Happy Mid-Autumn Day!12Mid-Autumn DayIntroductionOriginDevelopmentCustomLegend3Introduction The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional Chinese festival.It falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar.The festival is held during the full moon, it is time for family members to congregate and enjoy the full moon together. One of the most important symbols is the moon-cake. People usually enjoy various moon-cakes by the table with their families while gaze at the full moon shining in the clear sky.4Origin of the Mid-Autumn DayThe Mid-Autumn Day falls in the middle of August ,The Mid-Autumn Day hence the name.The festival has a long history, it can date back to ancient Shang Dynasty. In ancient China, emperors followed the rite of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and to the moon in autumn . August is the harvest season , people always bear abundant crops in August , so they celebrate the harvest during the full moon .5Development of Mid-Autumn DayAt first , The Mid-Autumn Day was only celebrated by the emperors. The emperors prepared sacrifices to worship the Gods in autumn.Later aristocrats （贵族）and literary figures helped expand the ceremony to common people. They enjoyed the full and bright moon on that day.By the Tang Dynasty, The Mid-Autumn Day became an important festival , so that many famous poets created a number of poems associated with Mid-Autumn Day.6Development of Mid-Autumn DayDuring the Yuan Dynasty ,China was ruled by the Mongolian people , they treated people cruelly .So Zhu yuanzhang coordinated with the rebellion in order to ruin the govern of Mongolian people.At that time ,The Mid-Autumn Day was near to come ,in case of being discovered,the leader of rebellion ordered the making of special cakes and he packed into each moon-cake with the message that the outline of the attack. On the night of moon night, the rebels successfully attack and overthrow the government.This is the first time the moon-cake was created.7 Since yuan Dynasty , The Mid-Autumn Day was celebrated by more and more people.releasing sky lanterns and watching fire dragon dance. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Mid-autumn festival was as famous as the New Years Day and it was also one of the major festivals of China. Today , The Mid-Autumn Day is the second most important festival in China .festivities of the Mid-Autumn Festival are more varied. After a family reunion dinner, many people like to go out to attend special performance in parks or on public squares. Families set up tables in their courtyards or sit together on their balconies, chatting and eating moon-cakes .Development of Mid-Autumn Day8customs of The Mid-Autumn Day moon worship Moon worship is an ancient tradition in China .This tradition has been passed down from generation to generation . In modern time , people usually display moon-cakes as well as other fruits on the table in the yard. After moon has eaten the moon-cakes, they will sit together around the table and eat the worshiped moon-cakes with family members to pray for good luck and happiness. 9customs of The Mid-Autumn Day Eating moon-cakes The delicately-shaped moon cake is a must-have for the Mid-autumn Day, which is made of flour filled with various kinds of fillings like nuts, eggs, beans and fruits. Almost everyone eat moon-cakes on that day，because the round shape of moon-cakes stands for reunion.Lantern people make lanterns themselves, the handmade lantern which is made in diverse shapes of flowers, animals, insects, fruits. Most people go outside to attend Lantern Fair.10legends of The Mid-Autumn DayChange flying to the moon The Jade Rabbit11Change flying to the moon One day ,ten suns turned up in the sky together ,they burnt plant , people on the earth .A lot of people couldnt bear the heat of the sun ,more and more people died because of the high temperature . A hero named Hou Yi shot down nine of them , their life went back to normal. Henceforth , HouYi was famous for his skills in archery(射箭) ，many people asked him to be their teacher.HouYi got a bottle of elixir (不老长寿药) from god in heaven,but he wanted to stay with his wife instead of become an immortal. He asked his wife to keep the elixir for him. Unfortunately ,one of his student whose name was FengMeng became jealous of HouYi.12Change flying to the moon One day ,when HouYi was out for hunting, he forced Change to hand in the elixir. Change knew she couldnt defeat him, she had to drank it. Then change flew higher and higher ,in the end ,she landed on the moon which is closest to the earth.From then on , the custom of worshiping the moon on the Mid-Autumn Day began to spread.13One day they met a fox, a monkey and a rabbit, and they begged for food. The fox and the monkey shared their food with the old men; but the rabbit , with nothing to share, jumped into a blazing fire to offer his own flesh instead. The sages were so moved by the rabbit s kindness that they sent it to live in the Moon Palace, where it became the Jade Rabbit. Change, who lived alone after arriving in the moon, liked the Jade Rabbit at the first sight, they became close friends soon. Hearing about the story of Change and Hou Yi, the Jade Rabbit felt sympathetic to them and decided to make a special heavenly medicine which could help Change return to Earth. Unfortunately, the Jade Rabbit has still not been able to make it even though he has worked hard for thousands of years.The Jade Rabbit 14poemNight Thoughts I wake, and moonbeams play around my bed,Glittering like hoar-frost to my wandering eyes;Up towards the glorious moon I raise my head,Then lay me downand thoughts of home arise.15Happy Mid-Autumn Day!16个人观点供参考，欢迎讨论