Hi, Lovelies.

On October 6th, it is the Chinese Moon Festival or the Mid-Autumn Festival. I was adopted from China, so while I have always felt a disconnect from my culture, the tale of the Chinese Moon Goddess was one of the first I had ever learned. And I just absolutely love the story and want to share the story with you.

A little information about the Mid-Autumn Festival, it falls on the 15th day of the 8th month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which lands on a full moon. That time is about family and in China, they get a three day weekend, play with lanterns, and eat mooncakes and other food. But honestly, I’ve never really celebrated it, but I have tried mooncakes.

(I didn’t personally like the one I had, it was like a regular one with red bean paste. But apparently, there are different flavors, so maybe I’ll like one of those.)

The Moon Goddess Tale

Again, like all old tales, there are multiple different versions and I will tell you the one that I know.

In the beginning, the world had ten suns. During the day, it was scorching hot, burning everything in sight. The people cried out to the immortals asking for help. So the immortals gave 10 arrows to the hero Houyi to shoot down the suns. One by one, with his incredible aim, Houyi shot down nine out of ten suns. Just as he was about to reach for the last arrow, he realized his quiver was empty. His wife Chang’e has been smart enough to steal the last arrow and prevent him from shooting down all the suns. If that had happened, they would have been plunged into darkness forever.

The people rejoiced and the immortals decided to reward Houyi, by giving him a pill of immortality, but the pill wasn’t ready to be taken yet.

And one day, when Houyi went on a hunting trip, robbers came to the house, coming to steal the immortality pill. Chang’e, his wife, not knowing anything else to do swallow the pill. Some say that because the pill wasn’t ready, she turned into a frog and leapt to the moon. Others say that she started floating up to the heavens.

Whatever it was, Chang’e landed on the moon and made it her new home. Houyi was sad that his wife was gone. Some say that he was angry, thinking that his wife stole the immortality pill for herself. But all say that at the end of the story, Houyi was sad and just missed his wife terribly.

But one night as he looked up the heavens, he saw a figure moving around on the moon and he realized that it was his wife. Eventually, he would bring treats to his wife, which were mooncakes.

My Take

There are many different versions of the Chinese Moon Goddess story. Some say that they see each other for one night. I think I read one where Houyi later became like a Sun God and they would meet when there are eclipses. Other stories on the moon include a bunny or rabbit that helps Chang’e make more of the immortality pill. And another story talks about a man sentenced to cut down an unchoppable tree on the moon, similar to the Greek story of Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill in the Underworld.

But the version I like the least is the one that says Chang’e was greedy and stole the immorality pill. I think that version paints Chang’e in a bad light and is kinda sexist. And I don’t know where I read about Chang’e taking the last arrow so her husband didn’t plunge the world into darkness. None of the versions that show up on the internet include that detail. But I did read it somewhere and I loved that little detail because there is truth in the wife having insight that the husband doesn’t. And it paints Chang’e in a better light.

However, at the end of the day, I feel that this story is ultimately about love and is a beautiful story about longing and almost grief.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this story and maybe consider looking into the Moon Festival and trying some mooncakes.