mooncake festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival is in 4 days time!!

Oh yeah~I'm excited!! I get to eat mooncakes!! Yeah right, everything about food food FOOD makes me happy :D


What is Mid-Autumn Festival? The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around late September or early October in the Gregorian calendar.



Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomelos under the moon together. Besides that, we can carry lantern during Mooncake Festival! Much fun ey?


Celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival is strongly associated with the legend of Houyi and Chang'e, the Moon Goddess of Immortality. Chang'E, was married to the great General Hou-Yi of the Imperial Guard. General Hou was a skilled archer.


One day, at the behest of the emperor, he shot down eight of nine suns that had mysteriously appeared in the heaven that morning. His marksmanship was richly rewarded by the emperor and he became very famous.


However, the people feared that these suns would appear again to torture them and dry up the planet, so they prayed to the Goddess of Heaven (Wang Mu) to make General Hou immortal so that he could always defend the emperor, his progeny and the country. Their wish was granted and General Hou was given a Pill of Immortality. Another version of this story notes that Chang'E, the wife of the Divine Archer, shot down nine of ten suns plaguing the world and received the Herb of Immortality as a reward.


Whoever the hero was, Chang'E grabbed the pill (or the herb) and fled to the moon. In some versions it is uncertain whether she ever actually got there, because Chinese operas always portray her as still dancing-flying toward the moon.


When Chang'E reached the moon, she found a tree under which there was a friendly hare. Because the air on the moon is cold, she began coughing and the Immortality Pill came out of her throat.


She thought it would be good to pound the pill into small pieces and scatter them on Earth so that everyone could be immortal. So she ordered the hare to pound the pill, built a palace for herself and remained on the moon.



There are a few sayings about Mooncake Festival. Well, above is just one of the sayings though. You might check it out from your parents or grandparents. :) It's fun just to gather with your family eating mooncake and looking at the big round moon.


Bintulu always rains duing Mooncake Festival past few years. *sigh* Wonders how would it be this year? Hope it doesn't rain and people can go to the beach to enjoy :D










xoxo