Room 25 @ CPDS: September 2017

Next week China will celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival. One of the delicacies is moon cakes. Here are two different legends regarding the Mooncake festival and its origins. Compare and contrast this legend with our Matariki celebration.

The Goddess Chang’s Fly to the Moon

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for Chinese people all over the world to come together, eat special cakes and gaze at the full moon.

中秋节是一个全世界的华人和家人聚在一起吃月饼、赏月亮的节日。

Though a happy occasion, there's a heartbreaking story that explains how it came to be.

虽然这是一个快乐的节日，但这背后却有着一段令人心碎的传说。

Chinese legend tells of the hero Houyi and his beautiful wife Chang'e.

在中国的传说中，有位英雄叫做后羿，他有个美丽的妻子名叫嫦娥。

As with many legends, there are differing and often contradictory accounts.

和其他很多传说一样，有关中秋节的传说也有很多不同的甚至是相互矛盾的版本。

One tells that Chang'e was a heavenly girl who worked among fairies and immortals in the palace of the Jade Emperor. One day, she broke a special porcelain jar and was banished to live among humans on earth, with the promise that she could return if she performed valuable deeds there.

有一种版本中称，嫦娥原是玉皇大帝天宫中同其他仙女天神一起工作的女子。有一天，她打碎了一个特殊的瓷罐，因此被驱逐到凡间和人类生活在一起，只有当她做了好事她才能重新返回天上。

Joining a family of farmers, she met Houyi, a hunter and master archer, and eventually, they would marry.

嫦娥在一户农民家里遇到了身为猎人和射手的后羿，后来他们结婚了。

But the world of mortals soon found itself in peril. The Jade Emperor had 10 mischievous sons who transformed themselves into 10 suns, scorching the earth and its people. Houyi took it upon himself to save them. Using incredible strength and superior marksmanship, he shot down nine of the suns and left one in the sky so that humans could draw upon its warmth and light.

但是凡间随后就出现了危险。玉皇大帝的10个爱搞怪的儿子化作10个太阳，炙烤着大地和人类。后羿主动承担责任以拯救大家，他力大无比，射术超群，一口气射下了9个太阳，只留下一个给人们带来温暖和光芒。

It is here, again, that accounts diverge. One version has it that both Houyi and Chang'e were heavenly beings, and that a vengeful emperor condemned them to live on Earth as mortals thereafter. Houyi wished to avert death, so he acquired an elixir that would confer immortality. He was warned to drink only half the potion, and he reasoned that his wife could drink the rest.

故事到这里又分成了不同的版本。一个版本说后羿和嫦娥都是天上的神仙，皇帝想要报复他们所以罚他们下凡间成为人类。后羿为了能够长生不死拿到了不死药。但他只被允许喝半瓶，剩下的半瓶他准备留给妻子。

In one account of the legend, a greedy friend of Houyi's named Peng Meng tried to obtain the formula for himself, but Chang'e wouldn't let him, and drank it all. Another states that Chang'e could not resist immortality, and so consumed it herself.

一个版本的传说中，后羿有一个名叫蓬蒙的朋友，他为人奸诈，一心想偷那瓶不死药。嫦娥为了不让他偷走把整瓶都喝掉了。而另一个版本中，嫦娥是因为受不了凡人的生活而喝掉了整瓶不死药。

However you interpret the legend, it eventually transpired that Chang'e's body became light, and she flew out a window up to the moon, leaving her husband all alone on the Earth.

但是不论哪个版本，最后的结果都是嫦娥的身体变得越来越轻，接着她从窗户飞出飞向了月亮，把他的丈夫独自一人留在了凡间。

On a clear night, Houyi saw Chang'e in the moon, called out to her and even tried to shoot it down, but it was too late.

在一个月朗风清的夜晚，后羿看到了月亮上的嫦娥，他大声喊她并试图把她射下来，可一切都太晚了。

Now as a lunar goddess, Chang'e was doomed to be apart from her husband forever. Houyi memorized his wife by arranging a table with incense, meats and fruits that she loved. The tradition of making sacrifices to the moon carried through the ages, from the Western Zhou Dynasty (1045 to 770 B.C.) onward.

如今作为月亮女神，嫦娥注定与她的丈夫永远分离。后羿为了纪念妻子会在桌子上摆上香炉以及她爱吃的肉类和水果。祭祀月亮的传统就这样从西周时期（公元前1045年-前770年）传承至今。

And so it is today, that Chinese all over the world meet outside, eat together and gaze at a plentiful moon, like the legendary and historical ancestors who came before.

因此今天世界各地的中国人在这个节日里都会聚在一起，像传说里的先人们一样，吃月饼、赏月亮。

The Next folk tale teaches us a lesson. Read the story and identify what you think is the lesson in the story.

The Bird Jingwei Trying to Fill the Sea(精卫填海)

Once upon a time, the youngest daughter of Emperor Yan went boating on the Eastern Sea. While she was enjoying herself, a strong wind rose on the sea and her boat capsized. Just before she was buried by the surging waves, her spirit turned into a beautiful bird. As it flew over the roaring sea, it cried sadly in the sound "jinwei, jingwei". That was why people called it "Jingwei".

从前，炎帝（传说中中国原始社会的统治者）的小女儿在东海上划船。正当她划得高兴时，海面上突然升起一阵大风，把她的小船弄翻了。就在她要被汹涌的波浪吞没时，她的灵魂变成了一只美丽的小鸟。它飞过那咆哮的海面，伤心的叫着"精卫，精卫"的声音。所以人们就叫她"精卫"。The bird lived on a mountain near the sea. It hated the sea so much that it decided to fill it up. Every day, it flew between the mountain and the sea, carrying in a twig or a pebble from the mountain and dropping it into the sea.

精卫鸟住在靠海的一座山上。它非常恨大海，所以决心要把它填平。它每天来回于山海之间，把从山上衔来的小树枝和小石子扔在大海里。

One day, the roaring sea said to Jingwei, "Poor little bird, stop doing that meaningless thing! You'll never fill me up." Jingwei replied, "I'll fill you up no doubt! I will, even if it'll take me thousands of years! I'll fight on until doomsday!" The brave little bird kept carrying twigs and pebbles from the mountain to the Eastern Sea without taking a rest.

一天，咆哮的大海对精卫说："可怜的小鸟，停止你那无谓的举动吧！你是永远都填不平我的。" 精卫回答说："我当然会把你填平的！即使这需要千千万万年的时间，我也一定会斗争到底，直到你的末日来临！" 这只勇敢的小鸟继续从山上衔来小树枝和小石子，扔到东海中，从未有片刻休息。

The bird Jingwei trying to fill the sea"精卫填海"这个成语就是由这个传说而来的，形容那些坚定不移，不屈不挠，不到目的决不罢休的人。From this fable comes the idiom "The bird Jingwei trying to fill the sea". We use it to describe people who are firm and indomitable and will not stop until they reach their goal.