Tuesday 17 September 2024 (the 15th day of the 8th Chinese lunar month) ushers in the Mid-Autumn Festival, for Chinese people across the world. 

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important festival in China after the Spring Festival. In China, it is a reunion time for families. People celebrate it by lighting lanterns, appreciating the moon, and eating mooncakes. The Chinese Embassy in Samoa wishes happiness to all Samoan friends and their family on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history. Like other traditional festivals, it has also developed slowly. Ancient emperors had a ritual of worshipping the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. As early as in the book "Zhou Li", the word "Mid-Autumn" was recorded. Later, nobles and scholars followed suit. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, they admired and worshipped the bright and round moon in the sky and expressed their feelings. This custom was passed on to the people and formed a traditional activity. It was not until the Tang Dynasty(618-907) that this custom of worshipping the moon became more important and the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. The "Book of Tang·Taizong Ji" records the "Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15". This festival was popular in the Song Dynasty. By the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties, it had become as famous as New Year's Day and became one of the main festivals in China.

The legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival are very rich. Myths such as Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang cutting cassia trees, and Jade Rabbit pounding medicine are widely circulated.

The legend 1: Chang'e flying to the moon. According to legend, in ancient times, ten suns appeared in the sky at the same time, which dried up the crops and made people live in misery. A hero named Houyi was extremely powerful. He sympathized with the suffering people, climbed to the top of Kunlun Mountain, gathered all his strength, pulled the magic bow, shot down more than nine suns in one breath, and ordered the last sun to rise and fall on time to benefit the people. Houyi was respected and loved by the people because of this.

Houyi married a beautiful and kind wife named Chang'e. In addition to teaching and hunting, Houyi stayed with his wife all day long. Some people envied this loving couple with talent and beauty. Many aspiring people came to learn from him, and Peng Meng, who had evil intentions, also mixed in. One day, Houyi went to Kunlun Mountain to visit friends and seek the truth. He happened to meet the Queen Mother passing by, and asked the Queen Mother for a packet of immortality medicine. It is said that after taking this medicine, one can immediately ascend to heaven and become an immortal. However, Houyi was reluctant to leave his wife, so he had to temporarily give the immortality medicine to Chang'e for safekeeping.

Chang'e hid the medicine in the treasure box on the dressing table, but it was seen by the villain Peng Meng, who wanted to steal the elixir to become an immortal himself. Three days later, Houyi led his disciples out hunting. Peng Meng, who had ulterior motives, pretended to be sick and stayed behind. Not long after Houyi led everyone away, Peng Meng broke into the backyard of the inner house with a sword in hand and forced Chang'e to hand over the elixir. Chang'e knew that she was no match for Peng Meng. In the critical moment, she made a prompt decision, turned around, opened the treasure box, took out the elixir and swallowed it in one gulp. After Chang'e swallowed the medicine, her body immediately floated off the ground, rushed out of the window, and flew into the sky. Because Chang'e was worried about her husband, she flew to the moon closest to the earth and became an immortal.

In the evening, Houyi returned home, and the maids cried and told what happened during the day. Houyi was shocked and angry. He drew his sword to kill the villain, but Pengmeng had already escaped. Houyi was so angry that he beat his chest and stamped his feet. He was heartbroken and looked up at the night sky calling his beloved wife's name. At this time, he was surprised to find that the moon today was particularly bright and clear, and there was a swaying figure that looked like Chang'e. He desperately chased the moon, but he chased three steps, the moon retreated three steps, he retreated three steps, the moon advanced three steps, no matter what he did, he could not catch up. Houyi was helpless and missed his wife, so he had to send people to Chang'e's favorite back garden to set up an incense table, put her favorite honey and fresh fruits, and offer a remote sacrifice to Chang'e who was attached to him in the Moon Palace.

After hearing the news that Chang'e flew to the moon and became an immortal, the people set up incense tables under the moon and prayed to the kind Chang'e for good luck and peace. From then on, the custom of worshiping the moon on Mid-Autumn Festival spread among the people.

The legend 2: Wu Gang Cuts the Laurel. It is said that the laurel tree in front of the Guanghan Palace on the moon is lush and more than 500 feet high. There is a man below who often cuts it down, but every time he cuts it down, the cut part immediately closes up. For thousands of years, this laurel tree can never be cut down. It is said that the man who cut the tree was named Wu Gang. He was from Xihe in the Han Dynasty. He followed the immortals to practice Taoism and reached the heaven. However, he made a mistake, so the immortals banished him to the Moon Palace to do this futile and hard work every day as a punishment. There is a record in Li Bai's poem that "I want to cut the laurel in the moon and use it as firewood for the cold."

The legend 3: Zhu Yuanzhang and the Mooncake Uprising. It is said that eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). At that time, the vast majority of people in the Central Plains could not bear the cruel rule of the Yuan Dynasty ruling class, and they rose up to resist the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang united various resistance forces to prepare for the uprising. However, the court officers and soldiers searched very strictly, making it very difficult to pass the message. Military counsellor Liu Bowen came up with a plan. He ordered his subordinates to hide a note with the words "Revolt on the night of August 15th" inside the cakes and then sent people to deliver them to the rebel forces in various places, informing them to revolt on the night of August 15th.

On the day of the uprising, all the rebel forces responded together, and the uprising spread like wildfire. Soon, Xu Da captured Yuan Dadu, and the uprising was successful. When the news came, Zhu Yuanzhang was so happy that he immediately issued an oral order, allowing all the soldiers and the people to enjoy the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival together, and rewarded the ministers with the "moon cakes" that were used to secretly convey information when the army started that year. Since then, the production of "moon cakes" has become more and more refined, with more varieties, and the larger ones are like round plates, becoming a good gift. After that, the custom of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival spread among the people.