Today is the Festival of Lanterns in China - known as the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is the most celebrated festival in the region, after the Chinese New Year celebrations.
The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates the full moon on this particular day - it is always celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month, according to the Chinese calendar, which is usually sometime in September or October, according to the western Gregorian calendar.
This day celebrates the story behind the Yin and Yang concepts - the Male and Female parts which come together to make a whole - seen when the sun meets the moon, making it appear on this day at its fullest and brightest all year.
The story essentially tells of an immortal named Houyi, who was married to Chang'e, a beautiful lady who worked in the palace of the Emperor of Heaven, the Jade Emperor. Because the couple were so beautiful, they arose a lot of jealousy from the other immortals, who had Houyi and his wife banished from Heaven, and forced to live on Earth. Houyi became a hunter, and soon became famous for his skills in archery.
One day, Emperor Yao, who was the Emperor of China at that time, commanded Houyi's assistance. There were ten suns, in the form of three-legged birds, who lived in a mulberry tree in the Eastern Sea. Each day one of these sun-birds would have to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe, the mother of the suns. One day something strange happened, and all ten sun-birds started circling the Earth together, causing the land to burn.
Emperor Yao asked Houyi to shoot down nine of the ten suns, to save the earth from the heat of all the suns. Houyi did this, and was rewarded with a pill that granted immortality - Emperor Yao advised him not to take the pill immediately, but to prepare himself by praying and fasting for a year before taking it. Houyi took the pill home and hid it.
One day Houyi was called away by Emperor Yao - and his wife Chang'e noticed a white beam of light emitting from the pill. She discovered it in the house, swallowed it, and discovered she could fly. Houyi arrived home as she was flying out of the window - he pursued her half-way across the heavens, but soon found he could go no further and was pushed back to Earth.
Chang'e reached the moon, where she commanded the Jade Hare that lives there to make another pill so she could be reunited with her husband.
The legend says the Jade Hare continues to pound the herbs trying to make another pill of immortality.
Meanwhile Houyi built a palace in the Sun, representing Yang (the male principle).
And Chang'e lived on the Moon, representing the Yin (female principle).
Once a year, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festiva, Houyi visits his wife on the moon, which is why the moon is said to be at its brightest and fullest on that night.
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| Moon Cakes eaten to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon |
This day celebrates the story behind the Yin and Yang concepts - the Male and Female parts which come together to make a whole - seen when the sun meets the moon, making it appear on this day at its fullest and brightest all year.
The story essentially tells of an immortal named Houyi, who was married to Chang'e, a beautiful lady who worked in the palace of the Emperor of Heaven, the Jade Emperor. Because the couple were so beautiful, they arose a lot of jealousy from the other immortals, who had Houyi and his wife banished from Heaven, and forced to live on Earth. Houyi became a hunter, and soon became famous for his skills in archery.
One day, Emperor Yao, who was the Emperor of China at that time, commanded Houyi's assistance. There were ten suns, in the form of three-legged birds, who lived in a mulberry tree in the Eastern Sea. Each day one of these sun-birds would have to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe, the mother of the suns. One day something strange happened, and all ten sun-birds started circling the Earth together, causing the land to burn.
Emperor Yao asked Houyi to shoot down nine of the ten suns, to save the earth from the heat of all the suns. Houyi did this, and was rewarded with a pill that granted immortality - Emperor Yao advised him not to take the pill immediately, but to prepare himself by praying and fasting for a year before taking it. Houyi took the pill home and hid it.
One day Houyi was called away by Emperor Yao - and his wife Chang'e noticed a white beam of light emitting from the pill. She discovered it in the house, swallowed it, and discovered she could fly. Houyi arrived home as she was flying out of the window - he pursued her half-way across the heavens, but soon found he could go no further and was pushed back to Earth.
Chang'e reached the moon, where she commanded the Jade Hare that lives there to make another pill so she could be reunited with her husband.
The legend says the Jade Hare continues to pound the herbs trying to make another pill of immortality.
Meanwhile Houyi built a palace in the Sun, representing Yang (the male principle).
And Chang'e lived on the Moon, representing the Yin (female principle).
Once a year, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festiva, Houyi visits his wife on the moon, which is why the moon is said to be at its brightest and fullest on that night.