Chang'e and the Mid-Autumn Festival

This story retells how Hou Yi saved the people by shooting down nine suns and how Chang'e flew to the moon after protecting the elixir. It also explains why families admire the moon and eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

HSK 3–4

Illustration inspired by Chang'e and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Story preview

  1. 很久很久以前，天上有十个太阳。

    hen3 jiu3 hen3 jiu3 yi3 qian2 tian1 shang4 you3 shi2 ge4 tai4 yang5

    Long, long ago, there were ten suns in the sky.

  2. 每天，十个太阳一起出来。

    mei3 tian1 shi2 ge4 tai4 yang5 yi1 qi3 chu1 lai2

    Every day, the ten suns came out together.

  3. 天气非常热，河水干了，草木死了，庄稼也不能长。

    tian1 qi4 fei1 chang2 re4 he2 shui3 gan1 le5 cao3 mu4 si3 le5 zhuang1 jia5 ye3 bu4 neng2 chang2

    The weather was extremely hot, the rivers dried up, the grass and trees died, and the crops could not grow.