How the Chinese Celebrate the Moon During their Second Largest Festival: the Mid-Autumn Festival

This weekend people all over China were celebrating one of China’s biggest festivals, the Mid-Autumn Festival. Only second to the Spring Festival in size and grandeur, the annual Mid-Autumn Festival spans over several days and attracts thousands of participants. Several of the elements of the holiday that creates this enormous attraction, other than the numerous legends associated with it, are the rich history and deep traditions behind it. For centuries the Chinese people have celebrated the fall season and the cycles of the moon, making it all the more special. So this weekend how have the Chinese been celebrating their beloved Mid-Autumn Festival? 

Beginning during the Zhou Dynasty (which lasted from 1046- 256 BC) sacrificial offerings to the moon were a major part of the holiday tradition. The people recognized that the moon cycles played a role in the changing of seasons and thus, affected their autumn harvests. They felt in order to continue having good fall harvests it was necessary to thank the moon for its part. Fast forward to today and sacrificial offerings are a less widespread part of the celebration, only being continued in certain rural areas. 

However, in modern times people still use this time of year to express appreciation of the moon and all it does for us. Family members sit around a table while talking about the wonderful things the moon does for us and why they appreciate its presence. Although it is a more relaxing and less serious custom, its roots are derived from the ancient sacrificial ceremonies of the Zhou Dynasty. 

The offering and consumption of certain foods also has its place in the Mid-Autumn Festival weekend. The food most well known and associated with the holiday is the moon cake. The origins of the moon cake can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty when messages were passed between army leaders using notes baked into moon cakes. One of the leaders began giving the cakes to his subordinates as gifts around the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Since then it became a ritual for families to give each other moon cakes during the festival to signify reunion and the beginning of fall. 

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Other foods including watermelons cut into the shape of lotus flowers, grapefruits, soybeans, oranges, and wine are commonly consumed during this special time. 

In addition to appreciating the moon and eating moon cakes, the Mid-Autumn Festival features many other fun traditions and customs. Some of these include burning of incense, traditional Fire Dragon dances, releasing of festival lanterns, stealing vegetables in hopes of finding “Mr. Right”, and many many more. Certain customs differ depending on what region you are in but there is no doubt that they are all equally interesting and exciting. 

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The History and Legends Behind China's Mid-Autumn Festival

Beginning this weekend and lasting through September 8th is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. This festival is one of China’s most widely celebrated and “grand”, only second to the Spring Festival. Also named the Moon Festival, the holiday revolves around (no pun intended) both the movements of the moon as well as the beginning of the fall season. 

The annual three day celebration of the moon dates back thousands of years to the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC). The ancient Chinese people began to notice a relationship between the movement of the moon and the changing seasons. And with the changing season came the harvests. This connection sparked the beginnings of custom moon sacrificial ceremonies. A practice where the people would make offerings to “thank” the moon during those critical autumn days. 

During the Tang Dynasty the ceremony began to morph into a more widely celebrated folk festival. While still making offerings to the moon, the people would praise and celebrate the harvests too. 

Due to the length of time this festival has been celebrated and the time in which its celebration began, there are many myths and legends associated with the holiday. One of the most well known of which is the story of Chang E flying to the moon. 

The legend says that during ancient times there where ten suns that surrounded our planet, creating extreme heat and making life on Earth very uncomfortable for those who lived here. But a courageous man named Hou Yi wanted to help the people so he shot down nine of the ten suns. Shortly after his heroic act, he met a woman named Chang E. They fell in love and were happily married until his wife was forced to drink a potion that caused her to float away from the earth and towards the heavens. Hou Yi was devastated and cried her name out into the night sky. Upon looking up, he was amazed to see a figure who looked just like his wife standing on the moon. After this discovery, Hou Yi began to pray and make offerings to the moon in honor of his beloved wife. After the other villagers found out the fate of Chang E, they began to do the same until it became a widely spread custom. 

Other popular legends behind the Mid-Autumn Festival include  Wu Gang Chopping Laurel Tree, Jade Rabbit Pounding Medicine, and Zhu Yuanzhang and the Moon Cake Uprising. 

Keep a look out for part two of the Mid Autumn Festival Series to learn about the traditions and celebrations surrounding the exciting holiday! 

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The Chinese Welcome the New Season with the Mid-Autumn Festival

Beginning on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, China welcomes one of its most beloved and anticipated festivals, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. Deeply imbedded with rich Chinese tradition and culture, it has often been dubbed as one of the most important of the traditional Chinese events. Not only that, but it is also one of the most fun and exciting! 

The holiday is also subject to several other titles, including the Moon Festival, Mooncake festival, and the Lantern Festival. 

Three fundamental concepts revolve around this special day; gathering, giving thanks, and praying. These three ideas have been a critical component of the Mid-Autumn festival and carried throughout the centuries since it's origin during the Shang Dynasty. 

One of the most important parts of the festival, as you may have guessed by the different names it's given, is moon worship. In ancient China it was believed that there was a connection between the moon and water that provided you with rejuvenation. Due to these beliefs, it became very popular for women to give offerings and worship the moon on the night after it was full. 

Modern day celebrations still involve offers of rice and wheat being made to the moon, but it also has introduced many new activities over the years. Some of these include parades of lanterns of various sizes, colors, and shapes as well the displaying of handcrafted lanterns, an art form that is heavily emphasized on this day despite its unfortunate decline in popularity in recent years. 

One of the most popular and important activities during the Mid-Autumn Festival is the creation and passing around of moon cakes. Originally, moon cakes were "sacrificed" to the moon during this time as a thank you for that year's fall harvest, since the ancient Chinese people believed the full moon was heavily connected to the changing seasons and

agriculture.  Today, they are still offered to the full moon but also just eaten in celebration with friends and family. The inspiration for the shape of the cakes comes, of course, from the shape of the moon but also from the idea that a circle symbolizes the coming together of family. In addition to enjoying the cakes amongst each other, people also give them as gifts to friends to wish them a long and fulfilled life. 

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