suns, the earth was saved. In order to reward Hou Yi, the Queen Mother gave Hou Yi an elixir of immortality, but the Queen Mother warned him that he must use it properly. However, Hou Yi ignored the Queen Mother's warning. He was blinded by fame and fortune and became a tyrant. Hou Yi's beautiful wife Chang'e could no longer stand by and watch his atrocities, so she stole Hou Yi's elixir of life and flew to the moon to escape Hou Yi's wrath. Since then, there has been a legend about the Moon Palace Fairy Chang'e, the beautiful woman on the moon.

The second legend has it that during the Yuan Dynasty, an underground group led by Zhu Yuan Zang was determined to rid the country of Mongolian dominance. The moon cake was created to carry a secret message. When the cake was opened and the message read, an uprising was unleashed which successfully routed the Mongolians. It happened at the time of the full moon, which, some say, explains why mooncakes are eaten at this time.

The second legend is about the Yuan Dynasty , the rebel army led by Zhu Yuanzhang planned an uprising to get rid of the Mongolian rule. They used mooncakes to deliver secret messages. The secret message inside can be found by breaking open the mooncakes. In this way, the rebel army successfully launched an uprising and drove away the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty. This uprising occurred on August 15th, so the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival spread among the people.