Vietnam
Vietnam TNT Fibers Co., Ltd. (VTF)
Mid-Autumn Festival (September/2008)

The Moon Princess and the Moon Boy

The Mid-Autumn Festival was started by introducing of the Moon Princess & Chu Cuoi (the Moon Boy) traditional characters that lived on the Moon in the Vietnamese story. Children are told the story of the Moon Fairy living in a crystal palace, which comes out to dance on the moon’s shadowed surface. The legend dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result. Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon Festival.

The children ate moon cake & grapefruit together. The Moon Princess gave them many kinds of colorful lanterns such as angel, fish, star, swan, and butterfly.

For hundreds of years, the Vietnamese people have related the vicissitudes of life to changes of the moon as it waxes and wanes, joy and sorrow, parting and reunion. Because the full moon is round and symbolizes reunion, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Festival for Children and for Reunion. All family members try to get together on this special day. Those who cannot return home watch the bright moonlight and feel deep longing for their loved ones.

(By the Moon Princess)