#midautumnfestival

[tendaysofrain]

“How Often Does Such a Bright Moon Come Around?” (水調歌頭 · 明月幾時有) Translation

(Another year, another Mid-Autumn Festival, another poem translation. This particular poem is very famous because of the first and last lines, which are frequently referenced in popular culture. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)

How often does such a bright moon come around?

By Su Shi (Song dynasty, 1076 AD)

Mid-Autumn of the year Bingchen (2), drank all night in celebration, became heavily inebriated.  Composed this poem to commemorate this occasion, and in dedication to Ziyou (3). (4)

How often does such a bright moon come around?  With wine in hand, I ask the heavens.

Wondering what year it is for this day in heaven (5), in the palace high above.

Wishing to ascend on the wind, yet I cannot stand the chilly air around those lofty towers of jade.

Dancing and amused at my own crisp shadow, the frigid heavens surely cannot compare to the mortal realm below.

Rounding the vermilion building, hanging low near the intricate windows, the moon casts light over the sleepless (6).

The moon should not feel bitter jealousy, so why is it only full on parting?

Humans feel grief and joy, partings and reunions, just as the moon waxes and wanes.

For both of these heartening things (7) to happen together is very rare indeed.

May we be blessed with longevity, so that even when thousands of li (8) apart, we can still gaze upon this wonderful moon together.

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Notes:

This poem is in the Ci/词 format, and follows the rhyme scheme (Cipai/词牌) called Shuidiaogetou/水調歌頭/水调歌头.

Bingchen/丙辰 is a year in the Chinese Sexagenary Cycle, which is known in Chinese as Tiangandizhi/天干地支 ("Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches") or simply Ganzhi/干支 ("Stems and Branches"), and is used to record time. This system has been in use since at least the Shang dynasty around 3000 years ago (oracle bone artifact bearing inscriptions of ganzhi has been found at Yinxu/殷墟, the archaeological site of the ancient capital of Shang dynasty; however, during Shang dynasty the Ganzhi system was used to track days and not years, unlike how it has been used in later times). Because there are 60 years in one cycle, it is possible to trace back to specific years. In this case, Bingchen would be exactly 1076 AD.

Ziyou/子由 is the courtesy name of Su Shi's brother, Su Zhe/蘇轍.

This section is a short introduction to the poem, which begins after this section.

This may be a reference to the concept that "a day in heaven is a year on earth" ("天上一天，地上一年"; famously included in Journey to the West), which in turn is a reference to the ecliptic plane (called Huangdao/黄道 in Chinese), since for an observer on Earth, the Sun appears to move in an elliptical path throughout the year. This means that it takes a year (i.e. "a year on earth") for the Sun to "complete" one round in this elliptical path (i.e. "a day in heaven").

Here, "the sleepless" is a reference to the poet himself.

"Both of these heartening things" refers to reunion with family and/or friend, and the occurence of a full moon.

Li/里 is a traditional unit of distance. During Su Shi's time (Northern Song dynasty, 960 AD - 1279 AD), 1 Li ≈ 576 meters = 0.576 km or 0.36 miles (Note: link leads to pdf).

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Original Text (Traditional Chinese):

《 水調歌頭 (1) · 明月幾時有 》

[宋] 蘇軾

丙辰中秋，歡飲達旦，大醉，作此篇，兼懷子由。

明月幾時有？把酒問青天。不知天上宮闕，今夕是何年。 我欲乘風歸去，惟恐瓊樓玉宇，高處不勝寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人間。

轉朱閣，低綺戶，照無眠。不應有恨，何事長向別時圓？ 人有悲歡離合，月有陰晴圓缺，此事古難全。但願人長久，千里共嬋娟。

[twincrystalsz]

🐰🎃🌿

[andyhau]

Have you ever seen the dark side of the moon? 🌚🐱 Well, now you have. Wishing you a very happy Mid-Autumn Festival filled with mooncakes and moonlight magic.

andyhau.com

quinnthefox.com

[stupjam]

Happy Mid Autumn Festival! I think in the Splatlands, being based on Hong Kong, would have its own version of it, with lanterns and mooncake.

[isaacspellman]

Can the moon be mine? 🌕

If I look upon the sky now Is it the same moon we’re looking at? The golden sphere that shine lights on my face Not in the same place My dazzling gaze

If the moon were mine I’ll never let go Never let it hide in the shadows Always be bright Always be full And always have light

[fanning-the-flames]

It’s nearing Midautumn Festival again, so time to continue the now annual tradition of depicting Chang’e! Jiang Cheng (Cheng’e?)!

This was inspired by those Fuxiangyuan brand mooncake tins which for the longest time seemed to be the only brand of mooncake I ever saw. They came in a set of four beauties which I at first thought were four depictions of Chang’e given the context but then thought they were THE four beauties of ancient China, and now I’m not sure anymore. So for my simping purposes I’ll just say that my favorite of the bunch, unimpressed one, is Chang’e and Jiang Cheng would look exactly like her as a Moon Diety.

It’s a bit lonely in the Moon Palace so Jiang Cheng always keeps a few keepsakes around of Houyi!Wei Wuxian and Godling!Jin Ling.

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Last year's Cheng'e: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [x]

More Cheng’e: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ]

[meihuashu]

大家好，想祝大家一个完美的中秋节快乐！🥮🌕☺️

[karenfanchen]

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

[morimatea]

One of the most simple word: a happy Mid-Autumn Day!

[jonnyha]

#月 #moon #month . 🌕 . #MidAutumn #midautumnfestival #十五夜 #中秋節 #中秋 #中秋の名月 #中秋節快樂 #中秋快樂 #中秋節快樂 #中秋节 #中秋节快乐 #ツキ #げつ #つき #ペン習字 #書道 #書法 #書遊 #毛筆 #墨 #習字 #日本文化 #筆文字 #文字 #和文化 #創作書道 #インスタ書道部 #書道好きな人と繋がりたい https://www.instagram.com/p/CiVlND9Pd-W/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[tendaysofrain]

“Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month” (八月十五夜) Translation

(Another Mid-Autumn Festival, happy Mooncake Day to all!  This post is a bit late but considering how swamped I am with work and life, it’s a miracle I remembered to post here lol....anyway please enjoy!)

Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month (1)

By Yin Wengui (Tang dynasty, 9th century-early 10th century)

Cloudless clear heavens a mirror over the land (2),

Most perfect time for reunions (3) is Mid-Autumn.

Moonlight clinging to my garments a frosty iridescence,

And over the earth an aqueous brillance ready to flow.

Mountainous shadows in the distance chilly with dew,

Raging winds over yonder capping the waves with white.

Since you (4) illuminated my heart’s true thoughts,

The anxious man may have a carefree eve.

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Notes:

Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the fifteeth day of the eighth month in the lunar calender.

“The land” here is “九州” (Pinyin:  jiu3 zhou1) in Chinese, which literally means “nine provinces”.  This is a reference to the nine original provinces that were said to make up ancient China pre-Warring States.  Since the Warring States period (476-221 BC), the term “jiuzhou” is taken to mean “all of China”, hence my translation of “the land”.  Synonyms include 神州/Shenzhou and 中土/Zhongtu.  Not to be confused with the Japanese Kyushu, since Kyushu refers to a specific island within Japan, and Jiuzhou is a broad term for the entirety of China.

Reunion here is “团圆/團圓 ” (Pinyin:  tuan2 yuan2) in Chinese, where both characters in the word denote “roundness”, and the full moon on the night of the festival is also round.  This is partly why the Mid-Autumn Festival is regarded as a holiday for family and friend gatherings.  

Here “you” can be interpreted to mean either the moon or a person.

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Original Text (Traditional Chinese):

《 八月十五夜 》

[唐] 殷文圭

萬里無雲鏡九州，最團圓夜是中秋。

滿衣冰彩拂不落，遍地水光凝欲流。

華嶽影寒清露掌，海門風急白潮頭。

因君照我丹心事，減得愁人一夕愁。

[twincrystalsz]

Enjoying grilled corn while admiring the full moon 🌕🌽🐇

[chengsfactory]

下星期便是中秋節，作為佛系food blogger/youtuber的我決定先出舊食譜讓大家重溫部分自家製😌😌😂😂 不過我也知道不能太佛系……（最近工作真的比較忙呢👉🏻👈🏻），所以希望中秋節前能和各位分享新影片食譜！Stay tuned! 🎑中秋自家製推介🎑 1️⃣抹茶芝麻麻糬月餅食譜：https://chengsfactory.blogspot.com/2021/08/ciao-matchamooncake.html 2️⃣紫薯燒食譜：https://chengsfactory.blogspot.com/2020/09/blog-post_30.html 3️⃣雲石麻糬酥食譜：https://chengsfactory.blogspot.com/2019/09/blog-post_12.html 👩‍🍳我的Youtube Channel： https://www.youtube.com/c/鄭大小姐工房ChengsFactory #鄭大小姐工房 #ChengsFactory #中秋 #節日 #慶祝 #過節 #月餅 #甜品 #中式點心 #烹飪影片 #MidAutumnFestival #festival #festive #mooncake #dessert #ChineseDelights #cookingvideo #烹飪 #烘焙 #食譜 #自家製 #cooking #baking #recipe #homemade #foodie #foodshare #hkfood （在 Hong Kong） https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch_p-NFpDpA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[tingtey]

Happy Mid-Autumn! Did you get a shiny Clefairy?

[lemymylove]

#midautumnfestival https://www.instagram.com/p/CiULPtPh51F/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[daiiststyle]

How do you like this style of painting?😂😂😂 You can now download the digital version in my ETST shop. Link in bio. #clipart #digitalart #printableparty #chinesemythology #change #moon #midautumnfestival （在 Berlin, Germany） https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck_QEaVolk-/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=