The holiday is also remembered as a time for eating these heavy little treats called moon cakes.
The school gave each of the teachers a box of moon cakes as a gift. They come in various flavors such as red bean, green bean, green tea, chocolate, pineapple, and coconut.
The origins of Moon Festival are told as many different stories. Here's the three most commonly told stories:
1. Lady Chang Er (my personal favorite)
The time of this story is around 2170 B.C. The earth once had ten suns circling over it, each took its turn to illuminate to the earth but one day, all ten suns appeared together, scorching the earth with their heat. The earth was saved by a strong and tyrannical archer Hou Yi who shoot down nine of the suns. One day, Hou Yi stole the elixir for immortality from a goddess. His beautiful wife Chang Er drank the elixir in order to save the people from her husband's tyrannical rule. After drinking it, she found herself floating and flew to the moon. Hou Yi loved his divinely beautiful wife so much, he didn't shoot down the moon.
2. The Man- Wu Kang
Wu Kang was a shiftless fellow who changed apprenticeships all the time. One day he decided that he wanted to be an immortal. Wu Kang then went to live in the mountains where he importuned an immortal to teach him. First the immortal taught him about the herbs used to cure sickness, but after three days his characteristic restlessness returned and he asked the immortal to teach him something else. So the immortal to teach him chess, but after a short while Wu Kang's enthusiasm again waned. Then Wu Kang was given the books of immortality to study. Of course, Wu Kang became bored within a few days, and asked if they could travel to some new and exciting place. Angered with Wu Kang's impatience, the master banished Wu Kang to the Moon Palace telling him that he must cut down a huge cassia tree before he could return to earth. Though Wu Kang chopped day and night, the magical tree restored itself with each blow, and thus he is still up there chopping.
III. The Rabbit
In this legend, three fairy sages transformed themselves into pitiful old men and begged for something to eat from a fox, a monkey and a rabbit. The fox and the monkey both had food to give to the old men, but the rabbit, empty-handed, offered his own flesh instead, jumping into a blazing fire to cook himself. The sages were so touched by the rabbit's sacrifice that they let him live in the Moon Palace where he became the "Jade Rabbit."
Choose what you want to belive in.... maybe God? Oh wait, there is no (little) God in China.
In other news, I just returned from vacation in Hong Kong and Singapore. I had a week for of school (only a few days after Mid Autum Holiday) from October 1-7 for National Week. October 1 was the 61st anniversary of the Communist Party's triumph to control China. Basically, its like the 4th of July, but instead of getting a day off, they get seven. Ok not even that because I have to work Saturday AGAIN in order to make up for some of the days. I think I taught on 5 weekend days already. (Un)fortunately, there are no more holidays until Chinese New Year so I am stuck working Mon-Fri until January. :(
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