The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节Zhōngqiū jié) of 2024 falls on the September 17th. . Each year, Chinese people celebrate Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn festival on the full moon day of August, which is the 15th day of the 8th month of Chinese lunar calendar. Traditionally, people celebrate the harvest of a year on this festival, with their family and friends.
A nice Moon Festival celebration includes the following activities:
Moon watching(赏月/ shǎng yuè): "Chang'e Flying to the Moon" 嫦娥奔月 is an ancient Chinese myth. It tells the story of Chang'e, a beautiful woman who became the immortal Moon Goddess and had to be separated from her husband on Earth forever. It is believed that praying to Moon Goddess Chang'e on the Mid-autumn evening is going to bring blessings to marriage, romantic relations, friendship.
(嫦娥奔月图 明.唐寅 Chang'e flying to the Moon by Tang Yin.Ming Dynasty)
As a tradition, relatives and friends get together for an outdoor reunion, such as climbing up hills or pagodas, or taking boat rides to watch moon, burning incense, drinking tea, and enjoying music.
(月曼清游图 明 陈枚 Clear Moonlit Outing" by Chen Mei (Ming Dynasty)
This year, the moon watching should be more interesting. As said, on Sept. 17, 2024, the full Harvest Moon will rise and be partial eclipsed by Earth for a moment, making the moon look bigger and brighter than usual. If you live in North America, South America, Europe and Africa, you will get the best views of lunar eclipse and a bright full Harvest Moon for this Mid-autumn festival.
(Picture credited to Matt Blyth via Getty Images)
Poems about the moon: Ancient Chinese poets love to dedicate poems to the moon. One of the most famous Tang dynasty poet Li Bai 李白 wrote 340 poems about the moon, which counts one third of his poems. Observing the Moon/古朗月行 by Li Bai is a simple one, easy for kids to learn and recite. But the following two sentences by Su Dongpo( Song Dynasty poet) is the mostly cited during the Moon festival:
May we all be blessed with longevity and serenity
/ 但愿人长久(Dàn yuàn rén chángjiǔ)
Though far apart, we will share the beauty of the moon
/千里共婵娟 (qiānlǐ gòng chánjuān)
Floating Lanterns(许愿灯笼/ dēnglóng), Moon Festival is also one of the three biggest lantern festivals in Chinese tradition. Family members are together to fly lanterns. Those lanterns are also called prayer lanterns, which are lightened up, sent to the sky with wishes written on rice paper. People pray the lanterns light up their way to prosperity and good luck. Let us watch Emmy & GooRoo play prayer lanterns during moon festival.
Eating Mooncakes (月饼Yuèbǐng), a rich pastry typically filled with sweet-bean or lotus-seed paste in round form, is the most symbolic program of this festival. In Chinese culture, the full circle or round form stands for " fulfilled", "oneness", "union". Under a full moon, with family and friends, sharing moon-cakes, sipping a cup of good tea, it's the best portrayal of a harmonious and peaceful Mid-autumn Festival.
Happy Moon Festival! 中秋节快乐
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