In the past, the festival was celebrated only during harvest seasons. The Mid-Autumn Festival has a history spanning over 3,000 years and for a long time, people have believed that worshiping the moon and eating together around a round table will bring them good luck and happiness. The Mid-Autumn festival falls on 21 st September this year. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, which is in September or early October. The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or the Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated primarily in both East and Southeast Asia. The most well-known varieties harvested in this period are: Oolong Tea, the fine and original Yellow Tea, Red (black) Tea and Puer Shu (ripe) Tea.Mid-Autumn Festival 2021 – What Is It and Why Do We Celebrate It? In autumn, varieties of tea are also harvested to be sold and consumed all over the world. Teas harvested in autumnĭuring this holiday, people pray for a prosperous and abundant harvest. The people who knew him, out of solidarity, began to participate in these offerings, asking the moon goddess to grant them health and prosperity. Her husband Hou Yi, hearing the news with great sorrow, began to offer gifts to the moon. To prevent Peng Meng from living forever, Chang’e anticipated him and drank the miraculous drink, becoming immortal herself.Ĭhang’e flew to heaven and, in order to remain close to her husband whom she loved very much, decided to choose the moon as her home. On 15 August, a wicked apprentice named Peng Meng tried to steal the elixir while Hou Yi was out hunting. Even though he was unknowing, Yi did not want to become immortal without his beloved wife Chang’e, to whom he entrusted the bottle of elixir. Legend has it that an immortal in heaven admired Hou Yi’s courage so much that he gave him the elixir of immortality. “Handbook of Chinese Mythology’ by Lihui Yang Yi shot down nine of the suns and left only one to shine. One year, the ten suns rose into the sky together, causing a great disaster for the people. In the ancient past, there was a hero named Hou Yi who was excellent at archery. The Mid-Autumn Festival is linked to the legend of Chang’e, the goddess of the moon and immortality, and her husband Houyi. Moon worshipĬhinese tradition is full of interesting legends such as The Festival of Stars in Love or The Full Autumn Moon, which you can read on our blog. On the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, these lanterns are illuminated and metaphorically become a beacon that lights the way for people to prosperity and good fortune. This is a favourite activity of children who, together with their parents, create colourful lanterns of all sizes and shapes. In fact, in China, the round shape symbolises “fullness” and “union”: the head of the family would take a mooncake, cut it into wedges and distribute it to the other family members so they could all enjoy it together. Tradition has it that Mooncakes, filled with red bean cream or sweet lotus paste, are eaten within the family as a sign of togetherness. Traditions Eating MooncakesĪs mentioned above, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Mooncake Festival, named after these typical Chinese sweets that remind us of the moon and the time when the Chinese emperor prayed to the moon for the harvest. This year, the festival falls on 21 September. The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid-September to early October of the Gregorian calendar. During the celebrations, the Chinese emperor would make a prayer to the moon for an abundant harvest throughout the following year. The tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival dates back 3,000 years to the Zhou dynasty and was consolidated during the Tang dynasty. Let’s discover the origins and traditions of this festival! The origins The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) also called the Mooncake Festival has ancient origins and is the most important Chinese festival after New Year’s Eve.
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