What is the zodiac sign for the Mid-Autumn Festival?
The zodiac sign for the Mid-Autumn Festival is: Rabbit (Mao).
"The Jade Rabbit pounding medicine" is one of the legends in Taoism. It appears in the Han Dynasty's "Dong Tao Xing" (a poem). According to legend, there is a rabbit in the moon, with white fur like jade, hence called the "Jade Rabbit." This white rabbit holds a jade pestle and kneels on the ground to pound medicine, making a pill that can grant immortality. Over time, the Jade Rabbit became a symbol of the moon. In ancient times, scholars often used the Jade Rabbit to represent the moon in their poetry, such as Xin Qiji's "Man Jiang Hong · Mid-Autumn Festival," which uses the Jade Rabbit to refer to the moon. Many old novels also frequently use this legend to imply the moon. In Taoism, the Jade Rabbit is often paired with the "Golden Crow" to represent the balance of Yin and Yang in alchemy.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Night, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Eighth Month Festival, Eighth Month Gathering, Chasing the Moon Festival, Playing with the Moon Festival, Worshiping the Moon Festival, Daughter's Festival, or Reunion Festival, is a traditional cultural festival celebrated by many ethnic groups in China and countries in the Chinese cultural sphere. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Because it occurs halfway through the autumn season, it is named so, and some places celebrate it on the 16th day of the eighth lunar month. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in the early Tang Dynasty and became popular during the Song Dynasty. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become one of the most important festivals in China, second only to the Spring Festival. Influenced by Chinese culture, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival for Chinese communities in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been designated as a national statutory holiday. On May 20, 2006, the State Council included it in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
Since ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival has had customs such as worshiping the moon, admiring the moon, worshipping the moon, eating mooncakes, appreciating osmanthus flowers, and drinking osmanthus wine, which have been passed down and remain popular. The roundness of the moon symbolizes family reunion, expressing feelings of longing for hometowns and loved ones, and wishing for harvest and happiness, making it a rich and precious cultural heritage. The Mid-Autumn Festival, along with the Dragon Boat Festival, Spring Festival, and Qingming Festival, is known as one of the four major traditional Chinese festivals.
According to the "Book of Rites": "The Son of Heaven greets the sun in spring and worships the moon in autumn," meaning worshipping the moon, indicating that even in the Spring and Autumn period, emperors had already begun to worship the moon.
"Autumn Moon" describes: "Looking up at the bright moon, my thoughts reach a thousand miles away." During the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon was very popular, and many famous poems by poets contain verses about the moon. The Mid-Autumn Festival gradually became a fixed festival. The "Tang Shu · Taizong Ji" records "the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month." There is a legend that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty dreamed of visiting the moon palace and obtained the "Fei Cai Yi Qu" (Fei Cai Tune).
"Yuzhou Tufeng Yin" describes: "Moon Palace Talismans, painted as a Jade Rabbit residing in the窑台; Moon Palace Pastries, made into silver frogs' shadows in the Purple Palace. A pair of rabbits fills the world, regretting the Chang'e who stole the medicine for years; She ran into the cold palace and could not return, vainly using the jade pestle to preserve her beauty."
Solar Terms
Start of Autumn: The sun is at 135 degrees, between August 7-9
Limit of Heat: The sun is at 150 degrees, around August 23, indicating that the heat ends here, and rainfall gradually decreases
White Dew: The sun is at 165 degrees, between September 7-9
Autumn Equinox: The sun is at 180 degrees, between September 23-24
Cold Dew: The sun is at 195 degrees, between October 8-9
Frost's Descent: The sun is at 210 degrees, between October 23-24
Festivals
15th day of the eighth lunar month: Mid-Autumn Festival
9th day of the ninth lunar month: Double Ninth Festival
October 1st of the Gregorian calendar: National Day
