国际观月夜Worship, Observe, Exploration the Moon---- It’s my Moon

Worship, Observe, Exploration the Moon

---- It’s my Moon

(A) The Legend of the Moon

When I saw many vague images above the full moon during my Childhood, my mother would say it was the Moon Palace, in which Chang E was living alone, the Rabbit was making elixir, and Wu Gang was cutting laurel. I was very worried about Chang E and the Rabbit and wondered how they could keep moving during the small crescent moon.

I am always looking forward to the Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese traditional reunion festival. I always eat a lot of delicious moon cakes and fruits when all of my family gets together.

I wish I could fly to the moon to see the Immortal Sister – Chang E, and to play with the Rabbit, and to climb the 500 feet high laurel.

(B) The Worship of the Moon

This year is the traditional Chinese Year of the Rabbit and the Rabbit in the moon is the most distinguished mascot.

We held a wonderful Worship of the Moon at the Beijing Olympic Forest Park at September 11 (August 14 lunar calendar, the day before Mid-Autumn Festival).

First, we began to paint "Moonlight Paper" as a gift dedicated to Luna. The traditional Moonlight Paper usually shows Luna, the Moon Palace and the Rabbit, produced a watercolor woodcut edition.

Traditional customs should also relate to current events. Our Moonlight Papers showed the Moon, the Rabbit and other traditional images, but they also often showed the image of "Temple One", China's first experimental space station, and we thus looked forward to the 10th Anniversary of 9-11 memorial events.

We made grapefruit lights with our parents: we cut 5-10cm down from the stem, and used a large spoon to remove all of the filling from the inside of our grapefruit, then we began to cut the shapes with a sharp knife and finally, we drew the design on the front of the grapefruit.

Second, we began the Chinese Worship of the Moon when the moon rose up.

We placed a candle or a LED light in the carved grapefruit, and dedicated the Grandpa Rabbit, Grandma Rabbit, the moon cakes and the fruits to Luna.

All women and young men (not including adult men) faced east and began the worship.

The first worship blessing for Luna:

I wish that all women are as beautiful as Chang E.

I wish that all children are awarded a laurel wreath.

I wish all people health and longevity!
The second worship blessing for Regulus Huangdi (the first emperor of the Chinese nation and creator of the Chinese civilization): I wish to build a harmonious society!

The third blessing for the Earth: I wish to love nature and explore the universe!

Then we shared the moon cakes and fruits with the blessing for Luna.

Finally, we observed the Moon using three professional telescopes.

(C) International Observe the Moon Night

On October 9, about 10 students prepared a wonderful astronomy drama and nearly a hundred students and their parents learned the astronomical knowledge through interesting performances.

Then we held a fierce prize competition, during which every student was eager to answer the questions.

Finally，a few students assembled three astronomical telescopes, and we lined up to observe the beautiful moon.

(D) The dream of Lunar Exploration

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 was “The Universe, Yours to Discover” and was dedicated to help us rediscover our place in the universe.

I began to learn about astronomy in 2009 when I was just 9 years old. I was not lucky enough to observe the Total Solar Eclipse of July 22, 2009, but I could observe the Annular Eclipse of January 15, 2010. I was completely conquered by the "Lord of the Rings" flashing in the sky. I am looking forward to the Total Solar Eclipse on November 14, 2012, in Australia.

I love astronomy. My goal is to explore the unknown universe and to explore the future of humanity. I hope to join the Lunar Exploration in the future.

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