Mid-Autumn Moon Celebration 9/29/2015 (Page Two)
Did You Know? - This custom could be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty (1046 - 256 BC) and was more often practiced by the royal class on the Autumnal Equinox. At that time, the custom had no festival background at all.
Later in the Sui (581 - 618 AD) and Tang (618 - 907 AD) dynasties, social prosperity inspired the custom of appreciating the moon on the moon sacrifice ceremony day among common people and the two merged.
The people expressed their faith more liberally than the royal class and so they did not strictly hold their activities on the Autumnal Equinox. So August 15th of the Chinese lunar calendar, the closest full moon day to the Autumnal Equinox, turned out to be a better choice and was set as a fixed festival. This happened in the Tang Dynasty.
By the time of the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127 AD), Mid-Autumn Festival had already become a widely celebrated folk festival.
Through The Woods And Into The Chinese Garden Proper We Go
The Moon was beautiful!
Did You Know? - This custom could be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty (1046 - 256 BC) and was more often practiced by the royal class on the Autumnal Equinox.
At that time, the custom had no festival background at all. Later in the Sui (581 - 618 AD) and Tang (618 - 907 AD) dynasties, social pro sperity inspired the custom of appreciating the moon on the moon sacrifice ceremony day among common people and the two merged. The people expressed their faith more liberally than the royal class and so they did not strictly hold their activities on the Autumnal Equinox.
So August 15th of the Chinese lunar calendar, the closest full moon day to the Autumnal Equinox, turned out to be a better choice and was set as a fixed festival. This happened in the Tang Dynasty. By the time of the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127 AD), Mid-Autumn Festival had already become a widely celebrated folk festival.
Food was everywhere!
The sun was setting and the lake was almost without a ripple
The garden was even more beautiful as the lights came on!
Paul wore his "Cocktail Party Shirt".
Thanks to Sue
Sitting back and enjoying life!
Like a soldier standing at attention!
The Moon was floating over the lake!
The garden is so peaceful!
The reflections in the lake were beautiful!
The moon bridge
really had an amazing reflection this evening!
Looking across the lake!
The weeping willows were really weeping!
Did You Know? - Salix babylonica (Babylon willow or weeping willow; Chinese: ??) is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southwest Asia and Europe.
The water falls were well lighted!
The lake was as smooth as a mirror!
The lights gave the garden a magical appearance
Did You Know? - According to legends, the founder of music in Chinese mythology was Ling Lun at the time of the Yellow Emperor, who made bamboo pipes tuned to the sounds of birds including the phoenix. A twelve-tone musical system was created based on the pitches of the bamboo pipes, and the first of these pipes produced the "yellow bell" (??) pitch, and set of tune bells were then created from the pipes.
...and the band played on!
Looking into the lake the reflections were almost perfect!
The "balloon moon" helped light the lake and bridges
The lights gave off amazing reflections
We enjoyed just standing and watching the activities
No flash... Just ambient light
Jan spotted something interesting!
OK... A small amount of flash
Paul needed a martini glass to match his "cocktail attire" on this evening!
The moon was right over our head!
The bamboo walkways were beautiful in the artificial light
Interesting Chinese artwork on display!
More music on our way out of the gardens
There were tables to stand at throughout the garden area!
UFO's were everywhere! To avoid them, we headed to Patty's Place
Music: "Imperial Palace Autumn Moon"