Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Mid autumn festival

http://www.chinatownconnection.com/images/chinesemooncake2.jpgwe also eat mooncake today.and there is a story for this woman called Change.
Once upon a time, the earth had ten suns. They burned the crops and people suffered from famine. Houyi, a lesser god and a highly-skilled archer, felt sorry for mankind, so he decided to shoot down nine of the suns. After he shot down the suns, he became a hero. He had a beautiful wife name Chang’e (also a lesser god) and they lived happily together. Houyi gathered many followers and one day they all went hunting together regularly. One day, on Houyi’s way back home the Jade Emperor (the highest god) gave Houyi a pill which granted eternal life as a reward for shooting down the suns. He warned Houyi, “Make no haste to swallow the pill.” Houyi loved Chang’e very much and did not want to leave her, so he gave the pill to Chang’e and let her store the pill in a safe place. Chang’e put the pill in her jewelry box. But one of Houyi’s apprentices, Peng, discovered this secret. He decided to steal the pill.
One day Houyi and some other disciples went to the mountain. Peng pretended he was sick so that he could stay at home. Everyone went to the mountain except Chang’e, who stayed at home. Peng burst into Chang’e’s room and forced her to give him the pill. Chang’e knew she was no match for Peng so she took flight and flew far away. She did not want to leave her husband, so she stopped at the moon which is close to Earth. After Houyi discovered what had happened, he was very angry and heartbroken. He looked up into the night and called Chang’e’s name. He saw that on the moon there was a shadow that looked like Chang’e, so he ran and ran and tried to get to the moon. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach the moon.
As for Houyi, he built himself a palace inside the sun as “Yang”-阳 (the male principle), with Chang’e as “Yin”-阴(the female principle). Once a year, on the 15th day of the full moon, Houyi visits his wife. That is why the moon is full that night.
This story is from http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/mid-autumn-festival.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/&h=277&w=250&sz=20&tbnid=Bmk5M0Bfo-Xd4M:&tbnh=114&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmid%2Bautumn%2Bfestival&usg=__IZFl1bwwIHvn8yH7eNFL170P-Bk=&ei=1MbMSoWDIJSaMNas1To&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image.

3 comments:

  1. Happy Moon Festival!
    Let us share the same moon with our families in China.

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  2. Dear Fiona, I also like this love story about Houyi and Chang'e. People in Taiwan gether together in Mid-autumn Festival and enjoy the BBQ or the full moon. Moreover, I love mooncakes! After seeing your blog, I miss my mom and feel really hungry!

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  3. The mid autumn festival looks fun and delicious. Is it about the same as American Thanksgiving?

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