The Origin of Mid-Autumn Festival

As is the case with most ethnic holidays, there are ancestors and legends to honour. The most popular legend for the Mid-autumn Festival is said to have originated in the year 2000 B.C. This is the story of Hou Yih, an officer of the imperial guards, and his wife Chang Oh. The story is well-known as "Chang Oh Ben Yue" in Chinese, which means "The Goddess Chang's flight to the moon".

The Goddess Chang fly to the moon One day, ten suns suddenly appeared in the sky. The emperor, greatly fearful that this occurrence could cause some great evil to his people, ordered Hou Yih, an expert archer, to shoot nine of the suns out of the sky. The great skill that Hou Yih showed to accomplish this feat impressed the Goddess of the Western Heaven greatly.

Since Hou Yih was also a talented architect, the Goddess asked him to build her a palace made of multicoloured jade. His work again pleased the Goddess, so much so that she rewarded him with the possibility of everlasting life. She gave him the elixir of immortality in the form of a pill. He was not to swallow the pill until he had undergone a year of prayer and fasting. Hou subsequently took the pill home and hid it.

Hou's wife was a divinely beautiful woman named Chang Oh. One day she discovered the hidden pill and she swallowed it. The resulting punishment was immediate and Chang Oh found herself airborne, bound for eternal banishment on the moon. As she soared upwards, her husband, Hou Yih, desperately tried to follow but was swept back to earth by a typhoon. Chang Oh's divine beauty and radiance enhanced the brilliance and brightness of the moon. Now, Chinese people gather each Moon Festival to admire her.