Mid Autumn Festival Legend!

Mid Autumn - what is all of this sound and colour about? Below is the legend of the Full Moon followed by 5 fun facts to get you a little more clued up as to what is going on and why!

Mid Autumn Festival Legend

Hau Due is an immortal, while Hang Nga is a beautiful fairy who lives in the heaven and serves the Queen God . They were a beautiful couple. The beauty of Hang Nga and the immortality of Hau Due made some other gods jealous, and they told lies about him in front of King Yao. Since then, Hang Nga and Hau Due were kicked out of the palace and had to live a normal human life. Since then, the life of working and hunting has made Hau Nghe a famous archer in folklore.

Now, there were ten suns, one each day for 10 days.. However, disaster struck, one day, all 10 suns appeared in one day and burned most of the creatures on the earth, leaving most of them nearly dead.  King Yao ordered Hau Due to shoot down 9 suns, leaving only one. Hau Due successfully completed his mission. In response, King Yao gave him a pill of immortality and told him to " do not drink this yet, instead start praying and fasting for a year, then take the pill". 

Hau Due followed his advice,  he took the pill home and hid it in the rafters of the roof and prayed and fasted. After about half a year, King Yao invited him to his house for a party". Hang Nga at home suddenly noticed a shiny object on the roof and discovered a spiritual medicine pill, then, knowing it was a spiritual medicine, she took the pill right at that time as Hau Due came back and immediately he immediately knew what had happened. But all was too late, Hang Nga began to fly to heaven.

With a crossbow in hand, Hau Due chases after Hang Nga. But halfway through, the wind god stopped him and let the beautiful fairy fly to the moon. When she arrived at the moon, Hang Nga suddenly couldn't breathe and the pill suddenly flew out. Since then, Hang Nga has been on the moon forever, never to return. Legend also has it that she called the rabbits of the moon to create the same pill so that she could return to her longing husband day and night, but all was useless.

Meanwhile, in the mortal world, the longing and regret of Hau Due raged day and night. In the end, he built a castle in the sun and named it " Yang"( Male), while Hang Nga also built a similar castle named "Yin" ( Female). Once a year, on the full moon day of August, the two are reunited in joy and happiness. That's why the moon is always so full and bright on this day, as if it were to talk about the joy and joy of meeting people.

1. Mid-Autumn Festival in China and Vietnam do not share the same history

Vietnam has its own, very unique beginnings when it comes to the festival. It is said that the festival stems from the need to spend quality family time together after the long, hard harvesting season. Parents would get to spend very little time with their children during this period and were finally able to celebrate family-time and the harvest that they had just reaped under the light of the moon.

2. It’s also called the “Moon Festival”

The reason for this is that you are currently witnessing the B I G G E S T full moon of the year!

3. Why the Lion Dance?

Truth be told, the Lion Dance isn’t actually specific to the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Lion Dance is also performed at weddings, New Year and other auspicious occasions and represents getting rid of bad vibes and welcoming good luck and fortune. Out with the old and in with the new (and hopefully ‘good’ too).

4. What is an appropriate gift to give someone for the Mid-Autumn Festival?

NOT YELLOW FLOWERS! Giving someone yellow flowers is only appropriate when someone has passed away but can be used at home for decorating.

For Adults: Roses, Lotus flowers and mooncakes are a win.

For Children: Star/fish/butterfly lanterns and lucky money in a red envelope all feature on the ‘YES’ list of Mid-Autumn Festival gifts for kids. The star-shaped lantern is particularly popular amongst the local children. If you haven’t seen children, eyes filled with light and smiles spread wide across their faces with star-shaped lanterns in their hands over the weekend, then you’re probably reading this from abroad.

5. This time of year is used to predict weather in the near future. Here’s how:

The Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a special occasion for families to gather and have fun. Farmers usually look up to the sky and predict their fortune and the weather of the following year during this time. If the Moon is yellow, their crop is going to flourish. However, a more blue or green moon is a less positive omen and represents weather and crops that aren’t worth looking forward to.

People also believe that if the Moon has a predominantly orange colour, that the country will be secure, peaceful and thrive over the next year.
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Enjoy the celebrations!