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Happy Mid-Autumn Festival !

 

According to the lunar calendar, the 15th of August is the Mid – Autumn Festival, which is called 中秋节 (zhōng qiū jié) in Chinese. This year, it falls on the 19th of September and in today’s blog, we are going to introduce you the legend behind this day and how it is currently celebrated.

 

It is said that in ancient China, there were ten suns in the sky and that the Goddess of Heaven asked a man called Hou Yi to shoot down nine in order to get rid of such an excess. In return, the Goddess gave a pill to the man to become immortal, which was taken by his wife Chang’e. She was very selfish and simply wanted to enjoy her life alone. As a consequence, she was punished to live in the moon on her own. However, Hou Yi loved his wife very much and he decided to do something to remember her. Every year on Mid – Autumn Day (since then a Festival) when the moon was in its brightest and roundest time, he always used to make pastries. By doing this, Hou Yi had the hope that Chang’e could return to be with him.

 

The above tradition has evolved and nowadays, Chinese families like to celebrate the Mid – Autumn Festival together. Even though some are far from home, they always try their best to go back. Besides making a big meal, Chinese people eat moon cakes, which are the typical pastry on this day and resemble those prepared by Hou Yi. Moon cakes are normally round or reticular and are filled with lotus seed paste or red beans, although lately they are available with any imaginable filling, such as ice cream.

 

Moon cakes are not only a domestic snack now, but also they have become truly international. One can find them in London, UK and in other countries with Chinatowns, which have helped to the popularization of this festival out of China.

 

In conclusion, Mid – Autumn Festival is a very traditional celebration in China, and our school first4mandarin wish everybody a Happy Mid – Autumn Day! 中秋节快乐! (zhōng qiū jié kuài lè!)

 

You can read the whole article here.

 

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