Simple English Mid-Autumn Festival Stories (Except Chang'e Runs to the Moon and Jade Rabbit Pounding Medicine)

FirstAccording to Chinese mythology, the earth once had 10 suns circling over it. One day, all 10 suns appeared together, scorching the earth with their heat. The earth was saved when a strong archer, Hou Yi, succeeded in shooting down 9 of the suns. Yi stole the elixir of life to save the people from his tyrannical rule, but his wife was not able to do so. Yi stole the elixir of life to save the people from his tyrannical rule, but his wife, Chang-E drank it. Thus started the legend of the lady in the moon to whom young Chinese girls would pray at the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Legend has it that in ancient times, there were 10 suns in the sky. One day, all 10 suns appeared at the same time and the heat was unbearable. The archer Hou Yi shot down 9 of the suns and saved the living beings on earth. He stole the elixir of immortality, but his wife Chang'e secretly drank it. Since then, the legend that every year when the moon is full during the Mid-Autumn Festival, young girls pray to the moon palace fairy Chang'e has spread

The second In the 14th century, the eating of mooncakes at "Zhong Qiu Jie" was given a new significance. The story goes that when Zhu Yuan Zhang was plotting the mooncakes, he would pray to the moon palace fairy Chang'e for blessings. goes that when Zhu Yuan Zhang was plotting to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty started by the Mongolians, the rebels hid their messages in the Mid-Autumn mooncakes. The story goes that when Zhu Yuan Zhang was plotting to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty started by the Mongolians, the rebels hid their messages in the Mid-Autumn mooncakes. Zhong Qiu Jie is hence also a commemoration of the overthrow of the Mongolians by the Han people.

In the 14th century, the eating of mooncakes at Mid-Autumn Festival was given another layer of special meaning. Legend has it that when Zhu Yuanzhang led an uprising to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty, the generals used to hide their contact letters in mooncakes. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival later also became the anniversary of the overthrow of the Mongols by the Han Chinese.