22/9/2010 Mid-Autumn Festival - Wikipedia, the fr…

Mid-Autumn Festival
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Mid-Autumn Festival

Festival, Zhongqiu Festival, or in Chinese, Zhongqiujie
(traditional Chinese: ш ), or in Vietnamese "Tết Trung
Thu", is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese,
Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese people, dating back over
3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty. It
was first called Zhongqiu Jie (literally "Mid-Autumn
Festival") in the Zhou Dynasty.[1] In Malaysia, Singapore, and
the Philippines, it is also sometimes referred to as the
Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival. It is also related
to the important Korean holiday of Chuseok.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the

eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is also celebrated in
late September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. It
Chinese communities such as the San Francisco
is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar
Chinatown.
calendar, when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and
roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, Chinese name
of which there are many different varieties. Traditional Chinese ш
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the few most important Simplified Chinese ш 弜
holidays in the Chinese calendar, the others being Chinese Transliterations
New Year and Winter Solstice, and is a legal holiday in
Mandarin
several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer
harvesting season on this date. Traditionally on this day, - Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngqiūjié
Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the Min
bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and
- Hokkien POJ Tiong-chhiu-chiat
pomelos under the moon together. Accompanying the
celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, Cantonese
such as: - Jyutping zung 1 cau 1 zit 3

Putting pomelo rinds on one's head Min name

Carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, Chinese 悟━
floating sky lanterns Transliterations
Burning incense in reverence to deities including
Min
Chang'e (Chinese: 咤傅; pinyin: Cháng'é)
Planting Mid-Autumn trees - Hokkien POJ Peh-go̍ eh-cheh
Collecting dandelion leaves and distributing them - Min-dong BUC Báik-nguŏk-cáik
evenly among family members
Vietnamese name
Fire Dragon Dances
In Taiwan, since the 1980s, barbecuing meat outdoors Quốc ngữ Tết Trung Thu
has become a widespread way to celebrate the Mid- Chữ nôm ш
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Autumn Festival.[2][3]

Shops selling mooncakes before the festival often display pictures of

Chang'e floating to the moon.

Contents
1 Stories of the Mid-Autumn Festival
1.1 Houyi and Chang'e
1.2 The Hare or The Jade Rabbit
1.3 Overthrow of Mongol rule
2 Vietnamese version
3 Dates
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations in
Victoria Park, Hong Kong
Stories of the Mid-Autumn Festival
Houyi and Chang'e

Celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival is strongly associated with the

legend of Houyi and Chang'e, the Moon Goddess of Immortality.
Tradition places these two figures from Chinese mythology around
2170 BCE, during the reign of the legendary Emperor Yao, shortly
after that of Huangdi. Unlike many lunar deities in other cultures who
personify the moon, Chang'e simply lives on the moon but is not the
moon per se.
Mooncakes are often eaten during the
There are many variants and adaptations of the legend of Chang'e that festival.
frequently contradict each other. However, most versions of the
legend involve some variation of the following elements: Houyi, the

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legend involve some variation of the following elements: Houyi, the
Archer, an emperor, either benevolent or malevolent, and an elixir of
life.

One version of the legend states that Houyi was an immortal and
Chang'e was a beautiful young girl, working in the palace of the Jade
Emperor (the Emperor of Heaven, 條 pinyin:Yùdì) as an attendant
to the Queen Mother of the West (the Jade Emperor's wife). Houyi
aroused the jealousy of the other immortals, who then slandered him
before the Jade Emperor. Houyi and his wife, Chang'e, were
subsequently banished from heaven. They were forced to live on
Earth. Houyi had to hunt to survive and became a skilled and famous
archer.

At that time, there were ten suns, in the form of three-legged birds,
residing in a mulberry tree in the eastern sea. Each day one of the sun
birds would have to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by
Xihe, the 'mother' of the suns. One day, all ten of the suns circled
together, causing the Earth to burn. Emperor Yao, the Emperor of Mid-Autumn Festival at the Botanical
Garden, Montreal
China, commanded Houyi to use his archery skill to shoot down all
but one of the suns. Upon completion of his task, the Emperor
rewarded Houyi with a pill that granted eternal life. Emperor Yao advised Houyi not to swallow the pill immediately
but instead to prepare himself by praying and fasting for a year before taking it.[4] Houyi took the pill home and hid
it under a rafter. One day, Houyi was summoned away again by Emperor Yao. During her husband's absence,
Chang'e, noticed a white beam of light beckoning from the rafters, and discovered the pill. Chang'e swallowed it
and immediately found that she could fly. Houyi returned home, realizing what had happened he began to reprimand
his wife. Chang'e escaped by flying out the window into the sky.[4]

Houyi pursued her halfway across the heavens but was forced to return to Earth because of strong winds. Chang'e
reached the moon, where she coughed up part of the pill.[4] Chang'e commanded the hare that lived on the moon to
make another pill. Chang'e would then be able to return to Earth and her husband.

The legend states that the hare is still pounding herbs, trying to make the pill. Houyi built himself a palace in the sun,
representing "Yang" (the male principle), in contrast to Chang'e's home on the moon which represents "Yin" (the
female principle). Once a year, on the fifteenth day of the full moon, Houyi visits his wife. That is the reason why the
moon is very full and beautiful on that night.[4]

This description appears in written form in two Western Han dynasty (206 BC-24 AD) collections; Shan Hai Jing,
the Classic of the Mountains and Seas and Huainanzi, a philosophical classic.[5]

Another version of the legend, similar to the one above, differs in saying that Chang'e swallowed the pill of
immortality because Peng, one of Houyi's many apprentice archers, tried to force her to give the pill to him.
Knowing that she could not fight off Peng, Chang'e had no choice but to swallow the pill herself.

Other versions say that Houyi and Chang'e were still immortals living in heaven at the time that Houyi killed nine of
the suns. The sun birds were the sons of the Jade Emperor, who punished Houyi and Chang'e by forcing them to
live on Earth as mortals. Seeing that Chang'e felt extremely miserable over her loss of immortality, Houyi decided to
find the pill that would restore it. At the end of his quest, he met the Queen Mother of the West, who agreed to give
him the pill, but warned him that each person would only need half a pill to regain immortality. Houyi brought the pill
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home and stored it in a case. He warned Chang'e not to open the case, and then left home for a while. Like
Pandora in Greek mythology, Chang'e became curious. She opened up the case and found the pill, just as Houyi
was returning home. Nervous that Houyi would catch her, discovering the contents of the case, she accidentally
swallowed the entire pill, and started to float into the sky because of the overdose.

Some versions of the legend do not refer to Houyi or Chang'e as having previously been immortals and initially
present them as mortals instead.

There are also versions of the story in which Houyi is rewarded for killing nine of the suns and saving the people by
being made king. However, King Houyi became a despot. He gained the pill of immortality, either by stealing it
from the Queen Mother of the West or by learning that he could make pills by grinding up the body of an
adolescent boy every night for a hundred nights. Chang'e stole the pill and swallowed it herself, either to stop more
boys being killed or to prevent her husband's tyrannical rule from lasting forever.

The Hare or The Jade Rabbit

According to tradition, the Jade Rabbit pounds medicine, together
with the lady, Chang'e, for the gods. Others say that the Jade Rabbit
is a shape, assumed by Chang'e herself. The dark areas to the top of
the full moon may be construed as the figure of a rabbit. The animal's
ears point to the upper right, while at the left are two large circular
areas, representing its head and body.[6]

In this legend, three fairy sages transformed themselves into pitiful old
men, and begged for food from a fox, a monkey, and a hare. The fox
and the monkey both had food to give to the old men, but the hare,
empty-handed, jumped into a blazing fire to offer his own flesh
instead. The sages were so touched by the hare's sacrifice and act of
kindness that they let him live in the Moon Palace, where he became
the "Jade Rabbit".

Overthrow of Mongol rule

According to a widespread folk tale (not necessarily supported by

historical records), the Mid-Autumn Festival commemorates an A depiction of Chang'e and the Jade
uprising in China against the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty Rabbit
(1280–1368) in the 14th century.[7] As group gatherings were
banned, it was impossible to make plans for a rebellion.[7] Noting that the Mongols did not eat mooncakes, Liu
Bowen (視貨 ) of Zhejiang Province, advisor to the Chinese rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang, came up with the idea
of timing the rebellion to coincide with the Mid-Autumn Festival. He sought permission to distribute thousands of
moon cakes to the Chinese residents in the city to bless the longevity of the Mongol emperor. Inside each cake,
however, was inserted a piece of paper with the message: "Kill the Mongols on the 15th day of the 8th month"
(traditional Chinese: 悟━順陰鐱 坏; simplified Chinese: 悟━順陰┹ 坏).[7] On the night of the Moon
Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of
the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), under Zhu. Henceforth, the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated with moon
cakes on a national level.

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Vietnamese version
The Mid-Autumn festival is named "Tết Trung Thu" in Vietnamese.

The Vietnamese version of the holiday recounts the legend of Cuội,

whose wife accidentally urinated on a sacred banyan tree, taking him
with it to the Moon. Every year, on the mid-autumn festival, children
light lanterns and participate in a procession to show Cuội the way to
Earth.[8]

In Vietnam, Mooncakes are typically square rather than round, though

round ones do exist. Besides the indigenous tale of the banyan tree,
other legends are widely told including the story of the Moon Lady,
Vietnamese children celebrating the Mid-
and the story of the carp who wanted to become a dragon.[8]
Autumn Festival with traditional 5-
pointed star-shaped lantern
One important event before and during Vietnamese Mid-Autumn
Festival are lion dances. The dances are performed by both non-
professional children group and trained professional groups. Lion dance groups perform on the streets go to houses
asking for permission to perform for them. If accepted by the host, "the lion" will come in and start dancing as a
wish of luck and fortune and the host gives back lucky money to show thankfulness.

Dates
The moon festival will occur on these days in coming years:[9]

2010: September 22
2011: September 12
2012: September 30
2013: September 19
2014: September 8
2015: September 27
2016: September 15
2017: October 4
2018: September 24
2019: September 13
2020: October 1

See also
Chinese New Year
Chinese holidays
List of Harvest Festivals
Tsukimi, analogous Japanese festival
Chuseok, analogous Korean festival
Tidal bore of Qiantang River
Vietnamese holidays
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Vietnamese culture

References
1. ^ Chinese language article about references to the Mid Autumn festival in ancient Chinese text - chinapage.com
(http://www.chinapage.com/festival/midautumn.html)
2. ^ [1] (http://www.culture.tw/index.php?option=com_content&task=rdmap&id=1417&Itemid=262)
3. ^ [2] (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/foreign-community/2009/10/04/227279/Mid-Autumn-Festival.htm)
4. ^ a b c d Chinatown.com.au (http://www.chinatown.com.au/eng/article.asp?masterid=155&articleid=736)
5. ^ Shanghai me (http://www.shme.com/culture/legend/houyi.htm)
6. ^ Chinatown Online - your guide to all things Chinese (http://www.chinatown.com.au/eng/article.asp?
masterid=155&articleid=736)
7. ^ a b c Examination of the legend against the historical backdrop of mongol dynasty
(http://www.chinatownology.com/mooncake_and_mongols.html)
8. ^ a b familyculture.com tettrungthu (http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/tettrungthu.htm)
9. ^ "Chinese Lunar Network" (http://nongli114.com/index.php/lunarHoliday/2009/21.html) (in Simplified Chinese).
http://nongli114.com/index.php/lunarHoliday/2009/21.html.

External links
Lantern Festival (http://www.lantern-festival.com/) Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival Planning & Production
Moon Festival in San Francisco (http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/events/moonfestival.html)
Autumn Moon Festival in Australia (http://www.moonlanternfestival.com.au)
chinatown.com.au (http://www.chinatown.com.au/eng/article.asp?masterid=155&articleid=736)
The Stories of the Chinese Moon Festival (http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/midfallstory.htm)
Origin of Mid-Autumn Festival (http://www.chinavoc.com/festivals/Midautumn.htm#cake)
Têt Trung Thu (http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/tettrungthu.htm)
More photos of Mid-Autumn Festival (http://www.12hk.com/festivals/MidAutumn/MidAutumn.html)
Free Moon Festival Resources - Learning Chinese (http://www.childbook.com/Chinese-Moon-Festival-
Midautumn-Festival-s/94.htm)
Chinese Moon Festival in Thailand (http://chiangmaibest.com/chiang-mai-events-thailand-holidays/chinese-
moon-festival-wan-wai-phra-jan/)

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Categories: Chinese holidays | Chinese traditional religion | Festivals in China | Vietnamese culture | Festivals in
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holidays | Public holidays in Vietnam | Harvest festivals

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