The legend of the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mid-Autumn Festival: who you can meet on the moon and why you should eat mooncakes
Economy
If you work with Chinese suppliers, you will find the schedule of official holidays in China for 2017 useful:
Like most other countries, the Chinese celebrate New Year according to the Gregorian calendar.
Chinese New Year (Spring Day) - January 27 to February 2
January 22 (Sunday), as well as February 4 (Saturday) in 2017 are working days.
Eastern New Year is celebrated at different times every year. This is due to the lunar calendar. In 2017, Chinese New Year will begin on January 28th. And although official holidays will only be from January 27 to February 2, in practice the Chinese celebrate the New Year for about two weeks, somewhere until February 11-15.
New Year in China is a family holiday that must be celebrated with parents and relatives and always on a grand scale. All business life comes to a standstill, so we advise you to discuss in advance with your supplier if the production time of your products is around these dates. Also, if you purchase goods through the online platforms Aliexpress or Aliebaba, there may be delays in correspondence and in the production of goods.
This is an ancient holiday, on this day the Chinese go to the graves of their ancestors to clean up the cemetery and decorate the graves with flowers and wreaths. On this day, it is also customary to decorate the entrance doors with willow trees, and fly kites in the evening. Many Chinese also simply travel to nature to enjoy the spring weather.
The Dragon Boat Festival is considered one of the most ancient festivals in China. On this day, the people of the Celestial Empire organize boat races with dragons on their bows.
Mid-Autumn Festival (October 4) and Founding Day of the People's Republic of China - October 1 to 8
This year these holidays coincide, so they are celebrated together for a week.
On Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Worship Day, Chinese families gather at a table outdoors and admire the moon. The full moon on this day symbolizes peace and prosperity for the family.
The Founding Day of the People's Republic of China is the most important public holiday in China; on this day in 1949 the formation of the People's Republic of China was proclaimed. Usually celebrated from October 1 to October 7, but this year it has been extended by one day for Moon Worship Day. On this day, everything is decorated with flowers and flags, festivities are held in the country's parks, and fireworks are set off in the evening.
Mid-Autumn Festival(中秋节), or Zhongqiujie, falls on the 15th day of the 8th month according to the lunar calendar. This holiday is also called the Moon Festival. The Chinese believe that this is the best day to enjoy the moon. It began to be celebrated at the end of the 10th century, during the Song Dynasty.
Associated with this holiday the legend of the beautiful Chang E, the beloved of the famous archer Hou Yi. They say that in ancient times 10 suns immediately appeared in the sky. The heat destroyed the harvest and many people died. And so the men decided to make a huge bow and arrows. When the bow was ready, they asked Hou Yi for help. He climbed a high mountain and killed 9 suns with arrows, leaving only one to illuminate the earth. For saving people, the goddess Sivanmu rewarded the brave Hou of Immortality with an elixir. Anyone who ate one grain of this elixir could live forever and not grow old, and if he ate two, he could ascend to the moon. His beloved Chang E had long dreamed of visiting the moon, and therefore, when Hou Yi was not at home, she decided to try this potion. It was exactly the 15th day of the 8th month. But no matter how beautiful it was on the Moon, she felt very lonely there, and so every year on August 15 she lights a lamp and brightly illuminates the earth with it in order to see her beloved husband at least for a moment.
Since then, on this day it has been customary to admire the beauty of the Moon.
There's another one interesting legend. As you know, in the 13th century China was conquered by the Mongols. The Chinese were belittled and humiliated in every possible way, and discontent was brewing in society. A certain man named Zhang Shijing initiated the uprising. On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he sent out a message calling for an uprising on the 15th day of the eighth moon. The message itself was hidden in “moon cakes”, which began to spread among the entire people and became a kind of means of communication. On the night of the holiday, an anti-Mongol uprising began.
Like many other traditional Chinese holidays, on this day it is customary to get together with your family, prepare various treats and congratulate each other. The traditional food on this day is “yuebin” (月 yue - moon, 饼 bin - gingerbread, cake), or mooncake. They are shaped like a lunar disk, and are prepared from wheat flour with butter, and come in both sweet (filled with sugar, walnuts, raisins and dried fruits) and salty. Preparations for this holiday begin long before it begins; mooncakes often appear on store shelves at the end of summer. It is customary to give mooncakes to friends. This is a kind of wish for well-being in the family.
Wonderful Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 (Zhōngqiū jié, in Russian transcription according to the Palladian system, the holiday is usually called Zhongqiu), which is also called the Moon and Harvest Festival, is traditionally celebrated in China on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. In 2012 中秋节 falls on September 30th. Formerly a traditional Chinese folk festival, Zhongqiu is now an official public holiday.
Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节, or Moon Day, is celebrated annually on the 15th day of the 8th month.
In this article I would like to talk about the legend of the origin of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and the traditions of its celebration.
The Legend of the Origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival - Zhongqiu
In ancient times, ten suns appeared in the sky. A terrible drought began, the crops perished, the land dried up. However, there lived on earth a hero named Howe(后羿, Hòu yì), who possessed incredible strength. He climbed to the top of Mount Kunlun, pulled the string of his bow and fired arrows at nine suns at once, hitting them with one shot.
The Chinese hero Hou is famous for killing 9 suns with one arrow.
Then, he ordered the remaining, tenth, sun to rise and fall on time. Hero Hou, whose heroic deed brought happiness to the people of the whole Earth and saved lives, earned the respect and love of the people. Many admirers of Howe asked him to become his students.
Soon, he married a beautiful girl named Chang'e(嫦娥, Cháng'é), whom he loved very much. One day, the hero Hou went to Mount Kunlun to visit his friend. On the way, he met the heavenly sorceress ruler. She gave Hou the elixir of immortality and promised that by drinking the elixir, Hou could immediately ascend to heaven and gain eternal life. But Hou did not want to leave his beloved Chang'e alone, so he gave the elixir of immortality to his wife for safekeeping, who hid it in a jewelry box.
The wife of the hero Hou is the beautiful Chang'e
One day, when the hero Hou was not at home, one of his students came to his house with the intention of taking possession of the elixir of immortality. Threatening with a sword, he began to demand that Chang'e give up the wonderful potion. The girl understood that she was not a rival to the armed forces. However, seeing the evil in his heart, she immediately realized that the warrior could not be allowed to gain such power. Therefore, she had no choice but to drink the elixir of immortality herself. At the same moment, when the last drop was drunk, Chang'e took off from the ground, flew out through the window and flew to the moon.
Returning home, Hero Howe learned about what had happened. He fell to his knees, peering into the night sky in despair, calling his beloved by name. Suddenly he noticed that on the moon, which was surprisingly bright and light that night, a shadow similar to Chang’e flashed. Hero Hou rushed after the Moon with all his might, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not overtake her.
Silhouette of a Chinese Chang'e girl on the moon and a moon hare. According to legend, the moon hare is a girl’s devoted friend
Every day, Hou yearned for his wife and ordered a table for a ritual incense burner to be installed in the garden where his beloved Chang’e loved to walk, and his wife’s favorite sweets and fruits to be placed on it as a sacrifice. Having learned that Chang'e had gone to the Moon and gained immortality, people, one after another, began to light incense in the evening hours under the Moon and ask Chang'e to send them happiness and prosperity. Since then, the custom of worshiping the Moon on Mid-Autumn Day has spread among the people.
Of course, there are a huge number of versions and retellings of this legend. According to some of them, the hero Hou inherited the magic elixir from his mother, according to others, Hou’s wife Chang’e drank the elixir herself, seduced by eternal immortality, etc. Here, as in any folklore, it is difficult to single out one of the many legends, however, the general meaning remains the same - the lovers were separated, the husband remained on Earth, and his wife still lives on the distant cold Moon.
Celebration traditions 中秋节
Since this day is a public holiday in China, the celebration usually lasts from one to three days. These days it is customary for the whole family to gather (the Moon also symbolizes a circle - a sign of unification). Noisy feasts are not complete without (月饼, Yuè bǐng). On this day, it is believed that the moon in the sky is the fullest and roundest of the entire year, so the Yuebing mooncake is shaped like the moon. Mooncake symbolizes all the wonderful desires of people, as well as love and loyalty. Therefore, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is customary to give Yuebin gift wrappings to relatives and friends as a symbol of their love and friendship.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Day, in China it is customary to eat Yuebin - mooncakes.
The Moon Festival, also called the Mid-Autumn Festival, is considered one of the main traditional holidays celebrated by the Chinese. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of each year according to the Chinese lunar calendar. This year it falls on September 30, 2012.
The festival was first held as an official holiday at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty and became widely celebrated in the Song Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, it became as important as the New Year (Yuan Dan). The story of the origin of the Moon Festival, like any other holiday, has been passed down from one generation to another. She is associated with the moon maiden Chang'e.
According to Chinese legend, there was a time when 10 suns shone in the sky, scorching the earth and depriving people of water and life. A hero named Hou Yi shot down nine out of ten suns with a bow and arrow and thereby saved the people. He received from the Queen Mother the elixir of immortality, which could turn a mortal person into an immortal one and allow him to live in heaven. Hou gave the elixir to his wife Chang'e for safekeeping. The neighbor found out about this and tried to take away the precious drink. In desperation, Chang'e drank the elixir and, turning into a goddess, flew to the moon.
When Hou Yi returned home, he did not find his wife. When he raised his eyes to the sky to call her, he saw that the moon that night was especially bright and full. He caught a glimpse of his wife. He took out the round gingerbread cookies that Chang'e loved and prayed, asking for heaven's blessing for her. Since then, people have worshiped the sky and eaten round mooncakes on this day.
The Chinese do many different things to celebrate the Moon Festival, but most of the traditions are now forgotten, except that many people buy and eat Mooncakes (round gingerbread stuffed with sugar, seeds and spices). However, these legends formed the basis of many anime of Eastern culture, the animation of which is so loved by both children and adults.
The first time I learned about the Moon Festival, I was 7 years old. My grandmother, following ancient traditions, wears traditional Chinese button-down shirts. On the night of the Moon Festival, she quietly slipped out of the room. I was curious to see what she was doing, so I tried to follow her. But my grandmother sent me away and told me to go home.
Unsettled, I followed her to the end of the yard of our house. I saw that she had laid out dishes of fruits and mooncakes. Grandmother placed the incense in the light and knelt down to pray. I looked at her and then quickly walked away.
I later learned that my grandmother prayed to Heaven and Earth, since the Moon Festival not only worships the Moon Goddess, but also expresses gratitude to Heaven and Earth. On this day, families come together to celebrate the holiday in unity.
After the fruits and mooncakes are presented to the Earth God and Moon Goddess, the people divide the mooncakes among themselves. Traditionally, they are divided into many parts, one part for each family member. If any family member is absent, then a piece should be left for him.
There are many unusual holidays in the world. China with its centuries-old culture became the birthplace of many of them. Here you can attend the Lantern and Dragon Boat Festivals, Double Seven and Double Nine celebrations. One of the people's favorites is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is saturated with poetry, filled with joy and the radiance of the magical moon.
When is it celebrated?
If the Chinese New Year is about worshiping the sun, then Mid-Autumn is the time to honor the night star. The holiday is celebrated on the night from the 15th to the 16th day of the eighth month according to the lunar calendar. Usually this is the end of September or the beginning of October.
The Mid-Autumn Festival in China is also called the Moon Festival. It is believed that on this day it is the largest, roundest and most beautiful. The fullness of the luminary symbolizes several important values at once: fertility, unity of a large family, beauty, success, love. And also - longing for the Motherland or loved ones who are far away. There is a very beautiful legend associated with the holiday. This is a romantic story about archer Hou Yi and his lover Chang'e.
Mid-Autumn Festival in China: the legend
In ancient times, there were 10 suns. They went up to the sky one by one, but one day they ascended at the same time. The heat from them almost destroyed everything on the planet, but the brave archer Hou Yi shot down 9 luminaries with arrows. The Empress of Heaven favored him from then on and gave him an elixir that granted immortality and heavenly life as a deity.
The archer had a beloved wife, Chang'e, to whom he gave the magic drink for safekeeping. When Hou Yi was away, a bad man came to the house and wanted to become immortal. He threatened Chang'e, and she was forced to drink the elixir herself so that it would not fall into the wrong hands. Immediately after this, the woman became a deity. She was transported to the Moon, which is closest to Earth, and began to live there alone. With her is only a jade hare, pounding the potion of immortality in a mortar.
Chang'e is forced to miss her husband from afar. Hou Yi also grieved, looking at the night star. One day the moon seemed especially close to him, he ran after it with all his might, but could not catch up. Then the yearning husband began to make offerings to his wife from her favorite dishes and incense in his garden. People who learned this sad story also sacrificed food to the goddess Chang'e and asked for her protection. This is how the holiday arose.
History of the Moon Festival
The first written mentions of it date back to the Zhou era. Their age is about three thousand years. In those days, the rulers made sacrifices to the moon every year after the harvest so that it would make the lands fertile in the coming year.
During the times (618-907), the tradition of admiring the moon and making offerings to it was adopted by commoners. She got used to it. In the 10th-13th centuries, when the rules of the holiday were celebrated widely, gradually acquiring magnificent ceremonies and rituals. Starting from the 14th century, it began to be considered one of the main ones and remains so to this day. How is Mid-Autumn Festival celebrated in China?
"Mooncakes"
On this day, all family members gather under the open night sky. The tables are set. Round fruits are displayed on them: watermelons, melons, plums, grapes, apples, grapefruits, etc. Mooncakes (yuebing) are a must-have food for the Mid-Autumn Festival in China. They are round, like the disk of a night star. They depict the goddess Chang'e, the frog into which she turned according to some legends, her palace, the moon hare, or simply beautiful patterns.
They symbolize prosperity and a happy family reunion. On the eve of the celebration, they are sold in all shops and supermarkets. It is customary to give them to friends and acquaintances. After the ritual worship of the moon, gingerbread is eaten.
How is Mid-Autumn Festival celebrated in China?
On this day, city streets are beautifully decorated. Lanterns are burning everywhere, illumination is sparkling. An atmosphere of unity is created. Families try to get together for the holiday. Food is given as gifts. Children are given moon bunnies. Celebrations with songs, dances, and theatrical performances take place on the streets. Everything is dedicated to the moon: they admire it, read poems about it. Lanterns are launched towards her in memory of the love of the goddess Chang'e and the archer Hou Yi.
Particular attention is paid to the older generation. Elderly people are surrounded by attention and care. In villages, families spend the night outdoors under the full moon. The tables are set. Relatives treat themselves, meditate on the bright luminary, look for the shadow of Chang'e and the moon hare on it. They remember those who are no longer in this world.
Celebration traditions in different provinces
The Middle Kingdom is a large country with a large population. Mid-Autumn Festival traditions in China vary depending on the area. Each province has its own legends, beliefs, and customs.
- In some areas there is a dragon dance. Tourists can see it, for example, in Hong Kong. A burning dragon with incense sticks stuck into it rushes through the streets of the city, meandering in a bizarre dance.
- In Longyan County, the middle of the mooncake is cut out and given to the older generation of the family. This hints that there are secrets that young people do not yet need to know about due to their age.
- In Wuxi County, where it is customary to burn “Dousiang” incense in the evening for the Moon Festival. The pot with aromatic resin is wrapped in silk, on which the night luminary is depicted.
- In the city of Dongguan, lonely boys and girls burn incense under the moon, asking the spirits for help in finding love.
- In Hejian County, which is located in Hebei Province, rain on the holiday is considered a bad omen. It is called "bitter" because it predicts a bad harvest.
The Mid-Autumn Festival in China is a vibrant event. Tourists who visit it are immersed in a special atmosphere of warmth, poetry, and joy. Participating in traditional holidays is the best way to get acquainted with the culture of a foreign country and feel a sense of belonging with the locals.
