Names of stories or legends related to the Mid-Autumn Festival and Tanabata Festival

I. Legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival: Chang'e Runs to the Moon

Hou Yi was highly respected and loved by the people of the world because he shot down the nine suns in the sky to get rid of harm for the people. He then took the beautiful and kind Chang'e as his wife. One day, Hou Yi went to the Kunlun Mountains to visit friends and seek Taoism, coincidentally met the Queen Mother who passed by, so they asked the Queen Mother for two immortality elixirs, take one can live forever, take two can ascend to heaven and become immortal, Hou Yi could not bear to leave his wife to ascend to heaven, so he gave the two elixirs to Chang'e to treasure.

Hou Yi had a disciple named Feng Meng, a villain, and when Chang E hid the elixir in the treasure box, he spied on it, and hit on the idea of the elixir. Three days later, Hou Yi led his disciples to go hunting, Feng Meng claimed to be sick and didn't go, and after Hou Yi left, he held a sword to force Chang E to hand over the elixir. Knowing that she was no match for Feng Meng, Chang E opened the treasure box and swallowed the two elixirs in one gulp. Immediately after swallowing the elixir, Chang'e felt her body was light and airy, and she was able to fly, so she flew out of the window and into the sky. Because she was attached to her husband Hou Yi, Chang E landed on the moon, which was the closest to her family.

When Hou Yi returned home, his maids told him what had happened during the day. Hou Yi was shocked and furious that the villain Feng Meng had fled. Hou Yi was so grief-stricken that he stuttered and beat his chest, looking up at the sky and calling out his wife's name. In a haze, he realized that the moon was exceptionally bright that night, which happened to be the 15th day of the 8th month, and that there was a swaying figure in the moon that resembled Chang E. He was very happy to see that the moon was not as bright as it was on the 15th day of the 8th month, which was the 15th day of the 8th month.

So Hou Yi sent someone to Chang'e's favorite garden, set up incense and sacrificed to Chang'e in the Moon Palace. Since then, every August 15, the people also have set up incense under the moon, worship Chang'e, for the beautiful, kind Chang'e pray for good luck and peace.

Second, the Tanabata Festival Legend: The Legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden

Legend has it that the Weaving Maiden is a heavenly goddess, while the Cowherd is a mortal. Once, the Weaving Maiden on earth after playing in the lake to splash around, was passing by the Cowherd picked up the clothes, the two therefore bonded, love at first sight married, and gave birth to a man and a woman.

But it is against the rules of heaven for a man and a god to fall in love, and the Jade Emperor orders the Weaving Maiden to leave the Cowherd. After seeing his wife taken away, Cowherd immediately picked up a pair of baskets with a flat burden, put a pair of children into each basket, and went after the Weaving Maiden.

When he saw that he was about to catch up with her, a big river suddenly stood in his way, which was the Milky Way drawn by the Queen Mother. Seeing the sincerity of their feelings, the Queen Mother made an exception and allowed them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month through a bridge built by magpies.

The "Cowherd and Weaving Maiden" originated from people's worship of natural celestial phenomena, and later developed into the Tanabata Festival.

Since the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar falls during the rainy season, it often rains on this day, which is said to be the tears of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden. Some young boys and girls in the countryside would lie underneath the grape arbor, and it was said that they could hear the whispers of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden. Because the story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden is so beautiful and touching, people often use "Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden" to describe the couple's love.