(Chang E Flying to the Moon Legend)
Do
you know the history and legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival?
The History of The
Mid-Autumn Festival
The early form of the
Mid-Autumn Festival was derived from the custom of moon worship during the Zhou
Dynasty over 3,000 years ago.
In ancient China, most emperors worshiped the moon annually. Then the custom
was accepted by the masses and became more and more popular over time.
The Legends about Mid-Autumn
Festival
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1. Chang E Flying to the Moon
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Chang E Flying to the Moon is
the most widely told Mid-Autumn Festival legend. It is said that in ancient times, ten suns existed in the sky and the extreme heat made people’s lives very difficult. It was the hero Hou Yi, who, owing to his great strength, shot down nine of the ten suns. Later, Hou Yi married a beautiful and kind-hearted woman named Chang E and lived a happy life.
One day, the Queen of Heaven
presented Hou Yi an elixir which, if taken, would help him to ascend immediately to heaven and become a god. Hou Yi took it home and asked Chang
E to keep it. Unfortunately, a villain named Peng Meng got to know it,
broke into their home and demanded Chang E to hand over the elixir while
Hou Yi was out hunting. In a moment of desperation, Chang E swallowed the elixir. Reluctant to leave his husband, Cheng E tried her best to fly to the nearest place to the earth on heaven, which is the moon. Houyi missed Chang E a lot, so he placed foods on tables Chang E likes on full moon day. This custom was later followed by folk people to pray for good luck from Goddess Chang E and gradually formed the Mid-Autumn Festival.
2. Rabbit in the Moon Story
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The Mid-Autumn Festival
rabbit story goes about that three immortals reincarnated themselves into three poor old people and begged food from a fox, a monkey and a
rabbit. The fox and monkey both gave food to the immortals. However,
the rabbit did not have any food. It then said to the immortals: “you can eat me” and jumped into the fire. The immortals were so moved by the rabbit and sent it to the moon to become an immortal jade rabbit. Ever since the Chinese jade rabbit stayed in the Moon Palace to accompany Chang E and pounded immortal medicine for those living in the
heaven. This is a “rabbit in the moon legend”, also known as “jade rabbit story”.
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3. Wu Gang Chopping Laurel
Tree
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This is another well-known
Mid-Autumn Festival legend happening on the moon. Long-time ago, there was a man from Xihe of the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD) named Wu Gang. He once followed the immortals to cultivate himself and became an immortal, too. However, when in heaven, he made a mistake and was banished to the moon to chop the laurel tree. This laurel tree growing in front of the Moon Palace was very flourishing and tall. Each time Wu
Gang chopped the tree, it grew back right after. This happened again and again and the tree was never cut down. The endless hard job was a
punishment for Wu Gang. If you look carefully at the moon in clear nights, you can see a black shadow on it, which is said to be Wu Gang.
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