Chinese Moon Festival background story and custom. Please download to view, there are many slides with photos "fly in" to create the story. Enjoy and happy Moon Festival!

1. Chinese Moon Festival
Legends and Customs
Joanne Chen
2015
IVC Chinese instructor

2. Moon Festival
中秋节
Zhōng
middle
Qiū
Autumn
Jié
Holiday
Zhōng qiū jiú
https://youtu.be/ndknxk4v4QY

3. Chinese Moon Festival
Chinese Lunar Calendar date: Aug 15
Western Calendar date: September 27, 2015
Full Moon

4. If you look carefully at the moon in clear
nights, you can see dark shadow on it.
 Ancient Chinese believed that
1. Chang- e lived at her palace
2. Wu Gang was cutting his tree
3. Jade Rabbit was making medicine

5. Story 1: Hou Yi and Chang E
Hou Yi the Archer, shooting down the 9 Suns that endangered
the Earth with extreme heat.
He was rewarded by the Jade Emperor with a potion of
immortality.
Chiang E, Hou Yi’s wife, somehow swallows the potion of
immortality, causing her to float up and fly to the moon.

6. Story 2: Wu Gang and His Tree
• In Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD) a man named
Wu Gang. He once followed the immortals to
cultivate himself. However, when in the heaven,
he made a mistake and was banished to the moon
to chop the laurel tree.
• Each time Wu Gang chopped it, it grew back
right. This happened again and again.
https://youtu.be/2K9oxECJxvg

7. Story 3: Jade Rabbit
A Brahmin priest that asked several animals for food.
All the animals were able to find food for the priest,
except for the rabbit, who instead offered to throw its
own body into a fire to feed him.
The priest was actually a manifestation of the god
Sakra (Indra) that came to put the virtue of the
animals to the test, and the rabbit was one of the
previous lives of the Buddha. The image of the rabbit
was then impressed onto the moon by Sakra to honor
its compassion and virtue.

8. 月餅
yuè bǐng
Moon Cake
Moon Cake is the symbol of
reunion and eaten during
the Moon Festival.
Moon cakes usually have
fillings of fruit or nut paste,
egg yolk, or meat.

9. Moon Cakes
月餅 yuèbǐng
• Mooncakes were used by the Ming revolutionaries (15th
Century A.D.) in their effort to overthrow the Mongolian
rulers of China at the end of the Yuan dynasty.
• The mooncakes contained a secret message coordinating the
Han Chinese revolt on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.
• Another method of hiding a message was to print it on the surfaces
of mooncakes (which came in packages of four), as a simple puzzle
or mosaic. To read the message, each of the four mooncakes was
cut into four parts. The resulting 16 pieces were pieced together to
reveal the message. The pieces of mooncake were then eaten to
destroy the message.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake#Ming_revolution

10. Family Reunion
In ancient times, the
Mid-autumn signals the
end of working in the
fields for the year. It is
the time for family
members to come home
and be together again.
These days, families and
friends get together at
home or outdoors to
celebrate the festival.

11. In Taiwan, zhōng qiū jié:
BBQ Time
Family and friends gathering
Out door activity

12. Mid-Autumn
Lantern Festival

13. Chī yòuzi
吃柚子

14. Thoughts in the Silent Night 静夜思
By Li Bai (李白)
• 床 前 明 月 光
• 疑 是 地 上 霜
• 举 头 望 明 月
• 低 头 思 故 乡
• Chuáng qián míng yuèguāng
• Yí shì dìshàng shuāng
• Jǔ tóu wàng míngyuè
• Dī tóu sī gùxiāng
• Moonlight shining through the window
• Makes me wonder if there is frost on the
ground
• Looking up to see the moon
• Looking down I miss my hometown
Li Bai
Born: 701 AD,
Died: 762 AD, China
Period: Tang dynasty

15. Children’s book about Moon Festival
 Thanking the Moon By Grace Lin
 Moon Festival By Ching Yeung Russell
 Mooncakes By Loretta Seto
 Lin Yi’s Lantern By Brenda Williams
http://www.chineseholidays101.com/best-childrens-books-about-the-mid-autumn-festival/

16. YouTube Video
Search Keyword: Chinese Moon Festival
Moon Festival Story
Making Moon Cake
Chinese Moon Festival Lesson Plan and
Worksheet
http://www.childbook.com/Chinese-Moon-Festival-Lesson-Plan-
for-Grades-K4-s/73.htm
http://www.childbook.com/Chinese-Moon-Festival-Teaching-Lesson-
Plans-Worksheets-s/298.htm
http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=chinese+moon+festival