Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15~ day of the 8~h lunar month. The moon seems to he the fullest and brightest on that night. The full moon symbolizes family reunion to the Chinese and they take the festival as an occasion of family reunion. On that day, those who a~ far away from home may have a sense of nostalgia in their heart when they gaze at the full and attractive moon high in the sky. Chinese poets like to use the moon as the favorite theme of their poems. Su Shi wrote a poem n the Mid-Autumn Festival, whose lines m~y Chinese can recall and rec te: " Now clear, now cloudy, the moon is never stable. No, there's no perfection. Not in heaven, not on earth. If only we could live Io a green old age, sharing her beauty, together though far, far apart.
It is recorded in the Song Dynasty that high officials and noble lords gathered in their own pavilions In admire the glorious moon, while common people admire the atlracOon from wine shops.
From the tale of the old man in the moon, it is said the moon is endowed with a power of deciding people is matrimonial destiny. The old man in the moon is a matchmaker. Some unmarried young people in ancient times lit candles and burned joss socks under the Mid-Autumn moon to pray for a happy marriage.
When people gaze at the quiet and lovely moon. they cannot help thinking about Chang E and the Moon Palace. Chang Eis Flying towards the Moon is known to all Chinese. According to a Chinese folktale, Chang E was Hou Yi is wife. Hou Yi was ahero who took sympathy on the common people in disaster. After he shot down 9 drought causing suns, comnlon people's lives were saved. A Taoist priest offered him fue elixir of life for his good deed for people. Hou Yi told Chang E if one has all the pills, he would fly to the moon and live fo~ver, if two people share the pills, they would live on earth an endless life. He planned to have it together with his wife someday. However, one day when he was out, the curious wife Chang E swallowed them all. Immediately she found herself flying up to the moon. She and a jade white rabbit lived lonely in the Moon Palace. The shadows on the moon make the story all the more credible and fascinating to imaginative minds.
Almost every Chinese festival is accompanied with some special food. Moon-cake is the traditional food marking this festival. Cakes of different sizes are stuffed with a variety of fillings such as bean paste, lbJit, egg yolk, dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, pineapple, pork, sesames and so on. The round shape of the food is the symbol of both the fullness of the moon and family reunion. It used to be the sacrifice offered to the moon. A popular legend of the origin of the food goes like this: Common people in the late Yuan Dynasty were forbidden to use ironware for fear they would rebel with it as their weapon, A leader of the peasants established contact between people by distributing moon-cakes with a note inside. The words "kill the Yuan soldiers on August 15" were written on the note. After the overthrow of the Yuan rulers, people have moon cake on that day every year to celebrate the victory by the successful contact. Later on, members of a family have elaborately made cakes (symbolic offering the moon spirits ) together. The festival was gradually tinted with the meaning of a happy family reunion. On this occasion, when family members get togethe~ beneath the clear moonlight having tasty moon cakes, various kinds of fresh and dry fruits are also the dainly snacks for the l~stival.