中秋傳說

There are two legends which claim to explain the tradition of eating mooncakes. One Tang Dynasty myth holds that the Earth once had 10 suns circling it. One day all 10 suns appeared at once, scorching the planet with their heat. It was thanks to a skillful archer named Hou Yi that the Earth was saved. He shot down all but one of the suns. As his reward, the Heavenly Queen Mother gave Hou Yi the Elixir of Immortality, but she warned him that he must use it wisely. Hou Yi ignored her advice and, corrupted by fame and fortune, became a tyrannical leader. Chang-Er, his beautiful wife, could no longer stand by and watch him abuse his power so she stole his Elixir and fled to the moon to escape his angry wrath. And thus began the legend of the beautiful woman in the moon, the Moon Fairy.

關(guān)于吃月餅這個傳統(tǒng)的來歷有兩個傳說。一個是唐朝的神話故事，說的是當(dāng)時地球被10個太陽包圍著。有一天10個太陽同時出現(xiàn)在天空中，巨大的熱量幾乎把地球烤焦了。多虧一位名叫后羿的神箭手射下了9個太陽，地球才被保住。為了獎勵后羿，王母娘娘賜給后羿一種長生不老藥，但是王母警告他必須正當(dāng)使用。然而后羿沒有理會王母娘娘的警告，他被名利沖昏了頭腦，變成了一個暴君。后羿美麗的妻子嫦娥對他的暴行再也不能袖手旁觀，于是她偷走了后羿的長生不老藥，飛到月亮上逃避后羿的狂怒。從此就有了關(guān)于月宮仙子嫦娥，這個月亮上的美麗女人的傳說。 

The second legend has it that during the Yuan Dynasty, an underground group led by Zhu Yuan Zang was determined to rid the country of Mongolian dominance. The moon cake was created to carry a secret message. When the cake was opened and the message read, an uprising was unleashed which successfully routed the Mongolians. It happened at the time of the full moon, which, some say, explains why mooncakes are eaten at this time.
第二個傳說講的是在元朝，朱元璋領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的起義軍計劃起義來擺脫蒙古族的統(tǒng)治。他們用月餅來傳遞密信。掰開月餅就可以找到里面的密信，起義軍通過這種方式成功的發(fā)動了起義，趕走了元朝的統(tǒng)治者。這場起義發(fā)生在八月十五之時，于是中秋節(jié)吃月餅的習(xí)俗便在民間傳開來。