My family just celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival on Tuesday, September 7th.
The Mid-Autumn Festival lands on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar. Eating mooncakes, fruits, nuts, and hanging lanterns during the festival is a tradition. On that day we ate lotus seed paste mooncakes with egg yolks inside and mixed nuts mooncakes which were very delicious. We also ate apples, pears, peaches, grapes, peanuts, and chestnuts. This day is also believed to have the moon at its fullest and roundest size. Roundness represents completeness and togetherness, which is why most mooncakes are round. After we finished eating, we went outside for moon gazing. At that time, the moon was as bright as a lightbulb and was beautifully round and full.
My parents told me interesting stories about how the Mid-Autumn Festival is based on the legend of the Moon Goddess, Chang’e. She was the wife of Hou Yi, the archer who shot nine of the ten suns down from the sky and saved the world from scorching to death. As a reward, the Queen Mother of the West gave Hou Yi an elixir of immortality. Instead of Hou Yi having it, Chang’e swallowed it to prevent an evil apprentice from taking it and floated up to the moon because she became very light. To this day, Chang’e is still there, with only Tu Yu, her pet rabbit, with her as a company.
The festival became an official celebration during the Tang Dynasty. It was a day for the emperors to give harvest offerings to the moon. This festival is an important gathering for families to reunite.
I enjoyed the festival very much, and my favorite part of the Mid-Autumn Festival was eating mooncakes and spending time with my family. I am looking forward to celebrating the festival again next year!
