So, the main story of the Moon Festival is about this lady named Chang’e, and it all started because of her husband, Hou Yi.
A long, long time ago, there were ten suns in the sky. They were all the sons of the Jade Emperor, and they decided to rise all at once. It was a disaster! The earth was burning up, rivers were drying, and people were suffering.
A super strong archer named Hou Yi saw all this and knew he had to do something. He climbed to the top of a mountain, pulled out his bow, and shot down nine of the suns, leaving just one to give us light and warmth. Everyone thought he was a total hero.
As a reward for saving the world, the Queen Mother of the West gave Hou Yi a special gift: the Elixir of Immortality. It was a little pill that would make him a god and let him live forever in heaven. But Hou Yi didn’t want to become a god without his wife, Chang’e. He loved her so much that he gave her the pill and told her to hide it safely. They decided they would take it together someday.
But here’s where things go wrong. One day, while Hou Yi was out hunting, one of his jealous students, named Feng Meng, found out about the elixir. He came to their house and demanded that Chang’e give it to him.
Chang’e knew she was in trouble. She couldn’t let this bad guy become an immortal god! So, with no other choice, she did the only thing she could think of. She ran into the room, found the pill, and swallowed it herself.
Right away, she started to float. She became as light as a feather and began flying up, up, and away from the earth. She was so sad to leave her husband, but she couldn’t come back down. She floated all the way to the moon, where she landed, now an immortal goddess.
And that’s where she stayed, all alone. Well, not totally alone—she had a little jade rabbit for company, but that’s another story. Hou Yi was heartbroken when he found out. He would set out her favorite fruits and cakes every night, looking up at the moon.
So now, when we look at the full moon during the festival, we’re looking for Chang’e. We eat mooncakes and make offerings to remember her sacrifice. She’s the lonely lady on the moon, and her story is the heart of the whole holiday.