what is chinese lunar festival?

Question

What is chinese moon festival and why do chinese celebrate it.What is it's importance and why did they celebrate this day.When is it held ?

Answer 1

On the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, the moon is round and the Chinese people mark their Moon (or Mid-autumn) or Lunar Festival. The round shape to a Chinese means family reunion. Therefore the Moon Festival is a holiday for members of a family to get together wherever it is possible.

On that day sons and daughters will bring their family members back to their parents' house for a reunion. Sometimes people who have already settled overseas will come back to visit their parents on that day.

As every Chinese holiday is accompanied by some sort of special food. On the Moon Festival, people eat moon cakes, a kind of cookie with fillings of sugar, fat, sesame, walnut, the yoke of preserved eggs, ham or other material. In Chinese fairy tales, there live on the moon the fairy Chang E, a wood cutter named Wu Gang and a jade rabbit which is Chang E's pet. In the old days, people paid respect to the fairy Chang E and her pet the jade rabbit.

The custom of paying homage to the fairy and rabbit is gone, but the moon cakes are showing improvement every year. -

Answer 2

Well, its today ^^ 25th September hmm, i shall sumarise it. there are a lot of legends regarding mooncake festival, but most of them consist of Chang'er and and Jade Rabbit which is living on the moon.

During that day, people will eat mooncakes and put up lantern. Schools, etc. might celebrate it. my personal favorite is the lanterns^^ People will lit their lanterns at night and walk around in the dark. it's important to commemorate Chang'er who ate too much 'immortal pill'.

The story goes like this:

Chang'er and her husband (i can't remember his name) were immortals, the God had 10 sons, but something happened and they all turned into Sun. Chang'er husband- a very pro archer, went to save earth from the scortching heat and shot down 9 of the Sun. leaving one. The God was very angry and banished Chang'er and her husband. they lost their immortaility and become humans. Chang'er was very sad and her husband decided to find a way to make them immortal again. his efforts soon paid off and he found an "immortal pill" .however, one person must eat only half of the pill. Chang'er husband put it in the box and decided to tell Chang'er later. However, Chang'er stumbled upon the box when her husband is not around. that time, she heard her husband coming back home, in terror, she swallowed the whole pill.

Due to the over dosage, Chang'er kept on floating in the air. her husband can't shoot her down as he can't bear to shoot down the ones he love.

Chang'er floated to the moon. On the Moon, Chang'er met the Jade Rabbit which is believed to change the phaases of the moon. To commemorate Chang'er, people started to eat mooncakes.