Chinese Mid-autumn Festival

The Chinese having an unbroken line of civilizations and dynasties for 5,000 years treat the Mid-autumn festival as its second most important holiday of the year. All civilizations after the yearly harvests have festivals to thank their Gods for the blessings they have received shown by the big crops of wheat, rice, corn, which will let them live until next year.

Today this event in China is called the Mooncake Festival which starts on Sept. 15 and ends on Sept. 21 (based on the Lunar Calendar). The story is that Goddess Chang’e was married to God Hou Yi, the great archer who shot down 9 of the 10 suns burning the earth and saved all the people in the world and allowed crops to grow. Chang’e stole Hou Yi’s bottle containing the water of immortality. She was banished to the moon and lived in Moon Palace with her rabbit Yu Tu. Hou Yi still loved Chang’e and at night looked at the moon hoping to see her. Before going to sleep, Hou Yi would leave Chang’e’s favorite cakes and fruit in the garden.

This story created several Chinese traditions. 1. The full moon represents completeness/togetherness of the family so the family after harvest time celebrate at home. 2. Offerings are made to the Goddess Chang’e. 3. Children try to look for the shadow of the ears of Chang’e’s rabbit Yu Tu through barely visible moon craters, mountain lines. 4. People from Xiamen during the mooncake festival play a dice game called Pua Tiong Chiu with hopia of different sizes as prizes. 5. The cakes are round, like the moon, not cubes/squares. 6. The Chinese people suffered greatly during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

Freedom fighter leader Zhu Yuanzhang led an uprising. The coup was scheduled on the mooncake festival when everyone was busy for the fiesta. The date was written and inserted in the mooncakes that were given to the coup leaders. Liu Bowen thought of this secret way of telling the group. The Yuan troops surrendered. Later Zhu gifted his ministers with mooncakes, making the celebration more popular.

The mid-autumn harvest moon festival in Korea is called Chuseok Hangawi. In Japan it is called Tsukimi meaning looking at the moon. Like in China the festival is a family gathering and round rice cakes/rice dumplings are given. In Korea looking for the rabbit in the moon is called Daltokki; in Japan Tsukino Usagi.

Happy Fiesta!