Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival （中秋节/中秋節/zhōngqiūjié）

The origin （起源/起源/qǐyuán）

This festival I think it originated from several thousands years ago. And there are many mythologies related to it. Just like other nations’ story about their very early history. Ancient Chinese people also believed there are some divinities or Gods who built the rules and ran the whole world. Like god of sea Poseidon, god of love Aphrodite, god of sun Apollo in Greek mythology or god of love Venus in Roman mythology. For ancient Chinese, the first and most powerful one was called Emperor of Heaven. And they believed that earth, sun and moon are also divinity. Ancient Chinese people awed and worshiped these divinities. If you go to Beijing, the city as capital of China has more than 800 years in history. You can find there are four altars, temple of Heaven, altar of earth, altar of sun and altar of moon, now they all became public parks. Every year in specific time official formal ceremonies were hold in these altars. Also in popular society ancient Chinese people sacrificed these divinities with offering fruits and food. In spring they sacrifice heaven and sun, in autumn they sacrifice moon and on the ceremony moon pie was the food which has to be offered.

The evolution of the festival（演变/演變/yǎnbiàn）

Generation by generation, in popular society and out of the capital where are far from the Emperor, step by step, serious and formal ceremony became casual gathering and entertainment activities. And people sacrificed moon divinity became admiring full moon and enjoying moon light, those sacrificial offerings also became gifts and delicious food in festival days. As I have known, at least from Tang dynasty moon sacrifice had become admiring moon as a casual gathering and activity. One fact caused these changes I think because of the harvest season. In thousands years, China was an agriculture nation. Many important festivals or ceremonies are directly and closely connected with agriculture production cycle. The Mid-Autumn festival was at August 15 in lunar calendar. It is just in harvest season. It was the way for ancient Chinese to reward themselves for whole year’s hard work in field. And people feel happier and more relax. It could be the most important and popular one for ancient Chinese people. And, actually it is almost same as Thanksgiving Day in US and Canada. But there is a small but significant difference between them because of the culture tradition. That is a big topic. I hope to have opportunity to talk a lot more sometime later.

Another important reason which caused Mid-Autumn festival became casual, more entertainment activities and popular is the weather. In that time temperature is cool down, air pressure is relatively high, moon is closest to earth, sky is the clearest around a year. So at this day moon looks bigger and in perfect circle, also more vivid and beautiful. It is a very good time to enjoy under moon light. People were dancing, singing, release sky lamp, play fire dragon, burn tower, writing poem singing, etc place to place. In Qiantang estuary Zhejiang province, because of moon attractive force on earth, every year just in August 15 lunar calendar there is an upsurge tide. The tide could be up to ten meters high.

Around the world（世界各地的类似节日/世界各地的類似節日/shìjiè gèdì de lèisì jiérì）

Back to 5 or 6 hundred years ago, most of nations around the world were living on agriculture production. So agriculture nations generally all hade their own tradition harvest festival and lasted till nowadays.
For example, in German it is called Erntedankfest (harvest festival of thanks). In Korea it is called Chuseok. And in Vietnam it is called tet-troong-thoo. In Israel it is called Sukkoth, etc.

Some related legend or mythology（相关的神话传说/相關的神話傳說/xiāngguān de shénhuà chuánshuō）

There are also many versions of legend stories about Mid-Autumn festival. They were circulated just by verbal, generation by generation, no formal historical records. The original story was told in 《山海经/山海經/shānhǎijīng》, the legend classic of mountain and ocean, and 《淮南子/淮南子/huáinánzǐ》, a philosophical classic. In that story, people connected ancient mythology about moon with Mid-Autumn festival. The key roles in any version of the stories are 后羿/后羿/hòuyì and 嫦娥/嫦娥/cháng’e. Houyi was a legendary hero in ancient Chinese mythology. He shot down nine suns. Change was his wife. But the details of the case about why and how Change flown into moon was very different, even contrary. For today, the details are meaningless.

The unique moon cake（独一无二的月饼/獨一無二的月餅/dúyīwú‘èr de yuèbǐng）

When I grow up every year’s Mid-Autumn the most interesting and enjoyable thing is eating moon cake. It is real delicious. Also it is unique feature in Chinese festival amount the similar harvest festivals around the world. It is said from Tang Dynasty that pie got the name moon pie, before that it was called 胡饼/胡餅/hú bǐng. It was made from flour and many ingredients, something likes pizza pie with ingredients inside not outside. Since then moon pie was made more and more refined, and called moon cake till now.

As I have known in Vietnam their moon cake is square, it was circle some time ago. And in Korea the festival food is called Songpyeon, it is crescent, some kind of steamed rice cake.

Yifan from ChineseTeachers.com