At this moment, the girl started to fly because of the pills. The king could not catch her; he could only watch her fly toward the moon and disappear.

After that, Chinese people believed that the beautiful girl lived in the moon with a little old man and a bunny. The old man was believed to be the god inside the moon and the bunny, his pet. People thought the movements of the girl, old man, and bunny made the dark spots on the moon. People used to worship the girl to glorify her chastity, so, the full moon of every mid-Autumn became a festival to remember her.

  Moon cakes

Moon cakes have played a central role in Mid-Autumn Festival traditions. Once, according to Chinese legend, moon cakes helped bring about a revolution.

The time was the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), established by the invading Mongolians from the north. The Mongolians had subjugated the Han Chinese.

According to one Chinese folk tale, a Han Chinese rebel leader named Liu Futong devised a scheme to arouse the Han Chinese to rise up against the ruling Mongols to end the oppressive Yuan Dynasty. He sought permission from Mongolian leaders to give gifts to friends as a symbolic gesture to honor the longevity of the Mongolian emperor.

These gifts were round moon cakes. Inside, Liu had his followers place pieces of paper with the date the Han Chinese were to strike out in rebellion -- on the fifteenth night of the eighth month.

Thus Liu got word to his people, who when they cut open the moon cakes found the revolutionary message and set out to overthrow the Mongols, thus ending the Yuan dynasty.

Today, far from the exotic and heroic legends, Chinese communities all over the world make and consume moon cakes during the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival.

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