| The
Mooncake Festival, also known as Mid-Autumn Festival is a popular
celebration of abundance and togetherness dating back to Chinese Song
Dynasty over 1000 years ago. The celebrations usually center around
carrying lanterns, eating mooncakes and listening to the various legends
of the moon. In the east, the full moon is an auspicious symbol of abundance, harmony and luck. On this night which is the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the Asian community enjoys a reunion with loved ones under the moonlit night. Light a lantern, savour a mooncake, sip on tea and enjoy their company on the brightest night of the year… |
| The story of Chang-Er | |
| Long ago in China, there lived a beautiful lady by the name of Chang-Er. She was the wife of Hou Yi - a skilled archer. Legend has it that during this time, the earth had ten suns circling around it. When all ten suns appeared together, they scorched the earth with their heat and the people suffered. Hou Yi was called upon to save the earth by shooting down nine of the suns with his renowned arrows. He was successful in his mission and for his heroic deed, he was summoned to the fairies' palace where he was rewarded the pill of immortality. |
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| One
day, while Hou Yi was out hunting, Chang-Er discovered the pill and
swallowed it. Immediately, Chang-Er found herself floating towards
the moon. There, she found a tree under which there was a rabbit.
On the moon, Chang-Er coughed out the immortality pill and decided
that she would pound the pill into millions of pieces and scatter
them on Earth so that everyone can share in her immortality. The rabbit
was given the task of pounding the pill and Chang-Er remained on the
moon. To this day, many elderly Chinese believe that the beautiful Chang-Er and her faithful rabbit reside on the moon. If one looks closely at the moon on this festive occasion, one might just catch a glimpse of them under the tree. Try it! The faithful rabbit is referred to in Chinese mythology as the Jade rabbit. Because of Chang-Er and its legendary significance, you will sometimes see their images stamped on every mooncake or gift boxes during this festival. |
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