Issue link: https://www.cominghomemag.com/i/1525817
M i d - A u t u m n F e s t i v a l The Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Festival, or Mooncake Festival is a Chinese and East Asian harvest festival focused on the moon. Held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar—usually in late September or early October—the Mid-Autumn Festival takes place when the moon is thought to shine the brightest. With history tracing back over 3,000 years, the Mid-Autumn Festival is about reuniting with family, showing thanks, and appreciating the moon, which represents completeness and togetherness. It all started with ancient Chinese emperors worshiping the moon every mid-Autumn, hoping it would bring a bountiful harvest. Their ways spread far and wide, and the Mid-Autumn Festival became an official holiday in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Other myths, including the Legend of Chang'e, are also linked to the celebration. Tales reveal that Hou Yi, the husband of Chang'e, the Chinese lunar goddess, received an immortality elixir as a reward for shooting down nine suns, saving the earth from being burnt to a crisp. Chang'e was forced to take the elixir amid an encounter with evil spirits, and she floated up to the moon and remained there forever. Hou Yi's ritual of making offerings to Chang'e stuck around, and his sacrifices to the moon embody the central theme of family unity. Today, people in many Asian countries spend the Mid-Autumn Festival gathering with loved ones, giving gifts, making and hanging colorful lanterns, eating mooncakes, and gazing at the moon's beauty. H o w t o C e l e b r a t e : • Burn incense • Display lanterns • Drink Osmanthus wine • Eat mooncakes • Admire the moon with friends and family • Watch tai chi exhibitions