Let’s Celebrate the Chinese
Moon Festival on 9/27/15
by Winny Lin 林龍素華
On the night of September 27, when
the harvest moon appears abnormally large and bright as “blood moon”,Chinese
all over the world will celebrate the second biggest festival of the year,
“Moon Festival”, as it is August 15 on the lunar calendar. While some of you are admiring supermoon
eclipse, I probably will look for Chang’e, the beautiful Chinese Moon Lady somewhere
on the moon.
The legend says thousands of years
ago, the world had 10 suns that burned down the plants and people were starved
to death. But along came Hou Yi in China, he shot down 9 suns with his bow and
arrows and became a hero. People admired him and made him their ruler. However
Hou Yi changed his temperament for the worse and wished for immortality. He
found a magic elixir from a Goddess in Heaven. Before he could take it, his
beautiful wife, Chang’r took it instead to spare the people from the rule of
her cruel husband. Immediately
after she took it, she flew to the moon taking with her beloved house pet, the
rabbit, for company. Now she and
the Jade Rabbit live forever in the cold and desolate palace on the moon.
Other than the folktale of the Moon
Lady (Chang’r), Chinese also celebrate the holiday with moon cakes. My husband and
I have already sampled a couple of fresh moon cakes from a popular
bakery in Oakland, CA. Yummy!
$3.50 each. But the ones in the boxes are more expensive, especially the ones
imported to the States from Hong Kong. The legend also says that during Yuan Dynasty
(1280-1368 AD), the Hans plotted a revolt against the Mongols by concealing
their message in the moon cakes. Talk about an interesting filling!
The Moon Festival is also a perfect
time to teach students a poem by a famous Chinese poet Li Bai of the Tang
Dynasty. His poems are simple,
romantic, but beautiful!
静夜思 QUIET NIGHT
by 李白 Li Bai
床前明月光 Moonbeam by my bed,
疑是地上霜 Or frost on the ground?
舉頭望明月 I look up at the bright moon,
低頭思故鄉 I bow my head and think of my hometown.
Tonight we just bought a box of moon
cakes to share with all who will come this Sunday to our monthly meeting.
Enjoy!
In China, Moon Festival is the time
for family gathering, when women (not men) worship the Moon with food, flowers,
incense, and pomelo fruit. I know
I will look at the fullest moon on September 27, and search for the beautiful
Moon Lady (Chang’r), what will you be doing?
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