🏮 Xiaoyu Land

Chang'e and the Mid-Autumn Festival

Long ago, there were ten suns in the sky. The earth was burning hot and nothing could grow. The people were suffering.

A brave archer named Hou Yi (后羿) decided to save the world. He climbed to the top of the highest mountain, pulled back his bow, and shot down nine of the ten suns! Now there was only one sun, and the earth was saved.

The Queen Mother of the West gave Hou Yi a magic potion as a reward. "Drink this," she said, "and you will live forever and fly to heaven."

But Hou Yi did not want to leave his wife, Chang'e (嫦娥). So he gave the potion to her for safekeeping.

One day, a bad man named Peng Meng tried to steal the potion. Chang'e didn't want him to get it, so she drank the potion herself. Immediately, she floated up into the sky! Higher and higher she went, all the way to the moon.

When Hou Yi came home and learned what happened, he was heartbroken. He looked up at the moon and saw a shadow that looked like Chang'e. He put out her favorite fruits and cakes as an offering.

Every year on the night of the full harvest moon, people look up at the moon and remember Chang'e. They eat mooncakes (月饼 — yuè bǐng) and spend time with their families. This is the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节 — zhōng qiū jié)!

🌙 Fun Facts

• Mooncakes are round like the full moon, symbolizing family reunion.

• The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important Chinese holiday after Chinese New Year.

• In 2024, China's Chang'e-6 mission brought back samples from the far side of the moon — named after this legendary lady!