The most popular story of the Moon Festival is the  legend of Hou Yi and Chang E.

Once upon a time, there were ten suns in the sky the heat of which scorched the crops and many people died.  The Emperor of Heaven summoned a famous archer Hou Yi to shoot down nine of the suns. Hou Yi succeeded in his task, the weather was restored and life was saved. The Emperor of Heaven rewarded Hou Yi  with a vial of the elixir of immortality which when taken would mean he would ascend to the Heavens as an Immortal.

​

While Hou Yi was still on the Earth, he met Chang E, they fell in love and were married and so Hou Yi did not drink the elixir.

​

Hou Yi needed to go away hunting and he asked Chang E to keep the elixir safe while he was gone, however,  a wicked man named Feng Meng  wanted the elixir for himself. On the 15th day, before Hou Yi returned home from hunting, Feng Meng went to Hou Yi's home to force Chang E to give him the elixir. She knew that she could not defeat Feng Meng so, with no other choice, she drank the elixir herself.

​

When Hou Yi returned, he found that his wife had been lifted to Heaven as an Immortal.

​

Chang E chose to live on the Moon because it's closest to the Earth and her beloved husband. Hou Yi looked up at the moon and left the favourite foods of Chang E  in the garden as a sacrifice.

 

Thus, people started admiring the moon and sharing mooncakes on this day.

Later, Chang E and Hou Yi came to represent the yin and yang respectively (the moon and the sun).

​