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Part of the reason for Mid-Autumn Festival becoming an eminent festival is the many myths and stories associated with it. The
most well known one among them is the story of Fairy Chang E Drifting to the Moon.
According to this legendary story, there were
10 suns blazing in the sky in the remote ancient times. It was said that the sunlight set on the earth like burning fire and the
mountain and fields were simply burned open. People living on the earth could find nowhere to run away. Then, there came the
brave and highly skilled archer Hou Yi, who shot down nine of the suns and only the present one was left. Hou Yi got the people
off the disaster and his great deeds won him the position of the King. However, Hou Yi eventually turned into a tyrant indulging in
debauchery and random killing. His subjects hated him to the bone. Anticipating not a long lasting good time, Hou Yi went to the
Queen of Wang Mu on the Kun Lun Mountain asking for the never-die elixir. In fear of his ever lasting life remained the suffering of
the people, His wife Chang E took the elixir and swallowed it up herself. After that, her body became as light as the cloud and began
flying into the midair. It happened just at the evening of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month with the bright and lovely moon
hung above in the sky. Thinking of the evildoing of her husband, she decided to leave for good the heartbroken place and went to
the moon.
In memory of Chang E, people later set the date of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month as the date of Mid-Autumn
Festival.
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