இ Fly Me To The Moon - 中秋節 ZhōngQiūJié

Jade Rabbit ~ Image courtesy of Wikipedia

During this 8th lunar month our mind would be beaming with delight to celebrate the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn Festival and sharing fairytales of the goddess of moon, Chang' e 嫦娥 with her jade rabbit, paper lanterns etc. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 30Sept2012 where it is a full moon on the lunar 15th moon. Psychiatrist Glenn Wilson found that the full moon has been portrayed in folklore and legends for centuries as cause for celebration, particularly in the times before modern lighting. "There is good reason to believe that people's personalities do change around the time of the full moon, not because of any astronomical force, but because it creates the optimum lighting conditions for feeling carefree and mischievous," Wilson told the paper.

The video above says it all you that want to know about the history and celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival way back in ancient China with some interesting facts of how mooncake was cut and eaten in the imperial palace plus more stories of jade rabbit and grandpa rabbit.

Heard this sweet song umpteenth times by the late Teresa Teng but did not realise its musical coherence with the poem until this date. The lyric is based on an existing prose by a famous Chinese writer Su Shi (蘇軾 1063-1101 AD) better know as  Su Dongpo (蘇東坡). It was written during full moon in the annual Chinese Harvest Moon Holiday, when he was sharing drinks with friends, having already been sabotaged by his political rivals, fallen out of favor on his official post in Imperial China, and narrowly escaped a death sentence. For those who love poems, history or wanting to know the lyrics of this wonderful sweet song click the below button for more details. tQ to my scripteaser sifu SK for the html coaching. 

Shuǐ Diào Ge Tou By Su Shi (Su Dongpo) Will a moon so bright ever arise again? Drink a cupful of wine and ask of the sky. I don't know where the palace gate of heaven is, Or even the year in which tonight slips by. I want to return riding the whirl-wind! But I feel afraid that this heaven of jasper and jade Lets in the cold, its palaces rear so high. I shall get up and dance with my own shadow. From life endured among men how far a cry! Round the red pavilion Slanting through the lattices Onto every wakeful eye, Moon, why should you bear a grudge, O why Insist in time of separation on filling the sky? Men know joy and sorrow, parting and reunion; The moon lacks lustre, brightly shines; is all, is less. Perfection was never easily come by. Though miles apart, could men but live for ever Dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly! 水调歌头 (苏东坡) 明月几时有？把酒问青天。 不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年？ 我欲乘风归去， 又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。 起舞弄清影，何似在人间？ 转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。 不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？ 人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。 但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。 source;foreignercn.com

Chang'e 嫦娥 ~ Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The late Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11, the first man who set foot on the moon on 20th July 1969 with this historic phrase "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" may have  missed the close encounter with Chang'e 嫦娥, wife of the legendary hero Hou Yi, a great archer who accomplished great achievements by shooting down nine extra suns. Chang'e 嫦娥 rose up to the sky immediately after drinking the elixir and lived on the moon ever since. However the State Council of China officially approved the launch of the lunar orbiting probe program in January 2004 and the leading engineering team named it "Chang'e Project".  At 18:05hrs October 24th, 2007, China's first self-developed lunar orbiting satellite "Chang'e One" blasted off successfully in Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Wishing All 中秋節快樂 Zhōng Qiū Jié Kuàilè Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

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இ WAKE

With less than only three days we would be looking forward to watch the assorted lanterns of all shapes and sizes to brighten up our streets after we bid farewell to the Hungry Ghost Month 鬼月 *Guǐ Yuè*. The most fearful 15th moon (full moon) of the 7th lunar month lunar where most Chinese believed the King of Hell opens the gates of hell allowing ghosts to visit the living world will be closed again on Sep 15, 2012.  When as a kid on the 15th moon (full moon) our old folks forbid us to roam the streets at night and we can only sing along with Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising and the chorus goes like this... "Don't go out tonight, well it's bound to take your life, there's a bad moon on the rise'.

Western people have Halloween festival with similarity to the Chinese celebrating the Hungry Ghost Festival having the same purpose to honor the deceased.  The Hungry Ghost festival originated from China since the Liang Dynasty in 502 AD, it was then evolved into the present ZhongYuan Festival 中元節 *zhōng yuán jié* .  Much have been said by bloggers HappySurfer & Panda Foong about this ghostly festival, you can read them HERE and HERE and HERE. When we talked about ghost, death is closely associated and goes hand in hand. Both words are a strictly NO-NO particularly in this ghost month.  

image courtesy of www.themeapicture.com

This ghostly month Bananaz has attended two Chinese funerals, one Christian and the other Taoist and was wondering is there any correlation between death and Hungry Ghost Month?. These two funerals were before 15th moon (full moon) and hearsay if any seriously sick or dying person who can pull through the 15th moon will not likely to die soon. How true? As usual in funerals we have this traditional 'Wake' ceremony used to be held in the house of the deceased but as the years go by modern memorial parlours have mushroomed through out the country and gaining popularity among the public. According to Wikipedia 'wake' has evolved into the word "watch," and it is in this sense that people have a "wake" for someone who recently died. While the modern usage of the verb "wake" is "become or stay alert" meaning, a "wake" for the dead harks back to the antiquated "watch" or "guard" sense. This is contrary to the urban legend that people at a wake are waiting in case the deceased should "wake up". My grandma (mom's mother) woke up couple of minutes later after my mom and relatives dressed her up in those longevity dresses for the dead when she was pronounced dead by doctor. She lived for more than a decade thereafter the incident. Cannot imagine the helter-skelter if she should 'wake up' after placing her corpse into the casket. It is customary for Chinese to offer donation in a form of cash literary known as 'white gold' 白金 *bái jīn* or some may prefer giving a wreath. Colours are used to differentiate bereavement or wedding celebration thus 紅白喜事 *hóng bái xǐ shì* weddings & funerals. The red 紅 *hóng* signifies wedding and white 白 *bái* refers to funerals. 

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