09/13/2024 | Allie Love, Education Program Specialist I at The Museum of the Grand Prairie

September 17 is the date of this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, also called the Moon or Mooncake Festival. Celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eight month of the lunar calendar, family and friends gather together to enjoy lavish meals, eat mooncakes, and admire the moon at its brightest.Today, the festival has variations throughout Asia and with the Asian diaspora in the United States.  

The festival originates over three thousand years ago in the Zhou dynasty when Chinese emperors began worshiping and offering sacrifices to the moon during autumn to bring a better harvest for the next year. In the dynasties following, worshiping and appreciating the moon became more and more popular. During the Song dynasty, around one thousand years ago, the festival became official as worshiping and celebrating the full moon spread throughout all people in China. Popularity grew throughout the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties and finally became an official public holiday in China in 2008.  

There are many variations on the myth that explain the origins of moon worship, but they all involve the moon goddess Chang’e and her husband Hou Yi. In these various myths, the world is plagued by ten suns that scorch the earth. Hou Yi, an archer, shoots down nine of these suns, saving the world. Because of his actions, Hou Yi is awarded and receives two pills of immortality. One day, while Hou Yi is away, someone, in some tellings it is Hou Yi’s apprentice, Feng Meng, attempts to steal the pills of immortality. Left alone to guard them, Chang’e takes both pills, so as to deter the thief, and ascends to the moon as an immortal. Hou Yi, left alone on earth, leaves offerings to Chang’e and those sympathetic to Chang’e do the same.  

However, this is not the only legend surrounding the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the Tang Dynasty, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a businessman gifted Emperor Taizong mooncakes after a victory. He shared the cakes among the nobility, and they were so popular, they became a staple of the festival. Another legend takes place during the Yuan dynasty, when the Mongols led China. It is said that Chinese rebel leaders used mooncakes to smuggle secret messages to attack the Mongols on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Mooncakes became a staple to celebrate the successful rebellion.      

The Mid-Autumn Festival and the festival’s mooncakes have been enjoyed in Champaign County since at least the 1920s. In 1927, the University of Illinois’ only female Chinese student, Eva Rwan shared mooncakes with the university’s Women’s Club. Overtime, appreciation for the Mid-Autumn Festival has become more prominent. Today, there are various celebrations around Champaign County, including the YMCA’s Welcoming Week Mid-Autumn Celebration, that highlight the community’s commitment to celebrating a variety of rich cultures.