Mooncake

Gaze at tonight's sky. If it won't be cloudy, you will see the moon shining very intensely.

Chinese tradition marks today as the Mid-Autumn festival, an annual holiday that celebrates the time of the year when the moon is at its brightest. You will see us, Chinese, following (or celebrating) various regional customs (in Philippines, we play dice games) and eating a few mooncakes, a Chinese pastry made to mark the occasion. 

Foreigners may find it intriguing why we hold this day with high reverence. The Moon is very bright today, so? Are we into lunar worship, or is there another story? 

Indeed, the brightness of tonight's moon has inspired many tales. I am going to tell you the most well-known one.

During the reign of Emperor Yao, ten suns took turns in illuminating the Earth. On one unfortunate day, however, all suns had since rose together and shone simultaneously. Because of the extreme heat, people suffered from starvation, as water was dehydrated and no crop was harvested. 

Houyi, an ace archer, emerged. His skills were peerless, and he could even hit and destroy celestial bodies. To save the earth, Houyi shot down 9 suns, leaving 1 to retain earth’s daylight.

The whole world praised Houyi for his heroism, and he was made the king of China. Soon, however, Houyi became greedy and power-hungry. He became a despot. Alas, no force could resist the near-omnipotent Houyi, whose only weakness was age.

As Houyi grew, he noticed his once tremendous strength was beginning to wane. Fearful of ever relinquishing his position, he hired doctors to devise an elixir of life. It will restore his vitality and will make him live forever. 

The doctors succeeded and they delivered the medicine to the palace. But Houyi wasn’t in the palace then. Because Jang’e, Houyi’s beautiful wife (side note: unrelated to Jang Geum), didn’t want the world to forever be subjected to Houyi’s tyranny, she took this opportunity and drank the elixir. 

To her surprise, she began to float until she reached the moon. When Houyi heard of this, he was devastated. He aimed his arrow to the moon, but, because of his love to his wife, he didn’t shoot. 

And so, Houyi’s natural death ended his rule. His people remember him both fondly and hatefully. Fondly because Houyi once saved the world when it was scorching. Hatefully because he ruled it with an iron fist. 

Jang’e has, however, endured in memory with the world’s unanimous reverence, as a woman who was selfless, loving and kind. She sacrificed herself for the sake of all, by drinking the very elixir that disguised its true intent: a means to expel Houyi from Earth.

In every mid-autumn, the moon is at its brightest. It is the day when Jang’e, the woman who roams in the moon eternally, is at her most beautiful. We celebrate this day, and we eat mooncakes, as a toast to her. 

Happy mid-autumn festival, everyone! 

Ruby, My Dear - Thelonious Monk