Legend of Mooncake Festival(M.4,M6)

Legend of
Mooncake Festival

As with every Chinese festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival has its
Own special food – moon cake. It is a kind of cookie with various Fillings and
different artistic patterns on the surface depicting the legends of the
festival. Generally, it is round, as the Mid- Autumn Festival is a time for family
reunion, and “round” has a similar pronunciation With “reunion” in Chinese.

During the festival, people sacrifice these
cookies to the moon as offerings, eat them for
celebration and present them to relatives and
friends for good wishes. Here below one of the
most popular legend that usually related to the
moon and widely told during the festival days.
(Chang E Flying to the Moon)

The story of Chang E is the most
widely accepted tale regarding the moon
and the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
It is said that in ancient times, ten suns
existed 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.

On hearing of this amazing feat and
the hero who performed it, people came from
far and wide to learn from him. Peng Meng
was among these people. Later, Hou Yi
married a beautiful and kind-hearted woman
named Chang E and lived a happy life. One
day, Hou Yi came upon Wangmu (the queen of
heaven) on the way to meet his old friend.

Wangmu presented him an elixir which, if
took, would cause him to ascend immediately to
heaven and become a god/goddess. Instead of
drinking the potion himself, Hou Yi took it home
and presented it to Chang E to keep.
Unfortunately, Peng Meng secretly saw Hou Yi
give the potion to his wife and three days
later, while Hou Yi was out hunting, Peng Meng
rushed into the backyard and demanded that
Chang E hand over the elixir.

Knowing that she could not win, she took
out the elixir and swallowed it immediately. The
moment she drank it, she flew out of the
window and up into the sky. Chang E’s great
love for her husband drew her towards the
Moon, which is the nearest place to the earth
on the heaven. On realizing what happened to
his wife, Hou Yi was so grieved that he shouted
Chang E’s name to the sky.

He was amazed to see a figure which
looked just like his wife appeared in the Moon.
He took the food liked by Chang E to an altar
and offered it as a sacrifice for her. After
hearing that Chang E became a goddess, folk
people also offered sacrifices to Chang E to
pray for peace and good luck. Since then, the
custom of sacrificing to the moon has been
spread among the folklore.



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