hey guys，mandy is back！刚刚过完灿烂丰盛的10月1日国庆，明天又是我们一年一度极为珍贵的中国传统节日——中秋节啦！！！不知道正在放假的孩子们玩得是否high到极点了呢？mc2这几天跟朋友一起出去玩，过得还是很开心的！唯一遗憾的就是在十一国庆当天，因为北京很多地方都戒严了，mc2没办法赶到number老师家，和其他老师们一起包饺子聚会，真是郁闷啊。。。

    不过，现在过节嘛我们还是应该开心一点！说说咱们熟悉的中秋节吧，mc2可是非常喜欢这个节日哦，因为我很喜欢吃月饼，而且觉得天上的月亮又圆又亮真的好美哒！最重要的是这个节日的意义和内涵，代表着我们中国人的精神，代表一家团团圆圆，有什么比这个更幸福呢？呵呵~~

    所以，今天咱们就一起来学习学习一些关于中秋节的英文知识吧，也算是复习我们在暑假学的festival这一章节。让mc2考考大家最近英文水平有没有提高哦！ready？let's go!

the introduction of the mid-autumn day:

  "zhong qiu jie", which is also known as the mid-autumn festival, is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. it is a time for family members and loved ones to congregate and enjoy the full moon - an auspicious symbol of abundance, harmony and luck. adults will usually indulge in fragrant mooncakes of many varieties with a good cup of piping hot chinese tea, while the little ones run around with their brightly-lit lanterns.

 "zhong qiu jie" probably began as a harvest festival. the festival was later given a mythological flavour with legends of chang-e, the beautiful lady in the moon.

　according to chinese mythology, the earth once had 10 suns circling over it. one day, all 10 suns appeared together, scorching the earth with their heat. the earth was saved when a strong archer, hou yi, succeeded in shooting down 9 of the suns. yi stole the elixir of life to save the people from his tyrannical rule, but his wife, chang-e drank it. thus started the legend of the lady in the moon to whom young chinese girls would pray at the mid-autumn festival.

　in the 14th century, the eating of mooncakes at "zhong qiu jie" was given a new significance. the story goes that when zhu yuan zhang was plotting to overthrow the yuan dynasty started by the mongolians, the rebels hid their messages in the mid-autumn mooncakes. zhong qiu jie is hence also a commemoration of the overthrow of the mongolians by the han people.

　during the yuan dynasty (a.d.1206-1368) china was ruled by the mongolian people. leaders from the preceding sung dynasty (a.d.960-1279) were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered. the leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the moon festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. packed into each mooncake was a message with the outline of the attack. on the night of the moon festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. what followed was the establishment of the ming dynasty (a.d. 1368-1644). today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this event.

　mid-autumn day is a traditional festival in china. almost everyone likes to eat mooncakes on that day. most families have a dinner together to celebrate the festival. a saying goes, "the moon in your hometown is almost always the brightest and roundest". many people who live far away from homes want to go back to have a family reunion. how happy it is to enjoy the moon cakes while watching the full moon with your family members.

继续复习中秋节的相关英文词汇哦！

　mid-autumn day 中秋节

  lunar农历

　mooncake月饼

　minimooncake 迷你月饼

　mooncakes with meat / nuts / 肉馅/果仁月饼

　ham mooncake火腿月饼

　grapefruit / pomelo / shaddock 柚子

　glue pudding　汤圆  

　lantern / scaldfish灯笼

　chang e  嫦娥

　hou yi  后羿

　light lantern 点灯笼

　carry the lantern around 提灯笼

　burn incense 烧香

　fire dragon dances　火龙舞

　family reunion　家庭团聚 / 圆