Mid-Autumn Festival
Published on Nov 18, 2015
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
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The Mid-Autumn festival is a festival that is celebrated in many places in Asia on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month
The date of the festival was selected because that is when the moon is at its best and the fruits are ripe.
Chinese people celebrate the festival by having a family reunion(tuanyuan) looking at the moon(yueliang) eating mooncakes(yuebing) and fresh fruits.
Regions that celebrate that also celebrate the festival
- Korea
- Vietnam
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Singapore
Video for Mid-Autumn Festival (must copy and paste):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVy4sSbEFnY
HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL:
Chang E was a woman that swallowed an elixir and flew to the moon. when her husband got home the maid had told him what happend. thinking about her day and night he arranged a table and held a ceremony in her rememberance. the table had fresh fruits and sweetmeats upon it. as people heard what happend to Chang E they also began to worship and pray. all wishing her good fortune. generations after generations have done the same.
The Mid-Autumn Festival and Thanksgiving are very similar but they also have their differences.....
The festival is to get together and worship the moon. Thanksgiving is together and have a feast and give thanks.
Thanksgiving is the day the pilgrams came to America on the mayflower. The festival is for the day Chang E flew to the moon.
The autumn air is clear,
The autumn moon is bright.
Fallen leaves gather and scatter, The jackdaw perches and starts anew.
We think of each other- when will we meet?
This hour, this night, my feelings are hard. -li bai
OTHER LEGENDS
Wu Gang Chopping Laurel Tree
If look carefully at the moon in clear nights, one can see a black shadow on it. This is another fairy tale. Long time ago, there was a man from Xihe of Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD) named Wu Gang. He once followed the immortals to cultivate himself and became an immortal too. However, when in the heaven, he made a mistake and was banished to the moon to chop the laurel tree. This laurel tree growing in front of the Moon Palace was very flourishing and tall. Each time Wu Gang chopped it, it grew back right. This happened again and again and the tree was never cut down. The endless hard job was a punishment for Wu Gang.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Moon Cake Uprising
In late Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368 AD), people in many parts of the country could not bear the cruel rule of the government and rose in revolt. Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD), united the different resistance forces and wanted to organize an uprising. However, due to the narrow search by government, it was very difficult to pass messages. The counselor Liu Bowen later though out the great idea of hiding notes with “uprise on the night of August 15th” in moon cakes and had them sent to different resistance forces. The uprising turned to be very successful and Zhu was so happy that he awarded his subjects with moon cakes on the following Mid-Autumn Festival. Since then, eating moon cakes has been a custom on Mid-Autumn Festival.
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival
zhongqiu jie kuaile
