Mid-autumn/Moon Festival

Written by: Chinese School of Chinese Evangelical Free Church

The Moon Festival has many legends and stories. The most popular story is "Chang Er Beng Yue," which translates to Chang Er's Voyage to the Moon. Chang Er is the beautiful wife of Ho Yi, who was a master at archery. Because of his skills in archery, Ho Yi protected the people from ferocious animals and considered him their hero. Due to his popularity and talents, Ho Yi later became the Emperor.

In the beginning Ho Yi was a wonderful Emperor. However, as time went on Ho Yi's lavish lifestyle and power changed him and he became a dictator. Ho Yi totally forgot his responsibility to take care of, serve, and protect the people who supported him. Ho Yi became a tyrant and he treated people like slaves. In addition, Ho Yi was obsessed with longevity and searched for a pill for everlasting life.

At last, Ho Yi found the pill of longevity and decided to swallow the pill during the Full Moon of the Moon Festival. Chang Er worried that if Ho Yi lived forever, the people would suffer if he continued to be Emperor. For this reason, Chang Er secretly at Ho Yi's long life pill, and she became light and floated toward the moon. Ho Yi found out and was extremely angered, he tried to shoot her down with his archery skill, but his efforts were in vain because since he became the Emperor, he did not use his archery abilities. Chang Er flew to the moon and lived in the Moon Palace and became the Moon Fairy.

During the Moon Festival at night, people say you can still see Chang Er on the moon. Chang Er Fairy protects everyone's safety, health, and peace.

The Story of Moon Cakes

Written by: Chinese School of Chinese Evangelical Free Church

On this particular day, we can enjoy the biggest and brightest full moon. During the Moon Festival, family, relatives and friends gather together to celebrate the Moon Festival and taste all different kinds of delicious moon cakes.

Moon cakes usually are shaped round like the moon and represent harmony, perfection, and unity. Moon cakes come in different varieties of sweet or salty, including the sweet red and green bean, lotus paste, or the salty meat and egg.

The reason we eat moon cakes during the Moon Festival is because during the Yuan Dynasty the Mongolians conquered and threatened the Han people. In order to battle and take back their way of life, the Han people planned their attack and military response by placing secret messages in the moon cakes. This successful uprising revolt helped the Han people established the Ming Dynasty.

Today, instead of messages, people place egg yolks in the moon cakes. The purpose of placing egg yolks in the moon cakes is to balance the sweetness of the filling with the salty of the egg, making the moon cake delicious and satisfying. The moon cakes popularity and history has been passed on from generations to generations and will continue to be enjoyed by everyone forever.