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Moon Festival Moon Festival is held annually on the 15th of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. On this day, the full moon shines the brightest, meaning family reunion. Since the Tang (唐) dynasty (A.D. 618-906), the 15th day of the eighth lunar month has been an official holiday-Moon Festival is known as Mid Autumn Festival. The Moon Festival is still a holiday where family members get together wherever it is possible. We can say that it is a full of friendliness and a most graceful day. Historically the moon has been used as a timepiece.
The Chinese, being an
agricultural
people,
planted and
harvested
according to the moon. For this reason, these people have
In folklore, the people spread various legends and fairy tales, but "Chang O ascends to the moon" is the most well known. Long time ago, the legend has it that the earth was in a state of havoc because there were ten suns in the sky. The heat of those ten suns shining all at once made the earth insufferably hot; many humans and animals died from the heat, the rivers dried up, and the forests burned, bringing infinite suffering. This matter startled a hero named Hou Yi. He was a courageous and fortunate person, for his wife was the lovely Chang-o and both of them were deeply in love and inseparable. He was a great archer, launching arrows at the suns, and shot down nine of the suns. He left the last one to keep the earth warm and bright and separate night from day. After that, people could enjoy lives of work in the daytime and rest at night. The world was finally at peace. Thus the awed people elevated him to the position of their leader.
One day, Hou
Yi went to the Kunlum mountain (崑崙山)
and had a chance encounter with the Royal Mother, who
resided
atop the Kunlun Mountains. At that time, she gave him her one
remaining
pill of
immortality
and told him if a person When he returned home, he gave the pill to his wife for safekeeping. But one of his disciples saw this and on the day of the 15th night of the 8th lunar month went to meet Chang-o and asked for the pill, at the time Hou Yi wasn't home. Therefore, Chang-o took out the pill of immortality, and put it in her mouth and swallowed it. At once she felt her body becoming lighter and lighter, until she soared upward to the cold and lonely palace in the moon. Hou Yi was so broken-hearted that he drank himself into a stupor, and then the disciple killed him. Chang-o was consigned to eternity alone. After that, the custom of praying to the moon has been in folklore.
The Legend of Eating Mooncakes
Mooncakes symbolize the
gathering of friends and family and are an indispensable part of the offerings
made to the Earth God, Tu Ti
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took the
pill, he could ascend to Heaven; if two people divided it, they could live
forever. But it had to be taken on the 15th night of the 8th lunar month, when
the moon was full. 
Kung.
According to popular belief, the custom of eating mooncakes began in the late
Yuan dynasty. As the story goes, the Han people of that time resented the Mongol
rule of the Yuan Dynasty and revolutionaries, led by Chu Yuan-chang, plotted to
usurp the throne. Chu needed to find a way of uniting the people to revolt on
the same day without letting the Mongol rulers learn of the plan. Chu's close
advisor, Liu Po-wen, finally came up with a brilliant idea. A rumor was spread
that a plague was ravaging the land and that only by eating a special mooncake
distributed by the revolutionaries could the disaster be prevented. The
mooncakes were then distributed only to the Han people, who found, upon cutting
the cakes open, the message "Revolt on the fifteenth of the eighth moon." Thus
informed, the people rose together on the designated day to overthrow the Yuan,
and since that time mooncakes have become an integral part of the Mid-Autumn
Festival. 
There are four types of mooncakes :
ping, su, kuang, and tai. Ping-style
mooncakes originated in Peking and resemble sesame cakes, with a crisp and
savory outer crust. The su-style of mooncakes are sweet with a thin,
delicate layered crust which is judged according to its tenderness and
whiteness. The kuang-style are wrapped in a pastry-like crust and are
famous for their meticulously prepared fillings. The tai-style of
mooncake is traditionally eaten in Taiwan and is also known as "Moonlight
Cakes." These cakes use sweet potatoes for filling and are sweet, tender, and
tasty without being oily.