Come celebrate with us as we dive into one of the most important festivals celebrated across Asia, also known as the Moon Festival. In last year’s news post, we covered how different countries celebrate the festival. You can read it here.

TLDR

• Summaries of the legend of Chang’e and her companion the Jade Rabbit.

• The Mid-Autumn festival is a traditional holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Lunar calendar - this year’s date being today!

• The history of the festival goes back over 3000 years to the Shang Dynasty.

• People would offer food and drinks to thank the moon for a good harvest as well as pray for good luck. 

• Modern common traditions include appreciation for the full moon, family reunions and enjoying food together. And of course mooncakes! Making and sharing mooncakes is an important tradition of this festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, known as Zhong Qiu Jie in China (中秋节，中 – Middle，秋 – Autumn，节 - Festival), is a traditional holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Lunar calendar, as it is believed that the moon shines the brightest on this day. The history goes back over 3000 years to the Shang Dynasty! Ancient Chinese emperors used to worship the moon in autumn and expressed their gratitude to the gods. 

When the festival became more popular during the Tang Dynasty, people began offering food and drinks to thank the moon for a good harvest as well as pray for good luck. Offerings are also made to the Moon Goddess of Immortality Chang’e. The festival is widely celebrated in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, to name a few. Each country has its own unique traditions and ways to celebrate, with common celebrations such as appreciation for the full moon, family reunions and enjoying food together. And of course mooncakes! Making and sharing mooncakes is an important tradition of this festival.

To celebrate this year’s Mid-Autumn festival, we will dive into the Moon festival's tales.

The Legend of Chang'e

In China, the Mid-Autumn festival is tied to many myths and folk stories, with the most common one being the story of Chang’e (pronounced: Chang Er). Here is a summary from last year’s news post:

“Chang’e was a beautiful woman who lived on Earth with her husband, Houyi. Houyi was a good archer, and he was seen as a hero. For this, he received the elixir of immortality from the Queen mother of the West. Sadly he only had one potion, and he didn’t want to consume it without Chang’e, so he gave it to her for safekeeping. One day, a student of Houyi wanted to steal the elixir. In order to protect the elixir from evil, Chang’e drank it and flew to the moon, becoming the Moon Goddess but leaving her husband behind. Houyi was heartbroken and shouted at the sky, when he caught sight of a figure looking like Chang’e. He put down cakes that Chang’e loved to show her that he thought of her. The mother of the moon was moved by their love, allowing them to see each other on the full moon of the eighth lunar month. On the other days, Chang’e is accompanied on the moon by the mythical Jade Rabbit.”

The Tale of The Jade Rabbit

The Jade Rabbit, also known as the Moon Rabbit who lives on the moon with Chang'e, also has his own stories. Here is a summary of a commonly known version of the story: 

The Jade Emperor arrived on Earth looking for a new divine medicine maker, pretending to be an old man in need of food. He met three animals in a forest: a fox, a rabbit and a monkey. To test them he said: "I am too weak, please bring me some food." The monkey and fox quickly offered him some food but the rabbit, unable to find any, felt guilty and jumped into the fire to offer itself as food. The Jade Emperor, moved by the rabbit’s sacrifice, gave the rabbit eternal life and made it the next divine medicine maker. 

One day, the Queen Mother of the West came looking for the Jade Rabbit for a few pills of immortality. The Jade Rabbit told the Queen Mother that each immortal can only get one pill every 1000 years. The Queen Mother got very upset and insisted on having another pill, to which the Jade Rabbit didn’t dare to refuse and gave her an extra pill. Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor asked the rabbit to determine a punishment for itself, and the Jade Rabbit told the emperor that it would go and live in the Moon Palace with Chang’e.

We hope you enjoyed reading about the tales and history of this festival. We wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn festival! 中秋节快乐 (Zhong Qiu Jie Kuai Le)!

Psst... Do you all remember the Asian Fashion Project? We heard a rumor that the next instalment is hitting the shop later this week

With love,

The Inclusivity Group