5/29/2023 0 Comments Mid autumn festivalThis is especially the case with Southeast Asian countries with large ethnically Chinese populations, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also celebrated in Asian countries beyond China, as well as among the Chinese diaspora in other parts of the world. The earliest history of the festival is uncertain, but scholars have shown that its celebration already took place during the Tang era that lasted from 618-907 A.D., and increased in popularity during the later imperial period. This is one of the early Confucian classics, the core texts that constitute the main canon of classical Confucianism. ![]() The term “mid-autumn,” which became the name of the festival, appears in “Zhou li” (周禮), or the Rites of Zhou. In the agricultural society of premodern China, the Mid-Autumn Festival was linked with harvesting season celebrations. ![]() To this day, Chinese people continue this tradition, making offerings of mooncakes in commemoration of the goddess as they make wishes or pray for familial unity and harmony. The local people sympathize with him and also start making the same offerings. On his part, Yi makes sacrifices to his departed wife that feature cakes and fruits. She then chooses the moon as her immortal abode, to be close to her beloved husband. She digests the elixir only in order to prevent it from falling in the hands of an evil person. She is described as a model of feminine beauty and elegance. The Mid-Autumn Festival is said to have originated from the Tang Dynasty over a thousand years ago. On the lunar calendar, the holiday falls on the 15th day of the 8th month, right in the middle of the fall season, hence the name Mid-Autumn. ![]() Later versions of the story, still told today, present a more flattering image of the goddess. Mid-Autumn Festival has also been celebrated by its neighbours, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan for centuries. She then escaped to the moon, where she was condemned to a lonely existence. Offerings are made to the moon goddess Chang’e during the Mid-Autumn Festival.Ĭhang’e is said to have stolen the elixir of immortality from her husband, Yi, the great archer and hero of Chinese mythology. The earliest versions of the story can be traced back to the Warring States, a significant historical period between 475-221 B.C., marked by recurrent warfare, bureaucratic reforms and political consolidation. Customarily, the Mid-Autumn Festival is associated with the popular legend about Chang’e (嫦娥), the goddess of the moon.
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