Is the Mid-Autumn festival story and the mooncake origin story different? Well, not really, as they are both interrelated. Mooncakes are baked dishes that satiate your sweet and savoury taste buds, while the festival is a time to devour these mooncakes like there’s no tomorrow. So, without any further ado, let us dive into the story of the Mooncakes: the what, when, and how- everything is detailed for you to enjoy a little storytelling session.
The First Story of the Mooncake
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Source: Freepik[/caption]
This begins during a time when there were ten Suns scorching the Earth and making everyone's life very difficult. In these harsh times, a hero named Hou Yi rose to shoot down nine of the ten suns, leaving everyone grateful and in awe of his powers. After all, he was the first and the strongest man to have ever achieved such a feat. And, so people from near and far came to see and learn from him. Amongst them was a man named Peng Meng. After a few years, Hou Yi married the beautiful and wise Chang E. One day, as Hou Yi was visiting his friend, he met Wangmu (the queen of heaven), who offered him an elixir to extend his life forever. However, upon drinking the potion, it would immediately ascend him to heaven, making him a God. Confused about what to do, he took the elixir to his wife. While he spoke of everything Wangmu told him, Peng Meng overheard the conversation. So, the next day when Hou Yi went out hunting, Peng Meng sneaked into the house and demanded his wife give him the Elixr. Knowing she could not physically defeat him, Chang E drank it herself and flew out of the window towards the sky. Her love and ultimate sacrifice for her husband took her to the moon as she became its Goddess. Meanwhile, her husband grieved for her by offering her favourite dishes while looking at the moon. Therefore, the Mid-autumn festival story became a legend, as every villager offered their food as a sacrifice to the moon Goddess.
The Second Story of the Mooncake
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="499"] Source: Freepik[/caption]
The second mid-autumn festival story is also about Chang E and Hou Yi, but with a different villain. In this telling of the legendary stories, Hou Yi becomes highly corrupted and evil from all the power during his reign and comes across an Elixir that is meant to elongate his life forever. In fear of having her kingdom become a subject of her husband’s tyrannical rule forever, Chang E drinks the potion. Soon after, she begins flying in the sky and toward the moon. Furious with her action, Hou Yi fires arrows at her but misses every target. It was Chang E’s greatest sacrifice and immense love for her people that made them offer their food (which included mooncakes) to pay tribute. Thus, today the Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated with the same thought.
The Third Story of the Mooncake
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="599"] Source: Freepik[/caption]
The last story of the mooncake is not related to the above mythical characters; but rather to a time of war. It is said that the Chinese Military used to pass messages to each other secretly hidden in cakes. The mooncakes used to have various intricate designs that let their fellow mates decipher their illicit messages. Keeping the tradition alive, today numerous mooncakes have beautiful and detailed designs that make them almost too difficult to eat. Here are three different takes on the story of the mooncakes. So, which mooncake origin story do you believe?
Gurnika Talwar is FNP’s marketing and creative content writer and has been with the firm since 2020. She is based in Delhi, India and has been in this field for 2+ years.
She started her journey as a freshman but since then has created content on several mediums. With blogging on gift ideas, food, gardening tips and whatnot as her primary goal, she has also curated content for social media and brand films. As a storyteller, she creates original, genuine, and relatable content to connect with the mass. Besides work, you’ll find her chit-chatting about movies or making sarcastic jokes.
Source: Freepik[/caption]
This begins during a time when there were ten Suns scorching the Earth and making everyone's life very difficult. In these harsh times, a hero named Hou Yi rose to shoot down nine of the ten suns, leaving everyone grateful and in awe of his powers. After all, he was the first and the strongest man to have ever achieved such a feat.
And, so people from near and far came to see and learn from him. Amongst them was a man named Peng Meng.
After a few years, Hou Yi married the beautiful and wise Chang E. One day, as Hou Yi was visiting his friend, he met Wangmu (the queen of heaven), who offered him an elixir to extend his life forever. However, upon drinking the potion, it would immediately ascend him to heaven, making him a God. Confused about what to do, he took the elixir to his wife. While he spoke of everything Wangmu told him, Peng Meng overheard the conversation.
So, the next day when Hou Yi went out hunting, Peng Meng sneaked into the house and demanded his wife give him the Elixr. Knowing she could not physically defeat him, Chang E drank it herself and flew out of the window towards the sky.
Her love and ultimate sacrifice for her husband took her to the moon as she became its Goddess. Meanwhile, her husband grieved for her by offering her favourite dishes while looking at the moon.
Therefore, the Mid-autumn festival story became a legend, as every villager offered their food as a sacrifice to the moon Goddess.
Source: Freepik[/caption]
The second mid-autumn festival story is also about Chang E and Hou Yi, but with a different villain. In this telling of the legendary stories, Hou Yi becomes highly corrupted and evil from all the power during his reign and comes across an Elixir that is meant to elongate his life forever.
In fear of having her kingdom become a subject of her husband’s tyrannical rule forever, Chang E drinks the potion. Soon after, she begins flying in the sky and toward the moon. Furious with her action, Hou Yi fires arrows at her but misses every target.
It was Chang E’s greatest sacrifice and immense love for her people that made them offer their food (which included mooncakes) to pay tribute. Thus, today the Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated with the same thought.
Source: Freepik[/caption]
The last story of the mooncake is not related to the above mythical characters; but rather to a time of war. It is said that the Chinese Military used to pass messages to each other secretly hidden in cakes. The mooncakes used to have various intricate designs that let their fellow mates decipher their illicit messages.
Keeping the tradition alive, today numerous mooncakes have beautiful and detailed designs that make them almost too difficult to eat.
Here are three different takes on the story of the mooncakes. So, which mooncake origin story do you believe? 
