This is a re-write from several years ago. My long-time readers will recognize it. Sorry.
The 8th full moon, from New Year, is the Autumn festival in China — October 4th this year. Some people call it Moon Festival. It is a time for family reunion and the popular food that goes with this festival is the Moon Cake (月餅 Yue Bing). Moon Cakes are pastry with a flour-based shell and dense fillings. Kids’ favorites is red-bean paste. I love lotus seeds or dates, with or without salty duck egg yolks. Yummy.
There are several folk lores associated with this festival. The best known one, that I adapted for my kids, is a tragic love story.
Long long time ago, there were 10 suns in the sky. It was so scorching hot that crops could not grow and people languished. A young man, HouYi (åŽç¾¿), took his bow and arrows, climbed up to a high mountain, and demanded improvements. When the suns laughed at him and refused, HouYi shot them down to the sea one by one. The last, and the smallest, sun submitted to him and agreed to rise and set regularly until eternity. Days and nights became regular and everyone was happy. People were so grateful, they made HouYi their king. Soon, HouYi married this beautiful woman ChangEr (嫦娥). They lived happily in the palace.
Years went by and HouYi changed into a tyrant and a bad king. People suffered from him as much as they did from the 10 suns. ChangEr tried to influence HouYi to no avail. Most horribly, HouYi learned the existence of the elixir of life. He sent ChangEr’s pet rabbit for it. The rabbit ran westward for long, long time, found it, and fetched it back for HouYi.
HouYi had a grand party to celebrate his imminent immortality. ChangEr understood that she was the people’s only hope. After HouYi fell asleep. She stole and drank the elixir. Immediately, she floated to the sky and ended up on the moon. The rabbit sipped from the bottle and followed her.
ChangEr became the loneliest being ever. She lived forever with only rabbit as her company. To this date, you can see the beautiful ChangEr in the moon.
Poet SU Shi (è‹è½¼) wrote a famous poem on this story. Almost all Chinese knew this poem.
| 水調æŒé , 蘇軾（ 1036-1101 ） | |
| 丙辰ä¸ç§‹ï¼Œæ¡é£²é”旦，大醉，作æ¤ç¯‡å…¼æ‡·åç”± | On this Autumn’s Festival, I partied all night. So drunk. Wrote this piece also thinking of my brother |
|
明月幾時有，把酒å•é’天。 |
When does bright moon come? Sky please tell this half-drunk. Dancing with my shadow, this surreality. |
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