![]() In addition, there are some other customs like playing lanterns, and dragon and lion dances in some regions. On the festival day, family members gather to offer sacrifice to the moon, appreciate the bright full moon, eat moon cakes, and express strong yearnings toward family members and friends who live afar. The most well-known ones include Jade Rabbit Pounding Medicine, Wu Gang Chopping Laurel Tree, and Zhu Yuanzhang and the Moon Cake Uprising. In addition to the romantic legend Chang E Flying to the Moon mentioned above, there are many other legends and stories related to this grand festival. Romantically speaking, the festival is to commemorate Chang E, who in order to protect her beloved husband’s elixir, ate it herself and flew to the moon. By the time of the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127 AD), Mid-Autumn Festival had already become a widely celebrated folk festival. So August 15th of the Chinese lunar calendar, the closest full moon day to the Autumnal Equinox, turned out to be a better choice and was set as a fixed festival. The people expressed their faith more liberally than the royal class and so they did not strictly hold their activities on the Autumnal Equinox. Later in the Sui (581 - 618 AD) and Tang (618 - 907 AD) dynasties, social prosperity inspired the custom of appreciating the moon on the moon sacrifice ceremony day among common people and the two merged. At that time, the custom had no festival background at all. This custom could be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty (1046 - 256 BC) and was more often practiced by the royal class on the Autumnal Equinox. Hence, to express their thanks to the moon and celebrate the harvest, they offered a sacrifice to the moon on autumn days. The ancient Chinese observed that the movement of the moon had a close relationship with changes of the seasons and agricultural production. Mid-Autumn Festival is an inherited custom of moon sacrificial ceremonies. In Taiwan, the one day holiday falls on the festival day. However, it is not scheduled on the festival day, but the following day and it is usually not connected with the weekend. In Hong Kong and Macau, people also enjoy one day off. People in mainland China enjoy one day off on the festival which is usually connected with the weekend. ![]() 1 - 7) and will prolong this holiday to Oct. During the festival, it is common for the Chinese to give moon cakes to their relatives and friends as presents, expressing their love and kind regards.įull of joy and happiness, students gather together to delight in eating moon cakes, grapes or other fresh fruits, appreciating the spectacular beauty of the full moon, and greeting each other with “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!”Īt this time, some may remember the ancient legend of Chang’e, a lady who was an immortal and stayed in a palace on the moon, with an immortal hare keeping her company.National Day holiday (Oct. Many may receive moon cakes sent from their family: the stuffing inside the saccharine pastries varies from pine nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, crystal sugar, egg yolk, bean paste, lotus seed, peanuts, almonds, fresh pork, to many other delicacies. On campus, students who are far from home may gather together sitting in the dormitory, by the Peiyang Lake, on the Peiyang Square, or taking a walk on the stadium. The traditional food for mid-autumn festival is the moon cake which is round and symbolizes reunion. This year the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 15 by the Western calendar. This lively festival takes place on the 15th day of the 8th Chinese lunar month every year. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important annual festivals for the Chinese people and is an official holiday.
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