Mid-autumn festive is a traditional festive of China. At that evening, every family will have a rich dinner, specially must have YueBing.
At the beginning of dinner, we will worship the glebe, thank it for giving us so much rich dinner, and we also will worship the moon, hope the lady on the moon will reunite with her husband. Then we have the dinner, anyway the start what we have eat, the last dish must is the YueBing that made by mother, like the meat pie, we are all like it, but this dish we do not eat at that time, till the dinner is finish, and fruit such as Chinese date, apple, pear, chestnut, grape, etc. are all on the table, then we could start to eat that “meat pie”. The taste of it is really delicious!
After the dinner, the family always have a cup of tea and enjoy the moon, talk about anything that we want, till midnight, it is really very gentle and fragrant time.
Mid-autumn festive
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- Sunny
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- Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2004 1:32 pm
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Hi, Dixie, I am glad to tell the story.Dixie wrote:Interesting, Sunny.
I'd like to know about that lady-in-the-moon story though. Can you tell us? What happened, who that lady is, where his husband is...
The Lady-in-the-moon is named ChangEr, HouYi is her husband, they lived very happy.
Someday, there wre nine suns in the sky, so plant could not grow, animal were all at their last gasp, people could not survival. HouYi was versed in archery, so he made the eight of the suns down from the sky, anything were all ok. The king of the deity gave him a piece of pill for thankful. The pill could make him to be a deity.But HouYi wanted to share the pill with his wife ChangEr, he or wife could not be deity, but they could alive as long as the sun and moon. So he took the pill home, he was so tired that he could not speak one word and fell asleep. His wife found the pill and thought, his husband must eat the pill and died, so she eat that pill. At that time, she felt herself was so light and flying, till she reached the moon...
That is the total story I know, Dixie, I hope you could understand it. :D :D :D
- Tonyoung
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- Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 2:08 am
- Location: Mainland of China
Excerpted from Chinavoc
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There are many beautiful legends about the moon in China. the most popular one tells how a goddess named Chang'e ascended to the moon.
A long, long time ago, a terrible drought plagued the earth. Ten suns burned fiercely in the sky like smoldering volcanoes. The trees and grass were scorched. The land was cracked and parched, and rivers ran dry. Many people died of hunger and thirst.
The King of Heaven sent Hou Yi down to the earth to help. When Hou Yi arrived, he took out his red bow and white arrows and shot down nine suns one after another. The weather immediately turned cooler. Heavy rains filled the rivers with fresh water and the grass and trees turned green. Life had been restored and humanity was saved.
One day, a charming young woman, Chang'e makes her way home from a stream, holding a bamboo contaiver, A young man comes forward, asking for a drink. When she sees the red bow and white arrows hanging from his belt, Chang'e tealizes that he is their savior, Hou Yi. Inviting him to drink, Chang'e plucks a beautiful flower and gives it to him as a token of respect. Hou Yi, in turn, selects a beautiful silver fox fur as his gift for her. This meeting kindles the spark of their love. And soon after that, they get married.
A mortal's life is limited, of course. So in order to enjoy his happy life with Chang'e forever, Hou Yi decides to look for an elixir of life.He goes to the Kunlun Mountains where the Western Queen Mother lives.
Out of respect for the good deeds the has done, the Western Queen Mother rewards Hou Yi with elixir, a fine powder made from kerndls of fruit which grows on the tree of eternity. At the same time, she tells him:If you and your wife share the elixir, you will both enjoy eternal life. But if only one of you takes it,that one will ascend to Heaven and become immortal.
Hou Yi returns home and tells his wife all that has happened and they decide to drink the elixir together on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month when the moon is full and bright.
A wicked and merciless man named Feng Meng secretly hears about their plan.He wishes Hou Yi an early death so that he can drink the elixir himeslf and become immortal.His opportunity finally arrives. One day,when the full moon is rising, Hou Yi is on his way home from hunting. Feng Meng kills him. The murderer then runs to Hou Yi's home and forces Chang'e to give him the elixir, Without hesitating, Chang'e picks up the elixir and drinks it all.
Overcome with grief, Chang'e rushes to her dead husband's sied, weeping bitterly.Soon the elixir begins to have its effect and Chang'e feels herself being lifted towards Heaven.
Chang'e decides to live on the moon because it is nearest to the earth. There she lives a simple and contented life. Even though she is in Heaven, her heart remains in the world of mortals. Never does she forget the deep love she has for Hou Yi and the love she feels for the people who have shared their sadness and happiness.
Another legend explained the role of the Old Man on the Moon, the Divine Match-maker. The Chinese believed that marriages were made in Heaven but prepared on the moon. The Old Man on the Moon tied the feet of young men and women with red cords for marriage. Thus a maiden made offerings and prayed to him during the Mid-Autumn Festival, hoping that some day she would ride in the red bridal sedan chair.
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There are many beautiful legends about the moon in China. the most popular one tells how a goddess named Chang'e ascended to the moon.
A long, long time ago, a terrible drought plagued the earth. Ten suns burned fiercely in the sky like smoldering volcanoes. The trees and grass were scorched. The land was cracked and parched, and rivers ran dry. Many people died of hunger and thirst.
The King of Heaven sent Hou Yi down to the earth to help. When Hou Yi arrived, he took out his red bow and white arrows and shot down nine suns one after another. The weather immediately turned cooler. Heavy rains filled the rivers with fresh water and the grass and trees turned green. Life had been restored and humanity was saved.
One day, a charming young woman, Chang'e makes her way home from a stream, holding a bamboo contaiver, A young man comes forward, asking for a drink. When she sees the red bow and white arrows hanging from his belt, Chang'e tealizes that he is their savior, Hou Yi. Inviting him to drink, Chang'e plucks a beautiful flower and gives it to him as a token of respect. Hou Yi, in turn, selects a beautiful silver fox fur as his gift for her. This meeting kindles the spark of their love. And soon after that, they get married.
A mortal's life is limited, of course. So in order to enjoy his happy life with Chang'e forever, Hou Yi decides to look for an elixir of life.He goes to the Kunlun Mountains where the Western Queen Mother lives.
Out of respect for the good deeds the has done, the Western Queen Mother rewards Hou Yi with elixir, a fine powder made from kerndls of fruit which grows on the tree of eternity. At the same time, she tells him:If you and your wife share the elixir, you will both enjoy eternal life. But if only one of you takes it,that one will ascend to Heaven and become immortal.
Hou Yi returns home and tells his wife all that has happened and they decide to drink the elixir together on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month when the moon is full and bright.
A wicked and merciless man named Feng Meng secretly hears about their plan.He wishes Hou Yi an early death so that he can drink the elixir himeslf and become immortal.His opportunity finally arrives. One day,when the full moon is rising, Hou Yi is on his way home from hunting. Feng Meng kills him. The murderer then runs to Hou Yi's home and forces Chang'e to give him the elixir, Without hesitating, Chang'e picks up the elixir and drinks it all.
Overcome with grief, Chang'e rushes to her dead husband's sied, weeping bitterly.Soon the elixir begins to have its effect and Chang'e feels herself being lifted towards Heaven.
Chang'e decides to live on the moon because it is nearest to the earth. There she lives a simple and contented life. Even though she is in Heaven, her heart remains in the world of mortals. Never does she forget the deep love she has for Hou Yi and the love she feels for the people who have shared their sadness and happiness.
Another legend explained the role of the Old Man on the Moon, the Divine Match-maker. The Chinese believed that marriages were made in Heaven but prepared on the moon. The Old Man on the Moon tied the feet of young men and women with red cords for marriage. Thus a maiden made offerings and prayed to him during the Mid-Autumn Festival, hoping that some day she would ride in the red bridal sedan chair.
I fight,I conquer,I enjoy
In mid-autumn festival, parents buy/make lanterns for their children. Lanterns are made of art papers or some special kind of paper materials for lanterns. Inside lanterns, we use candles to light them. Lanterns can be made into different shapes, sizes, and forms. They're usually really pretty.
Also, people eat mooncakes in mid-autumn festival. Mooncakes are usually served with hot tea.
Also, people eat mooncakes in mid-autumn festival. Mooncakes are usually served with hot tea.
- Sunny
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- Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2004 1:32 pm
- Location: China
Hi, we will play the lanterns, but not at Mid-autumn festive but at the mid of the first month of the lunar year.Anonymous wrote:In mid-autumn festival, parents buy/make lanterns for their children. Lanterns are made of art papers or some special kind of paper materials for lanterns. Inside lanterns, we use candles to light them. Lanterns can be made into different shapes, sizes, and forms. They're usually really pretty.
Also, people eat mooncakes in mid-autumn festival. Mooncakes are usually served with hot tea.