During the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), the 15th day of the eighth lunar month was designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival. During the Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century - 256 BC), the night of the roundest moon of the year was an occasion for the Chinese to hold rituals to greet the cool weather and sacrifice to the Moon Goddess. By the Tang Dynasty ( AD 618 - 907) merry-making had become part of the festival, as had watching the moon rise and enjoying its full, silvery light.

When did this festival first begin? No exact date can be found in historical documents, but scholars assume that it is related to 2 customs in China.

The first custom concerns farmers. China is an agricultural country, and farming is closely related to the seasons. In ancient times, farmers worshipped the Earth God to pray for a good harvest, when they sowed the seeds in spring. This was known as spring worship. During autumn, farmers also worshipped the Earth God to thank him for giving them a good harvest. This was known as autumn reward. Since the 15'" month of the 8th month is the time when rice paddies are harvested, some people believe that the Mid Autumn Festival came from the autumn reward ritual.

The second custom concerns worship of the moon. According to astronomy, the Mid Autumn Festival occurs at the autumn equinox. At this time, the sunlight shines vertically on the equator, equally dividing the day and night in both the southern and northern hemispheres. The moon appears in the evening with gentle winds and light clouds. This is the best time to watch the moon. People later made this day, the day to worship the moon.

The Moon FairyLady - 'Chang Er'

Many years ago, there was a king in China. He was a brave man who did lots of belifits to the people. He admired a beautiful girl and made her stay in the palace so that he could see her whenever he wanted. But, the girl did not like the frightful figure of the king. She seldom spoke a word in the palace. Each time the king went to her place, he used to show her some treasures and brought some gifts to the girl in order to make her smile and speak.

On every full moon day, the girl would burn incenses and wax candles to worship the moon. People believed that there was a god living in the moon that made the moon shine. Girls who wanted to be a beauty and had a handsome husband should worship the moon.

One day, the full moon of the eighth month, the king brought three herb pills to show her.

"This is from the priest of the palace. If I eat them up, I can live forever." He exclaimed.

He continued,"If you and I both take ones, we will both live forever. No one can take you away from me!"

Because the king was afraid of that the pills would have side effects, he forced the girl to take the pill first. If nothing wrong with her after taking the pill, he would take it immediately. However, the girl recognized that if she took all three of them, the king would leave her eventually. Therefore, for the first time, she spoke to the king,"Let me have a look at the pills first. Otherwise, I will not try at all."

The king was surprised that the girl talked to him. So, he handed the pills to the girl. She did not say anything but ate all of them. The king was extremely angry. He wanted to kill her.

At this moment, the girl started to fly. She could fly because of the intake of the pills. The king could not catch her, but watched her flew toward the moon and disappeared.

After that, people believed that there was a beautiful girl staying in the moon