Moon Festival: Origin and Poem 中秋节

Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival

This Sunday, September 14 will be the lunar calendar Mid-Autumn Festival in Chinese tradition. There are many classic poems about the moon from Chinese poets for thousands of years. Do you know which is the most popular one? I’ll let you know following a brief intriduction about the festival. ChineseHour is very happy to share the happy hours of the Moon Festival with our Chinese learners, and wish you would have a good day at the festival, a good taste of the moon cake and a good taste of Chinese learning too.

jǔ tóu wàng míngyuè
举  头  望   明 月，
I gaze upwards toward the moon in the skies,
dī tóu sī gùxiāng
低 头  思  故 乡。
And downwards look when a nostalgia does arise.

míngyuè jǐshí yǒu
明 月   几时  有，
Bright moon, when was your birth?
bǎ jiǔ wèn qīngtiān
把 酒  问  青 天。
Winecup in hand, I ask the deep blue sky.

It is now the eighth month in the lunar calendar, the time for the Chinese to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival. It is so called because it is in the middle of the eighth month, which is a full moon. We used to celebrate the full moon by fruit, moon cake, and children played their lanterns with neighbor.

On the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar the moon is full and it is time for the Chinese people to mark their Moon Festival, or the Mid-Autumn Festival. The round shape symbolizes family reunio. Therefore the day is a holiday for family members to get together and enjoy the full moon - an auspicious token of abundance, harmony and luck.

Sons and daughters will come back to their parents’ house. Sometimes people who have already settled overseas will return to visit their parents on that day. Adults will usually indulge in fragrant moon cakes of many varieties with a good cup of piping hot Chinese tea, while the little ones run around with their brightly-lit lanterns. After nightfall, entire families go out under the stars for a walk or picnics, looking up at the full silver moon, thinking of their nearby relatives or friends, as well as those who are far from home. A line from a verse “The moon at the home village is exceptionally brighter” expresses those feelings. It is also a romantic night for the lovers, who sit holding hands on riverbanks and park benches, enraptured by the brightest moon of the year.

Round “moon cakes”, made of fruit, ice cream, yogurt, pork, mushrooms, green tea, flowers, jelly etc., are a traditional food eaten during the festival. People also enjoy pomelos on this day; yu, the Chinese word for pomelo, sounds the same as another Chinese word to beseech the moon god for protection.

“水调歌头 Shui diao ge tou” is the most popular poem about the moon and the moon festival. It is primarily recommended in the Chinese school textbooks and most students can memorize it without missing a word.

水调歌头 The Moon Festival  (苏轼 Su shi)
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Also, you may  click here to listen to the pop song of the poem.
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明月几时有，      míngyuè jǐshí yǒu
把酒问青天。      bǎ jiǔ wèn qīngtiān
不知天上宫阙，   bùzhī tiānshàng gōngquè
今夕是何年？      jīnxī shì hé nián
我欲乘风归去，   wǒ yù chéngfēng guīqù
又恐琼楼玉宇，   yòu kǒng qiónglóu yùyǔ
高处不胜寒。      gāochù bú shēng hán
起舞弄清影，      qǐwǔ nòng qīng yǐng
何似在人间！      hé sì zài rénjiān
 
转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。zhuǎn zhūgé, dī qǐ hù, zhào wúmián
不应有恨，             bù yīng yǒu hèn
何事长向别时圆？    héshì chángxiàng bié shí yuán
人有悲欢离合，       rén yǒu bēihuān líhé
月有阴晴圆缺，       yuè yǒu yīnqíng yuánquē
此事古难全。          cǐ shì gǔ nán quán
但愿人长久，          dànyuàn rén chángjiǔ
千里共婵娟。          qiānlǐ gòng chánjuān

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Bright moon, when was your birth?
Winecup in hand, I ask the deep blue sky;
Not knowing what year it is tonight
In those celestial palaces on high. I long to fly back one the wind,
Yet dread those crystal towers, those courts of jade,
Freezing to death among those icy heights!
Instead I rise to dance with my pale shadow;
Better off, after all, in the world of men.

Rounding the red pavilion,
Stooping to look through gauze windows,
She shines on the sleepless.
The moon should know no sadness;
Why, then, is she always full when dear ones are parted?
For men the grief of parting, joy of reunio,
Just as the moon wanes and waxes, is bright or dim:
Always some flaw-and so it has been since of old.
My one wish for you, is long life
And a share in this loveliness far, far away!