{"id":14859,"date":"2019-09-11T09:41:34","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T13:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14859"},"modified":"2019-09-11T09:41:34","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T13:41:34","slug":"a-guide-to-the-mid-autumn-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/a-guide-to-the-mid-autumn-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to the Mid-Autumn Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Mid-Autumn Festival<\/strong> (\u4e2d\u79cb\u8282 \u2013 zh\u014dng qi\u016b ji\u00e9) is fast approaching. This traditional Chinese holiday falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar<\/strong> (\u9634\u5386 \u2013 y\u012bn l\u00ec), which just so happens to be Friday the 13th this year! It dates back over 3,000 years to the time of the Shang Dynasty<\/strong>\u00a0(\u5546\u671d \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>sh\u0101ng ch\u00e1o). While the festival originated in China, it is celebrated all over Asia.\u00a0 On this day (which coincides with the autumn equinox on the solar calendar), the moon is at its fullest and brightest. I’ve put together a guide to the Mid-Autumn Festival to teach you all about this important Chinese holiday, starting out with some history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image by \u93ae\u90a6 from flickr.com
Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Legend of Hou Yi and Chang’e<\/h2>\n

As is the case with most everything in China, there are many interesting stories behind this holiday, two of which I\u2019ll share with you.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most popular story behind the Mid-Autumn Festival is that of an ancient hero named\u00a0Hou Yi<\/strong> (\u540e\u7fbf \u2013 H\u00f2u Y\u00ec). At the time, legend has it that there were ten suns in the sky. As such, the Earth suffered a horrible drought, and it seemed as if all of the people were doomed. Luckily, Hou Yi was a skilled archer<\/strong>\u00a0(\u5c04\u624b \u2013 sh\u00e8 sh\u01d2u), and he put his\u00a0bow and arrows<\/strong> (\u5f13\u548c\u7bad \u2013 g\u014dng h\u00e9 ji\u00e0n)\u00a0to good use by shooting down nine of the suns.<\/p>\n

From then on, he was respected by all of the people, for he had saved the Earth. As a reward for his heroic actions, the Heavenly Queen Mother gave him a special elixir that would make him immortal. From this point in the story on, there are many different versions, so I\u2019ll do my best to give you the gist of it. In the meantime, here is a cool clay-mation video that tells one version of the story:<\/p>\n