Prose

Most cultures have a harvest festival and China is no exception. Zhong Qiu Jie (中秋节), the Autumn Moon Festival, has roots back to ancient times and is an important traditional Chinese holiday. Traditionally taking place on the fifteenth day of the eight month of the lunar calendar, the Autumn Moon Festival is usually on or close to the time of the “Harvest Moon” when the moon appears at its fullest during the autumnal equinox. Chinese storytellers have many tales about the Moon Palace and the inhabitants of the moon. One of the most endearing characters of many moon stories is a short-tailed rabbit that pounds the elixir of immortality with a mortar and pestle under a grove of cassia trees. The most popular inhabitant of…