Mid Autumn Festival
When Neil
Armstrong became the first man to land on moon on 20th July 1969, he
did not manage to make a date with “Chang Er”.
When he took the first step on moon, he famously says, “This is one step for a man, one giant leap
for mankind”. This may have
dispelled the “Chang Er” myth but to the Chinese, the legendary story of “Chang
Er” which is very much connected to Mid-Autumn Festival is still very much
celebrated in any Chinese community all over the world. Some say her husband was a tyrant, some say
he was a great hero but “Chang Er” remains a perfect wife to a fault.
Legend says “Chang
Er” had sacrificed herself by swallowing an elixir given to her husband, Hou Yi
who apparently shot down nine out of ten suns to relieve people’s suffering
from the extreme heat . She then flew to
Moon and became a Goddess. Eventually,
people offered sacrifices to “Chang Er” to pray for peace and good luck which
led to the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
One legend
leads to another. Three immortals
reincarnated as three poor old mortals who begged food from a fox, a monkey and
a rabbit. The fox and monkey both gave
food to the three immortals in disguise but the rabbit did not as it did not
have any food to offer them. The rabbit
says, “You can eat me” and then
jumped into the fire. On seeing that,
the immortals were so moved by the selfless sacrifice made by the rabbit and
they sent it to moon to become an immortal jade rabbit to accompany “Chang Er”. This perhaps best explained why “Chang Er”
has a rabbit as companion.
Mid-Autumn
Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the
lunar calendar where the moon is said to be at its roundest and brightest. Moon cakes are
typically round which symbolise the full moon of the mid-autumn festival. Egg yolks are usually added to it, which
represent the four phases of the moon turning from full moon to half moon to
crescent as it orbits the earth. It is a reunion occasion where family
members and friends get together akin to Thanksgiving. Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as Lantern
Festival or Mooncake Festival. It is
where people gather to enjoy the mooncakes from the traditional type to even
durian flavoured type, while the children get to parade their lanterns which
glow brightly in the night.
This is to
wish all Chinese a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.
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