By the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration had become unprecedented popular, with the appearance of some special customs in different parts of the country, such as playing under the moon, burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers, or performing fire dragon dances. Nowadays, while many customs of playing under the moon are no longer observed, the custom of enjoying the bright silver moon and eating moon cakes remains an important part of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Whenever the festival comes, people tend to look up at the full silver moon and drink wine as a way to celebrate their happy life and to extend their best wishes to their relatives and friends far from home.
Legends of Mid-Autumn Festival
As people are enjoying the enchanting spell of the Mid-autumn night, they are often reminded of the many beautiful legends about the moon.
Legend (1): Chang E Ascending to the Moon
It is said that there were 10 suns in the sky during the ancient times, scorching the earth and its crops. To save the world from the misery, a skilled archer, Hou Yi, shot down nine of the suns.
Hou Yi's extraordinary deeds won the love and respect of many common people, some of whom came to him to seek instruction, including Peng Meng, an evil man.
Soon after, Hou Yi married Chang E, a beautiful and kindhearted woman. One day, Hou Yi encountered the Mother Goddess of Heaven, who gave him an elixir of immortality. Unwilling to leave his wife, Hou Yi handed the elixir to Chang E, who hid it in a locker of her dresser. Peng Meng saw the whole process.
Several days later, when Hou Yi went hunting with his apprentices, Peng Meng, pretending to be ill, stayed at home. Soon after they left, Peng, holding a sword in hand, broke into Chang E's room and tried to force her to give him the elixir. Knowing that she could not defeat him, Chang turned around, got the elixir and swallowed it. Right after she swallowed the elixir, Chang began floating upwards into the sky, and with her heart on her husband, she settled down on the moon, the nearest body from the earth.
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