Sunday, 23 June 2013

Chinese folk tales: 中秋节 (Zhong Qiu Jie) or The Mid-Autumn Festival

This folk tale from the Peace Corps website tells the story of the Mid-Autumn Festival also known as the Moon or Moon Cake Festival. Here it is in English and in Chinese.

I wonder what happened to the second elixir - did Han Cho take it for himself? Is Hou Yi represented by his own celestial body or is the brighter moon the only indication of his meeting his wife. Do you think this is a tragic story, or is Chang E's fate deserved for her vanity and Hou Yi's a just punishment for killing nine of the Jade Emperor's ten sons?

Here is the Wikipedia link on the Mid-Autumn Festival. According to this entry, in the countries we will be visiting this festival is also celebrated in Vietnam and Malaysia and for this year it will fall on September 19 as this is the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month.

The Moon Festival is also mentioned in a short story called "The Moon Lady" contained in "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan.