Zhong Qiu Jie, which is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar.?
It is a time for family members and loved ones to congregate and enjoy the full moon - an auspicious symbol of abundance, harmony and luck. Adults will usually indulge in fragrant mooncakes of many varieties with a good cup of piping hot Chinese tea, while the little ones run around with their brightly-lit lanterns.
August 15th of the lunar calendar is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in China. On this day, every family gets together, and the whole family watches the full moon, which symbolizes abundance, harmony and luck. At this time, adults are eating delicious moon cakes and sipping hot fragrant teas, while children are playing with rabbit lights.
Zhong Qiu Jie probably began as a harvest festival. The festival was later given a mythological flavour with legends of Chang-E, the beautiful lady in the moon.
The Mid-Autumn Festival may be a festival to celebrate the harvest at the earliest. Later, the fairy tale of Chang 'e, a beautiful fairy in the Moon Palace, gave it a mythical color.
According to Chinese mythology, the earth once had 10 suns circling over it. One day, all 10 suns appeared together, scorching the earth with their heat. The earth was saved when a strong archer, Hou Yi, succeeded in shooting down 9 of the suns.?
Yi stole the elixir of life to save the people from his tyrannical rule, but his wife, Chang-E drank it. Thus started the legend of the lady in the moon to whom young Chinese girls would pray at the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Legend has it that in ancient times, there were 10 suns in the sky. One day, these 10 suns appeared at the same time, and the heat was overwhelming. Archers shot down nine of the suns the following year, saving the life on the earth. He stole the elixir of life, but his wife Chang 'e secretly drank it. Since then, every year when the Mid-Autumn Festival is full, the legend that girls have to pray for the moon goddess Chang 'e has spread.
In the 14th century, the eating of mooncakes at Zhong Qiu Jie was given a new significance.?
The story goes that when Zhu Yuan Zhang was plotting to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty started by the Mongolians, the rebels hid their messages in the Mid-Autumn mooncakes. Zhong Qiu Jie is hence also a commemoration of the overthrow of the Mongolians by the Han people.
In the14th century, eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival was given a special meaning. Legend has it that when Zhu Yuanzhang led an uprising to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty, soldiers hid contact letters in moon cakes. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival later became the anniversary of the overthrow of Mongolian rule by Han people.
During the Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1206- 1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung Dynasty (A.D.960- / kloc-0/279) were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered.?
The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Packed into each mooncake was a message with the outline of the attack.?
On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368- 1 644). Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this event.
In the Yuan Dynasty, Mongols ruled China. The former rulers were unwilling to let the regime fall into the hands of foreigners, so they plotted a joint uprising. As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the uprising leader ordered his men to make a special kind of moon cake and hide the uprising plan in each moon cake. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the rebels won, overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty. Today, people eat moon cakes to commemorate this event.