Mid-Autumn Festival is the most important festival symbolizing reunion. In traditional Chinese culture, the moon on the festival night is believed to be the fullest and brightest of the whole year, enjoying the beauty of the full moon on this day has been a long-standing tradition Chinese custom for centuries.
According to the legend, in ancient times there were ten suns in the sky simultaneously, and the strong exposure and extremely hot temperature made people’s lives a misery. A hero known as Hou Yi crafted a bow and shot down nine suns with his arrows. For saving mankind, the Queen Mother of the West gave him an elixir as a reward.
Hou Yi did not drink the potion because he wanted to stay with his wife, Chang’e. He gave the elixir to his wife for safe keeping, but she drank it one day when she was attacked. This caused her to become immortal and fly to the moon. People honor Chang’e with moon cakes and offerings of food for good fortune.
Eating mooncakes has also become an indispensable part of the festival.
