The Lantern Festival!
Ah, the Lantern Festival. A tradition that is one of my most beloved. I am most definitely looking forward to making the trip to Hogwarts this Saturday.
I find mooncakes to be one of the more interesting culinary objects in history. In past times, they were used for communication during wars. As with the traditional note attached to the pigeon's leg, letters were secretly tucked inside of mooncakes.
Towards the end of the Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered. In the North, there lived a man by the surname of Zhu (or Chu, in some Romanisation schemes, and no relation to the author, as Zhu was from a northern branch of the Chu/Gee family tree), who was the leader of a revolutionary group. The plans he made called for a signal during the Moon Festival for the revolutionaries to take the only knife allowed for every town and overthrow the Mongols. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644), with Zhu as the first emperor. Today, mooncakes are eaten to commemorate this legend.
But there is more than one legend attached to the mooncake itself, believe it or not.
On the boxes of mooncakes, there appears the image of a woman, and many have not taken the time to look into this. However, this afternoon I spent quite a bit of time researching who, exactly, this woman is, and found a wonderful legend.
A long time ago, the sky had ten Suns warming the sky. During one summer, the ten Suns shone so brightly that it caused all the plants and rivers to dry up. Life became unbearable for the Emperor and his subjects.
The Emperor called on the great archer, Hou Yi. Hou Yi was a well-known archer who could shoot and hit targets far and near with perfect precision. The Emperor commanded Hou Yi to shoot down all but one of the ten Suns from the sky. Taking nine magic arrows to his bow, the archer pulled back with all his might and shot down nine of the ten Suns. The summer returned to normal and the Emperor’s people were safe once again.
The Emperor rewarded Hou Yi with a great wealth of money and jewels. Hou Yi took this money to marry the woman he so greatly loved and longed for, the notoriously beautiful Chang Er. The wedding was a wonderful celebration, and the families of Hou Yi and Chang Er were happy.
Fame soon got to Hou Yi's head, and he turned into an arrogant man. He began to envision his own immortality, and the only way to achieve his dream was by eating two pills that can be obtained from a Goddess. Once a mortal consumed these two pills, he/she would become a God or Goddess.
When his wife, Chang Er, found out about her tyrannical husband's intentions of gaining immortality, she decided to destroy the pills. She simply could not bear the thought of a tyrant having eternal life and causing more sufferings to the people. However, before she could throw away the pills, Hou-yi found out of her intentions and in desperation, she quickly swallowed both pills. As a result, Chang Er became a Goddess and floated to the moon.
When Chang Er reached the moon, she found a tree under which there was a friendly hare. Because the air on the moon is cold, she began coughing and the Immortality Pill came out of her throat. She thought it would be good to pound the pill into small pieces and scatter them on Earth so that everyone could be immortal. So she ordered the hare to pound the pill, built a palace for herself and remained on the moon.
This helpful hare is referred to in Chinese mythology as the Jade Hare. Because of his and Chang Er's legendary importance, you will sometimes see - stamped on every mooncake, every mooncake box, and every Moon Cake Festival poster - images of Chang Er with the Jade Hare.
Chang Er is now known to be the Moon Goddess and is worshipped by the people. You will find many devotees offering her joss sticks, candles, pomeloes, and mooncakes during this special occasion in remembrance of her deed. Many still believe that the legendary Chang Er and her pet rabbit reside on the moon, and that if one looks closely, one might just catch a glimpse of them.
That is why we celebrate the Moon Festival. It is a time when magic is considered to be the most easily accessible, and when we are not bound to certain limitations. This means that we, as wizards and witches, can do spells and enchantments during this evening that may be, at any other time, beyond our abilities. I am almost tempted to spend the evening boning up, but I am definitely looking forward to the festival itself more. It will be nice to spend time with Ronald and Virginia, as well as some old schoolmates.
I find mooncakes to be one of the more interesting culinary objects in history. In past times, they were used for communication during wars. As with the traditional note attached to the pigeon's leg, letters were secretly tucked inside of mooncakes.
Towards the end of the Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered. In the North, there lived a man by the surname of Zhu (or Chu, in some Romanisation schemes, and no relation to the author, as Zhu was from a northern branch of the Chu/Gee family tree), who was the leader of a revolutionary group. The plans he made called for a signal during the Moon Festival for the revolutionaries to take the only knife allowed for every town and overthrow the Mongols. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644), with Zhu as the first emperor. Today, mooncakes are eaten to commemorate this legend.
But there is more than one legend attached to the mooncake itself, believe it or not.
On the boxes of mooncakes, there appears the image of a woman, and many have not taken the time to look into this. However, this afternoon I spent quite a bit of time researching who, exactly, this woman is, and found a wonderful legend.
A long time ago, the sky had ten Suns warming the sky. During one summer, the ten Suns shone so brightly that it caused all the plants and rivers to dry up. Life became unbearable for the Emperor and his subjects.
The Emperor called on the great archer, Hou Yi. Hou Yi was a well-known archer who could shoot and hit targets far and near with perfect precision. The Emperor commanded Hou Yi to shoot down all but one of the ten Suns from the sky. Taking nine magic arrows to his bow, the archer pulled back with all his might and shot down nine of the ten Suns. The summer returned to normal and the Emperor’s people were safe once again.
The Emperor rewarded Hou Yi with a great wealth of money and jewels. Hou Yi took this money to marry the woman he so greatly loved and longed for, the notoriously beautiful Chang Er. The wedding was a wonderful celebration, and the families of Hou Yi and Chang Er were happy.
Fame soon got to Hou Yi's head, and he turned into an arrogant man. He began to envision his own immortality, and the only way to achieve his dream was by eating two pills that can be obtained from a Goddess. Once a mortal consumed these two pills, he/she would become a God or Goddess.
When his wife, Chang Er, found out about her tyrannical husband's intentions of gaining immortality, she decided to destroy the pills. She simply could not bear the thought of a tyrant having eternal life and causing more sufferings to the people. However, before she could throw away the pills, Hou-yi found out of her intentions and in desperation, she quickly swallowed both pills. As a result, Chang Er became a Goddess and floated to the moon.
When Chang Er reached the moon, she found a tree under which there was a friendly hare. Because the air on the moon is cold, she began coughing and the Immortality Pill came out of her throat. She thought it would be good to pound the pill into small pieces and scatter them on Earth so that everyone could be immortal. So she ordered the hare to pound the pill, built a palace for herself and remained on the moon.
This helpful hare is referred to in Chinese mythology as the Jade Hare. Because of his and Chang Er's legendary importance, you will sometimes see - stamped on every mooncake, every mooncake box, and every Moon Cake Festival poster - images of Chang Er with the Jade Hare.
Chang Er is now known to be the Moon Goddess and is worshipped by the people. You will find many devotees offering her joss sticks, candles, pomeloes, and mooncakes during this special occasion in remembrance of her deed. Many still believe that the legendary Chang Er and her pet rabbit reside on the moon, and that if one looks closely, one might just catch a glimpse of them.
That is why we celebrate the Moon Festival. It is a time when magic is considered to be the most easily accessible, and when we are not bound to certain limitations. This means that we, as wizards and witches, can do spells and enchantments during this evening that may be, at any other time, beyond our abilities. I am almost tempted to spend the evening boning up, but I am definitely looking forward to the festival itself more. It will be nice to spend time with Ronald and Virginia, as well as some old schoolmates.