Ni Hao! Everybody,

As the end of September is approaching,do you know that there's a Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival(also named as Moon Fevtival) on the 30th of Sep. this year? Do you know the stories of the festival? Let's have a look at the legend stories of Mid-Autumn Festival:)

 

I. The Lady – Chang Er

The time of this story is around 2170 B.C. The
earth once had ten suns circling over it, each took its turn to illuminate to the earth.
But one day all ten suns appeared together, scorching the earth with their heat. The earth
was saved by a strong and tyrannical archer Hou Yi. He succeeded in shooting down nine of
the suns. One day, Hou Yi stole the elixir of life from a goddess. However his beautiful
wife Chang Er drank the elixir of life in order to save the people from her husband's
tyrannical rule. After drinking it, she found herself floating and flew to the moon. Hou
Yi loved his divinely beautiful wife so much, he didn't shoot down the
moon.

 

 

II. The Man – Wu Kang

Wu Kang was a shiftless fellow
who changed apprenticeships all the time. One day he decided that he wanted
to be an immortal. Wu Kang then went to live in the mountains where he importuned an
immortal to teach him. First the immortal taught him about the herbs used to cure
sickness, but after three days his characteristic restlessness returned and he asked the
immortal to teach him something else. So the immortal to teach him chess, but after a
short while Wu Kang's enthusiasm again waned. Then Wu Kang was given the books of
immortality to study. Of course, Wu Kang became bored within a few days, and asked if they
could travel to some new and exciting place. Angered with Wu Kang's impatience, the master
banished Wu Kang to the Moon Palace telling him that he must cut down a huge cassia tree
before he could return to earth. Though Wu Kang chopped day and night, the magical tree
restored itself with each blow, and thus he is up there chopping still.

 

 

III. The Hare – Jade Rabbit

In this legend, three fairy sages transformed
themselves into pitiful old men and begged for something to eat from a fox, a monkey and a
rabbit. The fox and the monkey both had food to give to the old men, but the rabbit,
empty-handed, offered his own flesh instead, jumping into a blazing fire to cook himself.
The sages were so touched by the rabbit's sacrifice that they let him live in the Moon
Palace where he became the "Jade Rabbit."

The articles are from http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/midfallstory.htm