TRANSFORMATION

Lunar
Get-Together
transformation e-zine | vol 2 (2010)
by R.Zeeneeshri
With a candle pressed into place, she unfolded the lantern
into a beautiful twist of colours. The silhouettes of light
sparkled in the night, as children walked around carrying
their lanterns, playing as the full moon glowed up ahead. It
was the Mid-Autumn Festival, widely known as Mooncake
Festival. Chinese devotees and children gathered together
for celebration at the SSBC of Bangsar last Tuesday to commemorate
the moon worship. Traditionally on this day,
Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire
the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes
and under the moon together. This year, under the invitation
of the SSBC of Bangsar, devotees from SS2 and
Seputeh Bhajan Units spend loving family time with their
brothers and sisters of Bangsar.
The evening experienced melodious Chinese bhajans
amongst the normal Sai bhajans. Vibrations were cool and
calming as the congregation sang along, for their dear Sai.
Children from the SS2 EHV classes then presented an exciting
drama on the signiicances of the festival. Celebration
of the festival is strongly associated with the legend of
Houyi and Chang'e, the moon Goddess of Immortality. The
version depicted by the EHV children states that Houyi
was an immortal and Chang'e was a beautiful young girl,
working in the palace of the Jade Emperor as an attendant
to the Queen Mother of the West (the Jade Emperor's
wife). Houyi aroused the jealousy of the other immortals,
who then slandered him before the Jade Emperor. Houyi
and his wife, Chang'e, were subsequently banished from
heaven. They were forced to live on Earth. Houyi had to
hunt to survive and became a skilled and famous archer.
At that time, there were ten suns, in the form of threelegged
birds, residing in a mulberry tree in the eastern sea.
Each day one of the sun birds would have to travel around
the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe, the 'mother' of the
suns. One day, all ten of the suns circled together, causing
the Earth to burn. Emperor Yao, the Emperor of China,
commanded Houyi to use his archery skill to shoot down
all but one of the suns. Upon completion of his task, the
Emperor rewarded Houyi with a pill that granted eternal
life. Emperor Yao advised Houyi not to swallow the pill
immediately but instead to prepare himself by praying and
fasting for a year before taking it. Houyi took the pill home
and hid it under a rafter. One day, Houyi was summoned
away again by Emperor Yao. During her husband's
absence, Chang'e, noticed a white beam of light beckoning
from the rafters, and discovered the pill. Chang'e swallowed
it and immediately found that she could ly. Houyi
returned home, realizing what had happened he began to
reprimand his wife. Chang'e escaped by lying out the
window into the sky.
Houyi pursued her halfway across the heavens but was
forced to return to Earth because of strong winds.
Chang'e reached the moon, where she coughed up part
of the pill. Chang'e commanded the hare that lived on
the moon to make another pill. Chang'e would then be
able to return to Earth and her husband. The legend
states that the hare is still pounding herbs, trying to
make the pill. Houyi built himself a palace in the sun,
representing "Yang" (the male principle), in contrast to
Chang'e's home on the moon which represents "Yin"
(the female principle). Once a year, on the ifteenth day
of the full moon, Houyi visits his wife. That is the
reason why the moon is very full and beautiful on that
night. The drama also told many other versions of the
celebration.
The evening ended with a scrumptious meal being
served by the Chinese devotees after bhajans. Among
the items on the menu were porridge, mooncake,
bullshorn, and yam. The celebration was an enchanting
and loving affair illed with merriment and sharing of
traditions and culture.