Origins of the Festival

After the 1989 Earthquake, the merchants association wanted to bring people back to Chinatown. With the hope of revitalizing their neighbourhood, they put together a street fair based on an ancient Chinese harvest festival. To the most ancient ancestors of the Chinese, the sun and the moon were considered the "chief objects of veneration," according to records dating to the Han dynasty emperor Wu Di (157-87 B.C.)

In ancient Asian mythology, there is a strong relationship between the moon and water. The moon was said to regulate reservoirs and supplies of water. There was also a suggestion that the moon produces fertility and freshness in the soil. The moon's role in bountiful harvests is widely recognized around the world during Autumn.

In Chinese celestial cosmology, the moon represents the female principle, or Yin. During ancient Autumn Moon Festivals, women took center stage because the moon is considered feminine. Only women took part in the Moon Festival rituals on the night of the full moon. Altars would be set up in households, and when the full moon appeared, women would make offerings of incense, candles, fruit, flowers, and moon cakes.

The enduring legend of the Moon Goddess, Chang E, reflects the feminine principle of Yin, as opposed to the masculine principle of Yang, which is symbolized by the sun...

The legend of Chang E

Chang E was a beautiful young girl working in the Jade Emperor's palace in heaven, where immortals, good people and fairies lived. One day, she accidentally broke a precious porcelain jar. Angered, the Jade Emperor banished her to live on Earth, where ordinary people lived. She could return to Heaven, if she contributed a valuable service on Earth.

Chang E was transformed into a member of a poor farming family. When she was 18, a young hunter named Hou Yi from another village spotted her, now a beautiful young woman. They became friends. One day, a strange phenomenon occurred -- 10 suns arose in the sky instead one one, blazing the earth. Hou Yi, an expert archer, stepped forward to try to save the earth. He successfully shot down nine of the suns, becoming an instant hero. He eventually became king and married Chang E.

But Hou Yi grew to become a despot. He sought immortality by ordering an elixir be created to prolong his life. The elixir in the form of a single pill was almost ready when Chang E came upon it. She either accidentally or purposely swallowed the pill. This angered King Hou Yi, who went after his wife. Trying to flee, she jumped out the window of a chamber at the top of palace -- and, instead of falling, she floated into the sky toward the moon.

King Hou Yi tried to shoot her down with arrows, but without success. Once on the moon, Chang E became a three-legged toad, as punishment from the Queen Mother, according to one version of the legend. Her companion, a rabbit, is constantly pounding the elixir of immortality in a large mortar.

A woodcutter who tries to cut down the cassia tree, giver of life, also inhabits the moon. But as fast as he cuts into the tree, it heals itself, and he never makes any progress. The Chinese use these images of the cassia tree to explain mortal life on earth -- the limbs are constantly being cut away by death, but new buds continually appear.

Meanwhile, King Hou Yi ascended to the sun and built a palace. So Chang E and Hou Yi came to represent the yin and yang, the moon and the sun.

Trading American Moon Pies for Chinese Moon Cakes

The bakery where we found the Moon Cakes was really packed. The ladies working there were so excited to tell us that President Clinton ate one of their moon cakes in 1996. Apparently, he came to the bakery and shook hands with everyone there. The sign on the wall says he stayed for about half an hour and it was like a big, exciting party.

Origins of the Moon Cakes

Moon cakes have played a central role in Moon Festival traditions. Once, according to Chinese legend, moon cakes helped bring about a revolution. The time was the Yuan dynasty (AD 1280-1368), established by the invading Mongolians from the north. The Mongolians subjugated the Han Chinese.

According to one Chinese folk tale, a Han Chinese rebel leader named Liu Fu Tong devised a scheme to arouse the Han Chinese to rise up against the ruling Mongols to end the oppressive Yuan dynasty. He sought permission from Mongolian leaders to give gifts to friends as a symbolic gesture to honor the longevity of the Mongolian emperor. These gifts were round moon cakes. Inside, Liu had his followers place pieces of paper with the date the Han Chinese were to strike out in rebellion -- on the fifteenth night of the eighth month.

Thus Liu got word to his people, who when they cut open the moon cakes found the revolutionary message and set out to overthrow the Mongols, thus ending the Yuan dynasty.

Today, far from the exotic and heroic legends, Chinese communities all over the world make and consume moon cakes during the traditional autumn Moon Festival. I kind of get the impression that they are the Chinese version of a holiday fruit cake...

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