The_China_Moon

The China Moon Introduction To Chinese people，the moon is not just a bright，round stone，but a very special object to everyone. Every time the moon’s figure appearing in man’s mind, she must be gentle, soft and very bright, reflecting the Chinese modest and friendly attitudes, which elucidates the spirit of Chinese culture completely. In Chinese celestial cosmology, the moon represents the female principle. During the ancient Moon Festivals, women took center stage because of the thought that the moon represented feminine. Only women took part in the full moon ritual in the mid-autumn night. From the noble to the civilians, it is an important custom to sacrifice and appreciate the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. （月是故乡明，2011） So why Chinese people have so strong emotion with the moon? This essay is purpose to introduce the moon in Chinese heart and explore why Chinese people love the moon so much, and discuss the influence of the moon in the Chinese people. What Chinese people do in Mid-Autumn festival？ On the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, the moon is full, and we Chinese people call this day Mid-Autumn festival, which is a very important festival in Chinese people’s mind. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people who are far away from home will go back to their own families. Some people who have even settled in other country will also return to stay with their parents. Adults will usually eat moon cakes of different tastes with a good cup of hot Chinese tea, and the children run hither and thither with small lanterns .After nightfall, the whole family will go out for walking or having picnics in the starlight, and looking up at the full silver moon and the Milky Way, missing their relatives or friends, as well as those who did not return to home. A line from a verse ‘The moon at the home is singularly brighter’ accurately expresses those emotions. It can also be a romantic night for lovers. they sit on the bank of river or park benches and hand in hand, intoxicated by the brightest moon of the year. To celebrate this festival, red paper lanterns made in traditional styles and decorated with traditional designs are prepared for the occasion. The lanterns are made in traditional shapes such as rabbits, goldfish, cyprinoid, butterflies and lobsters. （月是故乡明，2011） What is the moon in ancient people’s mind? In ancient China，people always went far away from home to study in order to be an official or to go into business. In that time, the traffic was so blocked and a family can be easily strayed because of turbulence and famine. During the Mid-Autumn festival, the weather is cool and chilly, and the moon is bright and round .In this atmosphere, people staying in strange land will miss the hometown more. They will treat staying with their family as the happiest things. Affected by our special national culture and imaged by intelligent people, the moon is treated as the medium of poetry. if you read the poems of all ancient dynasties, you will find that countless poems were written for the moon, and have various expression forms. Taking Li Bai for example, in more than nine hundred poems which were survived, about three hundred and twenty poems is related to moon. It can be said that from the Tang Dynasty almost every famous poet wrote the hymn about the moon.（中国人心中的月亮，2009） Why Chinese people has a special preference to the moon？ There are a lot of reasons why Chinese people focus on the moon with great passion. We can’t discover all the reason in a short time, but we can find out some main reasons. First, the moon is the closest celestial body away from the earth, Chinese culture have continued thousands of years, from ancient time to modern time, and Chinese people’s attention to the moon has never been diminished. It is a celestial body the one that is researched most thoroughly by human. Second, the moon has regular shape change. Chinese people will generally connect this mysterious phenomenon with destiny and hope，so Chinese people always have a sense of fear on the moon. Third，the moonlight is soft，bright, simple and elegant，conforming to Chinese kind, gentle, moderate character. The round moon fits the Chinese pursuing the perfect and symmetrical mindset. The moon is also treated as the signal of luck，happiness and harmony. Forth, as I mentioned above, people in China always go far away from home to study or run business from ancient time to modern time. They are usually away from family in a very long period of time, so they are yearning circle things like the moon to expect the desire to reunion. So as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, a lot of poems about the moon have been written. （中国古人何以对月亮情有独钟,2009） In addition to the above reasons，there is another important reason why Chinese people are so fond of the moon，especially the young people in China. There is an old saying that in Chinese, marriages are made in heaven and prepared on the moon. The man who does the preparing is the old man in the moon who we called Yue Lao. He is the god who knows everyone's future partners, and nobody can disobey the decisions he has written down in the marriage book. So it is another reason why the moon is so important in Chinese people’s mind，especially in the Mid-autumn Festival. Everyone including children hikes up high mountains or reaches the beaches of rivers to watch the moon with the hope that he or she will achieve their wishes to have a happy marriage. （月是故乡明，2011） In other hand，contrary to what most people believe, this festival probably don’t relate to celebrating harvest, but relate to the philosophically minded of ancient Chinese. The spirit’s union of man and nature to achieve perfect harmony is the fundamental canon of Taoism. So the contemplation to nature has become a way of life，not just a festival. （月是故乡明，2011） There is a mass of stories about the moon all over the world. In china, demos who are simple and hard-working create a large quantity of wonderful legend about moon. Differ from other foreign nation, Chinese people love the moon heavily. She given a forever life by us is not from myth, but from the depths of the soul, from every day’s life, from feeling. We sincerely fall in love with the moon. The moon lights Han Dynasty palace, Tang Dynasty Chang An city, hotel and structures .From ancient times to today, the moonlight has been comfort those person in the room. Until now, many old men in China still tell the story about Chang' E，a woman who eats the elixir living in the moon in the palace，and Wu Gang ，a man who was published by the gold to cut down a cassia tree which can restore itself with each blow…（月是故乡明，2011） What can we learn from the moon’s shape change? The moon shape is so changeable that makes many people feel disappointed. Worldly things could not be perfect like the moon shape change . Sometimes things in the world can’t be easily controlled, so the expansive optimistic attitude to life is very important. No matter how hard and vicissitudinous the life is, we must take it easy, and don’t cry over spilled milk and for imperfect things. Following your heart is the best attitude we should accepted.(The moon,2007) Conclusion It is an introductory essay about the moon. Although people are familiar with the moon, there still exist some mysteries about the moon. We Chinese people launch some lunar aircraft called Chang’ E to circle and land the moon to discover this mysterious planet and achieve the ancient dream of the Chinese -- flying to the sky. （中国人的月亮，2011） We should be proud that we are the nation who love the moon best. Our history, our poems, let the moon living in the heart of the Chinese people in all ages. We new generation should carry forward the moon culture, and let the moonlight continue in the Chinese civilization. Reference 彭定求，全唐诗，[M]. 中州古籍出版社. 2008. Stephen. The Moon. [OL]. [2007-04-10].方向标英语网. http://www.59edu.com/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=1625 3. Putt Kamer, J. 飞向月球. [M]. 科学出版社. 1982. 4. China Culture. [OL]. [2011-08-31]. 月是故乡明：中国人的月亮情结. 恒星英语网. http://www.hxen.com/englisharticle/yingyuyuedu/2011-08-31/153533.html 5. 于敏. 中国人的月亮. [A]. 2011. 6. 沐雨春风. 中国人心中的月亮. [OL]. [2009-09-25]. 百度空间. 2009. http://hi.baidu.com/%E3%E5%D3%EE%B4%BA%B7%E73758/blog/item/fc5995ac081350034a36d6d2.html 7. 刘嵩. 中国古人何以对月亮情有独钟. [OL]. [2009-10-03]. 凤凰网历史频道. http://news.ifeng.com/history/zhongguogudaishi/200910/1003_7181_1375860.shtml