The festival is the time when the moon is the brightest and closest to Earth. Since the moon is the focus on the Mid-Autumn festival, people will come together for moon viewing parties. You can also make your own DIY lantern to enjoy the occasion. You will still find lantern in a variety of shapes, colours and sizes on display contributing to the festive atmosphere. However, in modern times, due to environmental and safety concerns, this practice has become less and less. Lanterns are an integral part of the festival celebrations and one of the oldest traditions.ĭuring Mid-Autumn Festival, people would write wishes on lanterns and then release them into the sky. Reunion Dinnerĭuring Mid-Autumn Festival, family and friends gather together for a reunion dinner to give thanks. Since the Mid-Autumn Festival is about appreciating the moon, celebrations typically happen at night. You might be wondering what there is to do during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Hou Yi who missed his wife left out some offerings for her (ie, some of her favourite foods) and looked to the moon in hopes of seeing her shadow. Regardless of the reason behind why she took the elixir, all versions of the story include Chang’e becoming immortal after drinking the elixir and floating to the moon such as to never be able to be with her husband again. In another variation, Chang’e is described to have taken the elixir out of greed so that she could become immortal. One of them is that Hou Yi’s apprentice tried to steal the elixir so Chang’e drank it to save it which made her immortal. Now there are many variations to the rest of the story as to how and why Chang’e end up acquiring such elixir of immortality and becoming the Chinese Goodess of the Moon. The Gods rewarded Hou Yi with an elixir of immortality with enough to give just one person the gift of immortality. Hou Yi, the skillful archer that he was, successfully shot down nine out of the ten suns. The ten suns made it difficult for crops to be grown which would jeopardize the food sources of the people. It starts off with Hou Yi, a skilled archer and the husband of Chang’e, who was tasked to shoot down the ten suns in the sky that were causing extreme hot conditions on Earth.

The story of Chang’e, Chinese Goddess of the moon, is celebrated as part of the Mid-Autumn Festival. If you’re wondering what is the Mid-Autumn Festival legend, here’s a brief rundown. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival and some people compare it to North American Thanksgiving. What Western (US & Canada) holiday is similar to Mid-Autumn Festival? The Mid-Autumn Festival is considered to be the second most important holiday after Chinese New Year. It is mostly associated with Chinese culture. The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated in Eastern and South Eastern Asia.

Which countries celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival 2021? How the Mid-Autumn Festival became an official holiday dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD) when the Chinese Emperors would hold lavish feasts and offering to the Gods to thank them for their blessing on the year’s harvest. The festival is a time when people pray for good luck, fortune, blessings and to gather with loved ones to admire the supermoon. Wheat and rice are the two types of crops that are harvested around the time of the festival.ĭuring Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon happens to be the closest to the Earth so the tradition is to give thanks to the moon for the bounties of the harvest. It is believed that the moon’s orbit influences the success of the agriculture. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time when friends and family gather together to celebrate the harvest season. Why do we celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival? This year, that day falls on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. Mid-Autumn Festival takes place every year on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar. Why do we celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival? Why do we eat mooncake on Mid-Autumn Festival? To answer your questions on this annual celebration, this Mid-Autumn Festival 2021 post covers the history, the story behind the festival, what to eat, the activities and more.

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