#midautumnfestival

(It’s been almost 9 months, and a lot has happened, but I’m finally back!  And just in time for Mid Autumn again.  Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)

Moonless Mid-Autumn

By Xin Qiji (Song dynasty, 12th century)

Recalling one Mid-Autumn spent opposite osmanthus blooms, 

My liquor reflecting the flowers, the moon.

Tonight I sit at the same place expecting the same moon, 

Yet the window is damp from clouds, wet with rain.

Wishing I could soar up to confront the gods in heaven, 

But alas, the journey is difficult for a message, let alone me.

With only rosy candlelight to ease the gloom, 

Let us drink our fill, sing to our heart’s content.

—————————-

Original Text (Traditional Chinese):

《壹剪梅·中秋無月》

[宋] 辛棄疾

憶對中秋丹桂叢，花也杯中，月也杯中。今宵樓上壹尊同，雲濕紗窗，雨濕紗窗。

渾欲乘風問化工，路也難通，信也難通。滿堂唯有燭花紅，歌且從容，杯且從容。

When people search for Mid-Autumn-Festival-related images, wabbits rabbits tend to pop up a lot, like this:

Or this:

But why?

“Rabbit” on the Moon:

It’s speculated that the legends about rabbits on the moon may have originated from some imaginative ancient moon-gazers, because the visible basalt plains (lunar maria) on the moon’s surface seemed to meld….and form a "shadow” of a rabbit standing over some sort of container:

But since people thousands of years ago didn’t understand the universe like we do today, they resorted to stories to explain this weird shadow on the moon, and thus the legend of Chang‘e (嫦娥) was born.  

Legend of Chang’e

There were many existing versions of the story through the ages, but all revolved around Chang’e consuming the elixir of immortality, resulting in her being separated from her husband Yi (羿), the legendary archer.  Some say it was because Chang’e tried to protect Yi’s elixir from a thief, some say it’s because Chang’e was a minor goddess and life on earth was too boring for her, and some say it was because Yi cheated on her with the wife of a river god.  Regardless, she consumed the elixir of immortality that the gods gave to Yi.  However, the gods were not pleased by this, so as punishment, they turned her into a rabbit (some say she was turned into a toad), sent her onto the moon alone, and ordered her to make immortality elixirs for eternity.  But since Chang’e and Yi did love each other, they missed each other dearly, so every mid-autumn Yi would gaze at the moon to look at the rabbit, still grinding away with the mortar and pestle.

…and that’s how the Mid-Autumn Festival became associated with rabbits.

So, without further ado…

(Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!)

Mid-Autumn Moon

By Xu Youzhen (Ming dynasty, 15th century)

Mid-autumn moon.

The moon in mid-autumn glows with an ivory hue.

Glowing ivory, through countless wax and wanes.

But setting these thoughts aside,

Let us enjoy this marvelous night.

Marveling at the night, wishing,

To gaze at this mid-autumn moon,

For years to come.

—————————-

Original Text (Traditional Chinese):

《 中秋月·中秋月》

[明] 徐有貞

中秋月。月到中秋偏皎潔。偏皎潔，知他多少，陰晴圓缺。

陰晴圓缺都休說，且喜人間好時節。好時節，願得年年，常見中秋月。

Friday, September 13th is the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival of 2019! 

The Mid-Autumn Festival was traditionally celebrated by the Han Chinese, but many other ethnic groups across China and the entire world now recognize the holiday. Outside of China, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated by the Japanese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Filipinos, and many others. This offers a clear example of the influence of Chinese culture on the rest of the world!

(source: publicholidays.cn)

Spend some time to connect with your family members and don’t forget to treat yourself with the moon cake, or yuebing (月饼)! 

Lastly, ‘zhongqiujie kuaile’ (中秋节快乐！), or ‘Happy Mid-Autumn Festival’!

[Image description: The first image is a digital drawing of the character Xiangling in a orange and blue hanfu, holding a fan as she sits on a rounded windowsill. Both she and her pet bear, Guoba, are backlit by a moon in the background while guoba tries to hold a mortar and pestle. There are wisps of clouds and clusters of white vegetation behind them, and above them reads the text “Happy Mid Autumn Festival” and the Chinese characters 中秋快樂 on the left with the same meaning. The second image is the same as the first one, except without the words. End image description.]

Happy mid autumn festival with Xiangling! Whether you’re celebrating or not, hope you’re happy and safe together with the people you love<3