The Mid-Autumn Day

    The Mid-Autumn Day has a long and interesting history. In the ancient China, maybe in five thousand ago, the king was very cruel to his people and managed the country badly. He was a tyrant. So the people all hate him but afraid with him, some ones who were brave intended to kill him. It was a big secret in the period, so they putted this detail messages in cakes. On the 15th day of the 8th lunar month every one was told to buy the cakes. When they ate them they discovered the messages. Then they got together to kill the king suddenly. Since that day, Chinese people celebrate on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month every year and eat "moon cakes" in order to memorize this important event.

   When the Mid-Autumn Festival is near, shop windows are full of presents. Many "moon cakes" are well cooked and displayed for people to buy. People send presents such as wine, fruits and "moon cakes" to their friends and relatives in order to show their love to them. In the evening of the day, they have a wonderful feast. After the feast, they go out to watch the moon. The olds tell stories about “Chang e” for children.  

 It is believed that the moon in that night is biggest in one year. So many poems write about it. But not so many poets write sun as much as moon. It seems that Chinese literature takes more interest in the moon than in the sun.