 The Mid-Autumn Festival ( 中秋节 ) also known as the Moon Festival , Mooncake Festival , or the August Moon Festival ) is a popular Chinese celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Zhou Dynasty ( 周朝 ) .
The Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar. At this time, the moon is at its fullest and brightest, marking an ideal time to celebrate the abundance of the summer's harvest. The traditional food of this festival is the moon cake ( 月饼 ) , of which there are many different varieties.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being the Chinese Lunar New Year), and is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomeloes together. Brightly lit lanterns are often carried around by children. Together with the celebration, there appear some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers, and fire dragon dances.
The custom of worshipping the moon for both the Han and minority nationalities, can be traced as far back as the ancient Xia ( 夏 ) , and Shang Dynasties ( 商朝 ) . In the Zhou Dynasty (1066 BCE-221 BCE), the people celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival to worship the moon.
 The practice became very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty ( 唐朝 ) that people enjoyed and worshipped the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty ( 宋朝 ) , however, people started making round moon cakes, as gifts to their relatives in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. At night, they came out to watch the full moon to celebrate the festival. Since the Ming ( 明朝 ) , and Qing Dynasties ( 清朝 ) , the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration has become unprecedentedly popular.
Typically, China traditional festivals often connect with several fantastic legends, also including the Moon Festival. While Westerners may talk about the "man in the moon", the Chinese talk about the "woman on the moon". The story of Chang E ( 嫦娥 ) , and her flight to the moon, is familiar to every Chinese, and a favourite subject of poets. Unlike many lunar deities in other cultures who personify the moon, Chang'e only lives on the moon. Tradition places Hou Yi ( 后羿 ) and Chang'e around 2170 BC, in the reign of the legendary Emperor Yao, shortly after that of Huang Di. |
