As you’re probably aware, today is the 15th day of the 8th lunar month on the lunar calendar. Of course on the Gregorian calendar that we use, the 15th day of the 8th lunar month varies every year.
This year, in 2023,that’s today.
So what’s so special about today? Because it’s the beginning of the Mid-Autumn Festival in China. The festival is often referred to as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival. The festival gets its name because it’s held around the autumn equinox… and the full Harvest Moon. It’s a traditional festival that’s been celebrated for over 3,000 years.
It is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture — its popularity is on a par with Chinese New Year. The Chinese believe that on this day, the Moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of Autumn, and that the full Moon signals a time of completeness and abundance. So the Mid-Autumn Festival is a day of family reunions, kind of like our Thanksgiving.
The autumn festival falls during the full Moon nearest the fall equinox and it celebrates three fundamental concepts that are closely connected….
Gathering — like family and friends coming together, or the gathering to harvest crops.
Thanksgiving — to give thanks for the harvest, or for harmonious unions.
Praying — asking for conceptual or material satisfaction.
The traditions and myths surrounding the festival are formed around these concepts.
So how did the festival get started?
Chang’e is the goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology. One well-known story about her is what some people believe is the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In a very distant past, Chang’e was a beautiful woman. Ten suns had risen together into the skies and scorched the Earth, thus causing hardships for the people. Hou Yi, a legendary archer and the husband of Chang’e, shot down nine of them, leaving just one Sun, and was rewarded with two potions of the elixir of immortality. As he didn’t want to gain immortality without his beloved wife, Hou Yi waited to consume the elixir and left it with his wife, Chang’e. However, while Hou Yi went out hunting, his apprentice Fengmena broke into his house and tried to force Chang’e to give him the elixir, so Chang’e took both potions herself rather than giving them to Fengmeng. Then Chang’e flew upward past the heavens, choosing the Moon to be her immortal residence as she loved her husband and wished to live near him. When Hou Yi discovered what transpired, he felt responsible for Chang’e, so he displayed the fruits and cakes that his wife had enjoyed, then killed himself. Even today, the Moon Festival wouldn’t be complete without Mooncakes….
So if you need a good reason to celebrate, have your own Moon Festival and check out the Harvest Moon tonight — and say hello to Chang’e.
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