Everyday Easy Chinese
Hi everyone, this is Teacher Lin.
And today, I'll be sharing the story of the mid-autumn festival with you.
The mid-autumn festival is celebrated in china,
and other asian countries on the 15th day
of the eighth month of the lunar calendar.
On this day family and friends will gather together to watch the full
moon at its brightest and roundest.
This is a symbol of harmony and reunion. Offerings of
fruit and moon cakes are made on this day to the moon goddess Chang'e.
And there's a mythical story associated with this.
Once upon a time, ten scorching suns suddenly appeared in the sky.
The burning heat of the sun was unbearable to everyone.
An archer named Hou Yi came to the rescue. He ascended
the peaks of the Kun Lun mountains, mustered up all of his strength
and used his bow and arrows to shoot down nine suns. One,
by one, until only one sun was left in the sky.
Upon hearing that Hou Yi had saved everyone from the suffering,
Hou Yi became a very esteemed and respected figure to many people.
He and his beautiful and kind-hearted wife Chang'e
became the talk of the town people from across the land came to him
to be accepted as one of its disciples. Among the disciples who were accepted,
was Pang Meng, a treacherous and greedy individual.
To reward Hou Yi for his good deed, the queen mother of the land gifted him
with an immortal elixir which once taken will allow him to ascend to the heavens
and live forever. Hou Yi was happy with his life and did not
want to part with his wife Chang'e, so asked her to hide the immortal elixir
in her treasure chest for safe keeping. The treacherous disciple, Pang Meng
overheard this conversation. During the dawn of August the 15th,
Hou Yi wanted to take his disciples out for training.
However Pang Meng, pretended to be ill and stayed at home instead.
Once Hou Yi and his disciples were out, Pang Meng drew out his sword and
burst into Chang'e's room. While searching through the room, he
threatened her to hand over the immortal elixir.
Chang'e refused to hand over the immortal elixir. However,
she knew that she was no match for Pang Meng.
So, she hurriedly took the elixir and swallowed it all in one go.
Chang'e's body started to feel very light and suddenly, she started floating
towards the sky.
Chang'e chose to settle on the moon
as this was the closest location to the earth.
And she knew that in this way, her husband
will always be able to see her when he looked
up at the night sky. After her husband came back in the
evening, he started to become anxious of the sudden disappearance of
his beloved wife. He rushed outside searching for her. Only guided
by the beaming rays of light emitted from the full moon. As he looked closer
at the bright moon. He caught a glimpse of his beloved wife Chang'e.
He cried with helpless despair as he realized what had happened.
In honor to his wife on that day, and every 15th day of the eighth
month where the moon is at its brightest and fullest, he will lay out her favorite
food such as fruits and cakes and burn incense sticks to bless her
from a distance. Other people heard about the news and also
participated in these sacrifices with Hou Yi.
And until this day, you'll still see families and friends gather on the 15th
day of the 8th lunar month to worship the
moon and look forward to a reunion.
We hope you enjoyed this story and perhaps
on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month,
you'll look at the full moon and see a glimpse of Chang'e.
Please do support us by liking this video,
and also subscribe to our channel for weekly
Chinese lessons. See you next time