Chinese Moon festival

Chinese Moon Festival

Legends and Customs

Joanne Chen 2015

IVC Chinese instructor

Moon Festival

中秋节Zhōng

middle

Qiū

Autumn

Jié

Holiday

Zhōng qiū jiú https://youtu.be/ndknxk4v4QY

Chinese Moon FestivalChinese Lunar Calendar date: Aug 15Western Calendar date: September 27, 2015

Full Moon

If you look carefully at the moon in clear nights, you can see dark shadow on it.

Ancient Chinese believed that1. Chang- e lived at her palace2. Wu Gang was cutting his tree3. Jade Rabbit was making medicine

Story 1: Hou Yi and Chang E

Hou Yi the Archer, shooting down the 9 Suns that endangered the Earth with extreme heat.

He was rewarded by the Jade Emperor with a potion of immortality.

Chiang E, Hou Yi’s wife, somehow swallows the potion of immortality, causing her to float up and fly to the moon.

Story 2: Wu Gang and His Tree

• In Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD) a man named Wu Gang. He once followed the immortals to cultivate himself. However, when in the heaven, he made a mistake and was banished to the moon to chop the laurel tree.

• Each time Wu Gang chopped it, it grew back right. This happened again and again.

https://youtu.be/2K9oxECJxvg

Story 3: Jade Rabbit

A Brahmin priest that asked several animals for food. All the animals were able to find food for the priest, except for the rabbit, who instead offered to throw its own body into a fire to feed him.

The priest was actually a manifestation of the god Sakra (Indra) that came to put the virtue of the animals to the test, and the rabbit was one of the previous lives of the Buddha. The image of the rabbit was then impressed onto the moon by Sakra to honor its compassion and virtue.

月餅 yuè bǐng

Moon Cake

Moon Cake is the symbol of reunion and eaten during the Moon Festival.Moon cakes usually have fillings of fruit or nut paste, egg yolk, or meat.

Moon Cakes 月餅 yuèbǐng • Mooncakes were used by the Ming revolutionaries (15th Century

A.D.) in their effort to overthrow the Mongolian rulers of China at the end of the Yuan dynasty.

• The mooncakes contained a secret message coordinating the Han Chinese revolt on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.

• Another method of hiding a message was to print it on the surfaces of mooncakes (which came in packages of four), as a simple puzzle or mosaic. To read the message, each of the four mooncakes was cut into four parts. The resulting 16 pieces were pieced together to reveal the message. The pieces of mooncake were then eaten to destroy the message. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake#Ming_revolution

Family Reunion In ancient times, the Mid-autumn signals the end of working in the fields for the year. It is the time for family members to come home and be together again.

These days, families and friends get together at home or outdoors to celebrate the festival.

In Taiwan, zhōng qiū jié: BBQ TimeFamily and friends gatheringOut door activity

Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival

Chī yòuzi吃柚子

Thoughts in the Silent Night 静夜思By Li Bai ( 李白 )

• 床 前 明 月 光• 疑 是 地 上 霜• 举 头 望 明 月• 低 头 思 故 乡• Chuáng qián míng yuèguāng• Yí shì dìshàng shuāng• Jǔ tóu wàng míngyuè• Dī tóu sī gùxiāng

• Moonlight shining through the window• Makes me wonder if there is frost on the ground• Looking up to see the moon• Looking down I miss my hometown

Li BaiBorn: 701 AD, Died: 762 AD, ChinaPeriod: Tang dynasty

Children’s book about Moon Festival

Thanking the Moon By Grace Lin Moon Festival By Ching Yeung Russell Mooncakes By Loretta Seto Lin Yi’s Lantern By Brenda Williams

http://www.chineseholidays101.com/best-childrens-books-about-the-mid-autumn-festival/

YouTube Video

Search Keyword: Chinese Moon Festival Moon Festival Story Making Moon Cake

Chinese Moon Festival Lesson Plan and Worksheet

http://www.childbook.com/Chinese-Moon-Festival-Lesson-Plan-for-Grades-K4-s/73.htm http://www.childbook.com/Chinese-Moon-Festival-Teaching-Lesson-Plans-Worksheets-s/298.htm http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=chinese+moon+festival