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 ?
2007-09-21 12:43:47 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
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. -
-http://chineseculture.about.com/gi/dynam...
2007-09-24 20:33:10 · answer #1 · answered by Jayaraman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Mid-Autumn Festival (Pinyin: zhōng qīu jíe), Moon Festival, or, less commonly, Mooncake Festival (Pinyin: yùe bĭng jíe) is a traditional Chinese holiday falling on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar (usually late September). On the day of the Moon Festival, the full moon is at the year's roundest and brightest, which symbolizes family unity and togetherness.
According to Chinese traditions, on this day family members and friends gather to visit scenic spots, gaze at the moon, and eat mooncakes and pomeloes together. Brightly-lit lanterns are often carried around by children. Farmers furthermore celebrate the end of the agricultural season and the harvest on this date.
It is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar (the other being Chinese New Year) and is a legal holiday in several countries.
Popular legends associated with the festival speak of a goddess named Chang'e, a rabbit, and a woodcutter living on the moon. Shops selling mooncakes before the Mid-Autumn festival often display pictures of Chang'e floating to the moon.
The origin of the Autumn Moon Festival is not very clear. It is said that the festival originated from ancient times, when people held ceremonies in honor of the Moon Goddess, or to celebrate the mid-autumn harvest.
However, another version is that the Mid-Autumn Festival commemorates the uprisings in China against Mongol rulers in the early 14th century. Because unlike the Chinese, Mongols did not eat mooncakes, the rebels hid a small piece of note detailing rebellion plans inside each mooncake, which was then smuggled to compatriots. One common message on the note was "kill barbarians on August 15th."
2007-09-21 18:28:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
chinese lunar festival is this september 24 it's eat goldriver, mandu, apple, bam and so on. It's the best festival all over the world.....
2007-09-21 12:58:58 · answer #3 · answered by bibian 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋