The custom of eating mooncakes on August 15th has been passed down among the people for many years, but its exact origin cannot be verified. According to the elderly, this custom is related to Dong Cun, the son of Dong Yong. When the Seven Fairy Maidens were brought back to the palace by heavenly soldiers and generals, they left behind a little boy named Dong Cun who was less than one year old. Dong Yong is both a father and a mother, working hard to raise the child. More than ten years passed in a flash, and Dong Cun grew into a young man with a tiger’s head and a tiger’s brain. He was precocious and intelligent, very likable.
On the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, a group of children were playing the game of “killing lambs” in the courtyard at the village head. The children lined up in a long line, one pulling the back of another’s shirt, leaving Dong Cun aside. He wants to pull someone’s lapel, but no one wants to play with him. Some people mocked him for not having a mother, while others accused him of not being disciplined, so no one was willing to talk to him. Dong Cun felt very disappointed and in a bad mood.
Dong Cun has been following his father since he was sensible, and his father has never mentioned anything about his mother. The more he thought about it, the more he felt depressed and heartbroken in his heart. So he turned around and left his friends, running to a big locust tree outside the village, crying out loudly, “Mom, where are you? Let my poor son see you!” His crying was desolate and heartbreaking. He cried until the sky was dim and the clouds hung low. The crying attracted Chang’e, who came out of the Heavenly Palace to relax. Chang’e then let Wu Gang, who was playing with her, go down and see what had happened.
Wu Gang transformed into a Taoist and drove auspicious clouds to land at the entrance of the village. After learning about Dong Cun’s situation, he tried to persuade him, but Dong Cun insisted on seeing his mother. Watching the child so pitiful, Wu Gang couldn’t help but shed tears and comforted him, “Child, don’t cry. Your mother is in the Heavenly Palace, I will send her a message right away.” After saying that, he bent down and picked up a stone, blew a breath of fairy air, and then threw it into the sky. The stone instantly turned into a swan, spreading its wings and flying towards the Heavenly Palace. Wu Gang patted the child’s shoulder and took out a pair of cloud shoes from his arms, handing them to him. “When the full moon rises, you can put on these shoes and go to the Heavenly Palace to see your mother.” After saying that, he turned into a gentle breeze and returned to the Heavenly Palace.
Dong Cun hid his shoes in his arms, eagerly gazing at the sun in the sky, wanting to grab it with a rope and throw it towards the western mountains. He patiently waited until the sun set, the stars began to twinkle, and a bright moon slowly rose. He put on his cloud shoes under the moonlight, spread his arms wide, and flew towards the sky. The seven fairy maidens in the Heavenly Palace have already been waiting outside the South Gate for the news brought by Wu Gang, looking forward to reuniting with their biological flesh and blood. She saw her child and immediately hugged him in her arms, kissing and kissing him, so happy that tears welled up in her eyes. When other sisters saw the nephew who came from afar, they expressed their love for him. Some people brought chestnuts, red dates, and walnuts, while others brought bananas, pears, and grapes, offering a variety of delicious fruits.
In particular, Chang’e, like a sisters to the Seven Fairies, became a sister again years ago. I heard that my nephew has arrived. She originally planned to visit him in person, but due to a distinguished guest at home, she couldn’t leave and had to ask Wu Gang to send her greetings. However, what gift is good to bring? She learned that the sisters of the Seven Fairies had already sent a lot of fruits, and felt that it was ordinary to send them again, so she did not know what to send for a while. At this moment, the moonlight shone through the window, and Chang’e looked up to see the round moon hanging high, and her inspiration suddenly surged. So she used white flour to make the skin, mixed walnut kernels, peanuts, green and red silk, plum blossom, brown sugar and other seasonings to make the filling, modeled after the shape of the moon, and baked some sweet and delicious fairy cakes for Wu Gang to bring to the Seven Fairy Maidens.
As the saying goes, there is no absolute secret in the world. The news of the meeting between the Seven Fairy Maidens and Dong Cun somehow reached the ears of the Jade Emperor, making him furious and almost on the verge of anger. Last time, the seven fairy maidens descended to earth without permission, which made him upset. This time, they have taken over Dong Cun from the mortal world. How can this be? How can heaven and earth travel freely? In anger, he ordered his subordinates to investigate and found out that Chang’e and Wu Gang were behind the scenes, so he ordered Chang’e and Wu Gang to be expelled from the Heavenly Palace and sent to the moon. Chang’e is forced to live forever in Guanghan Palace and cannot return; Wu Gang was punished by watering and weeding in front of the Moon Palace, as well as taking care of the cinnamon trees. At the same time, he ordered the heavenly soldiers and generals to drive away all the fairies, made Dong Cun drink a potion, forcibly brought him back to the human world, deprived him of his cloud shoes, and prevented him from returning to the heavenly court again.
Dong Cun gradually regained consciousness after returning to the ground in a daze. What had just happened in the Heavenly Court seemed like a dream, and he couldn’t remember it very clearly. The only clear impression is the moon shaped fairy cake sent by Chang’e’s aunt, which is intoxicating, sweet and delicious.
Later, Dong Yong sent Dong Cun to school. Due to Dong Cun’s intelligence, eagerness to learn, and hard work, he became a high-ranking official in the court when he grew up. Dong Cun often reminisces about his childhood experience in heaven. He misses his mother, as well as Wu Gang and Chang’e, who were sent to the Moon Palace by the Jade Emperor as matchmakers for him. Therefore, in order to be grateful to them, he makes some fairy cakes every August 15th, and when the full moon rises, he places them on the altar and respectfully raises them above his head to express his longing for them. Since then, he has also encouraged the people of various prefectures and counties to participate in this tradition. Due to the shape of fairy cakes resembling a round moon, people gradually called them mooncakes, and this name has been passed down from generation to generation.
