Meng Jiangnu: The Saddest Cry in the World 孟姜女：天下第一哭

The story of Meng Jiangnu, spread through many regions of China for more than 2,000 years, is perhaps the most popular folktale concerning the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall of China was built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. The most famous is the wall built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. It is estimated that between 2 to 3 million people had lost their lives building the Great Wall, and many more died by defending her.

The story of Meng Jiangnu's deep affection for her husband has moved many Chinese people and they call her cry ‘The saddest cry in the world’.

In Chinese, Meng means the eldest, and Jiang apparently refers to a family name. Meng Jiangnu therefore means the Jiang family’s eldest daughter. The most complete version of story was told by Feng Menglong of Ming dynasty in his book ‘Love Tales in History’.

Meng Jiang, lived during the Qin dynasty, was the eldest daughter of a rich family. She was just married to Fan Qiliang. On the third day of her marriage, Fan was taken away to build the Great Wall. Winter came but Fan did not return. Meng made some warm clothes for her husband and decided to take them to him. She came to the construction site and was then told that Fan had died. She was so heartbroken that she stumbled, cried loudly till the earth was shaken.

The Great Wall collapsed and exposed the bones and bodies of many dead men. However, it was impossible to identify Fan’s body. Meng cut her fingers and dripped her blood on the dead one by one until her blood flowed into one. Knowing that this was her husband, she carried the body home. However, she was exhausted upon reaching Tong Guan, which was still far away from her home. She knew that she could not make it home, so she placed the dead body at the foot of a mountain and sat there silently until she died.

The people of Tong Guan were so touched by her chastity that they constructed her sculpture as a memorial to honour her.

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孟姜女的故事在中国很多地区传播超过两千年，可能是有关万里长城的故事中最出名的。

万里长城是为了保卫中国北方领土而从公元前五世纪至十六世纪由各个朝代不断建筑、重建与修理而成的。其中最出名的城墙是在公元前220年至200年间由中国的第一位皇帝秦始皇建造的。据估计，有两百到三百万人为了建造这座长城而丧失生命，还有很多人为了保护它而死亡。

孟姜女对她丈夫的深情的故事深深地感动了人们，而她的哭被称为‘天下第一哭’。

孟是排行老大的意思，姜才是姓氏，所以孟姜女指的是姜家的长女。明代冯梦龙（原刊本署“詹詹外史”）在他的《情史》（全称《情史类略》，又名《情天宝鉴》）中的《孟姜》讲得最完整：

“秦孟姜，富人女也，赘范杞梁。三日，夫赴长城之役，久而不归，为制寒衣送之，至长城，闻知夫已故，乃号顿足，哭声震地。

城崩，寻夫骸骨，多难认，啮指血滴之，入骨不可拭者，知其为夫骨，负之而归。至潼关，筋骨已竭，知不能还家，乃置骸岩下，坐于旁而死。

潼关人重其节义，立像祀之。”

Fan Li: Know the Pattern of Advance and Withdrawal 范蠡：知进退

Fan Li was an advisor in the state of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period (722-481 BC). In 494 BC, Goujian, the King of Yue State, decided to start a war against the Wu State, Yue’s northern neighbour. Fan Li advised the king not to start the war, but the king did not listen. The Yue State lost the war. Fan Li followed Goujian to the Wu State as hostages. Three years later they came back and he helped Goujian to carry on a reform. At last Yue was able to defeat the state of Wu.

After Goujian became king, Fan Li felt that it was unsuitable for him to stay on as an advisor. He resigned and renamed himself Tao Zhu Gong (Lord Tao Zhu). He became a successful businessman in his later years and was famous as a rich person.

Here is a letter he wrote to his friend Wen Zhong advising him to desert the King as well. Wen Zhong did not listen to Fan’s advice and was finally forced by the King to kill himself.

I have learned that just as there are four seasons in a year, with summer brave and winter bare, there are also vicissitudes in man’s life. When good luck reaches its limit, misfortune is destined to follow. If there is one who knows well when to advance and when to withdraw and in the meanwhile always remains righteous and upright, he should be esteemed as man of virtue and wisdom, shouldn’t he? Humble as I am, I have come to know this regular pattern of advance and withdrawal. When high-flying birds have all flown away, strong bows will be cast; and when cunning hares have all been hunted, fleeing hounds will be cooked as food.

And now let us have a look at the King of Yue – long-necked and beak-mouthed, hawk-eyed and wolf-footed. He is a man with whom you can weather difficult times together but not happiness; with whom you can weather danger together but not live peace together. If you don’t leave him now, he will harm you sooner or later. Isn’t it clear enough?

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范蠡是春秋时代（公元前722年至481年）越国的大臣。公元前494年，越王勾践决定攻打北部的吴国。范蠡规劝越王不要发动战争，可是越王不听。越国战败。范蠡随勾践到吴国为人质。三年后，他们归国，范蠡协助勾践改革。最后，越国把吴国打败。

勾践成为国君后，范蠡觉得不适合继续为大臣。他辞去并改名为陶朱公。晚年他成为一个成功商人，是一个著名的富豪。

这里是他写给他的朋友文种的一封信，劝他离开越王。文种不听范蠡的劝告，结果为越王所逼而自杀。

吾闻天有四时，春生冬伐；人有盛衰，泰终必否。知进退存亡而不失其正，惟贤人乎！蠡虽不才，明知进退。高鸟已散，良弓将藏；狡兔已尽，良犬就烹。

夫越王为人，长颈鸟啄，鹰视狼步。可与共患难，而不可共处乐；可与履危，不可与安。子若不去，将害于子，明矣。

Zodiac Animal: Ox 生肖动物：牛

In Chinese calendar, 2009 is the year of the earth ox. It started on the Chinese New Year, which was on 26 January 2009.

The ox is the second sign of the Chinese zodiac and signifies time for hard work and smart moves from the honest approach; slow and steady wins the race in the end! Earth favours those who are tied to the land, such as wine and fruit, organic foods, and those who do a lot of routine work, deal with practical matters or perform work of a spiritual nature.

Based on the characteristics of both earth and ox, it could be a very good year for those with careers in services business, construction, engineering, health, academic, planning and great for entrepreneurs with a soulful heart.

Generally speaking, people who are born in the years of ox are supposed to be bright, peace-loving, often easy-going and trusting. But, on the other hand, they can also be stubborn, methodical, and fiercely competitive, with, shudder, fierce tempers to boot.

There is a legend about ox as a river god.

During the Warring States Period (476 – 221 BC), Li Bing, the magistrate of Shu (Sichuan), made history by building Dujiangyan, the irrigation infrastructure which is still in use today. It irrigates over 5,300 square kilometers of land in the region.

According to a wide-spread story about him, there was a river god in the region who insisted on marrying two little girls each year. With the interests of the people at heart, Li Bing decided to marry his own daughter to the river god. On the wedding day, Li Bing went to the temple where the marriage was to take place to scold the river god for its harmful deeds. Then both Li Bing and river god disappeared suddenly. After quite a while, people saw two oxen having a ferocious battle on the river bank. Li Bing returned in the anteroom to tell his subordinates the ox to the south with white colour on its waist was him. The subordinates stabbed the ox to the north to death. That was the river god.

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在农历里，2009年是土牛年。土牛年从农历新年，也就是2009年1月26日开始。

牛排在生肖的第二位。牛年表示是勤劳、伶俐而诚实地处事的时刻到了，最后的胜利属于那些缓慢而稳健的人。五行中的土有利于那些从事同土有关的员工，例如从事有关酒与果实、有机食物行业的人，或那些从事事务性工作、实际问题或心灵性质工作的人们。

以牛与土这两种特性来看，牛年有利于那些从事服务业、建筑、工程、健康、学术、策划的人员，也有利于那些有高尚情操的企业家。

一般来说，那些出生于牛年的人，聪明、爱好和平、随意与值得信任。可是，从另一个角度来看，他们可以十分固执、组织化、竞争性很强，容易显露暴躁的脾气。

这里有一个有关牛作为河神的故事。

战国时代（公元前476 – 221），蜀（今四川）郡守李冰以建造都江堰而闻名于历史。都江堰这个灌溉构造系统至今还在使用中，为周围5，300平方公里的土地灌溉。

根据一个广为流传有关李冰的传说，一个河神规定人们每年要奉献两名少女给它为妻。为了百姓的利益，李冰决定把自己的女儿嫁给河神。婚礼当天，李冰到举行婚礼的庙堂，痛骂河神之伤天害理行为。突然间，李冰与河神一起消失。一会儿后，人们看到两只牛在河岸激烈战斗。李冰回到接待室告诉他的手下在南面有白色腰部的牛是他本人。李冰手下于是尽力把北面的牛刺杀死去。那死去的真正是河神。

Cutting Up a Cow 庖丁解牛

A dominant theme in the Chinese aesthetics is the notion of gongfu, which refers to the need to have a long time physical and spiritual training and constant practices to achieve a result that is supposed to come across with perfect and natural ease.
Here is a story told by Zhuangzi about Cook Ding cutting up oxen to illustrate the notion of gongfu:
Cook Ding was cutting up a cow for Duke Wenhui. Every blow of his hand, every heave of his shoulder, every tread of his foot, every thrust of his knee, every sound of the rending flesh, and every note of the movement of the chopper were in perfect harmony - rhythmical like the dance of ‘The Mulberry Grove,’ simultaneous like the chords of the ‘Ching Shou’. (‘The Mulberry Grove’ and ‘Ching Shou’ are two pieces of beautiful antique music.)
‘Ah, admirable,’ said the prince, ‘that your art should become so perfect!’
The cook laid down his chopper and replied: ‘What I love is Dao, which is more advanced than art. When I first began to cut up cows, what I saw was a simply whole cow. When I first began to clean, what I saw was simply a whole mess. After three years' practice, I saw no more cow as whole. At present, I work with my mind, but not with my eyes. The functions of my senses stop; my spirit dominates. Following the natural veins, my chopper slips through the great cavities, slides through the great openings, taking advantage of what is already there. I did not attempt the central veins and their branches, and the connectives between flesh and bone, not to mention the great bones. A good cook changes his chopper once a year, because he cuts. An ordinary cook changes his chopper once a month, because he hacks. Now my copper has been in use for nineteen years; it has cut several thousand cows; yet its edge is as sharp as if it just came from the whetstone. At the joints there are always interstices, and the edge of the chopper is without thickness. If we insert that which is without thickness into an interstice, there is certainly plenty of room for it to move along! Nevertheless, when I come to a complicated joint, and see that there will be some difficulty, I proceed anxiously and with caution. I fix my eyes on it. I move slowly. Then by a very gentle movement of my chopper, the part is quickly separated, and yields like earth crumbling to the ground. Then standing with the chopper in my hand, I look all around, with an air of triumph and satisfaction. Then I wipe my chopper and put it in its sheath.’
‘Excellent,’ said the prince, ‘from the words of this cook, I learned the ways of cultivating life.’
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中国美学中的一个重要的概念是‘功夫’，指需要长时间的体格与精神锻炼，与不间断的练习，而达到的完美与自然天成的结果。

庄子就以《庖丁解牛》来说明功夫的概念。

庖丁为文惠君解牛，手之所触，肩之所倚，足之所履，膝之所踦，砉然向然，奏刀騞然，莫不中音。合于《桑林》之舞，乃中《经首》之会。

文惠君曰：“嘻，善哉！技盖至此乎？”

庖丁释刀对曰：“臣之所好者道也，进乎技矣。始臣之解牛之时，所见无非牛者。三年之后，未尝见全牛也。方今之时，臣以神遇而不以目视，官知止而神欲行。依乎天理，批大郤，导大窾，因其固然，技经肯綮之未尝，而况大軱乎！良庖岁更刀，割也；族庖月更刀，折也。今臣之刀十九年矣，所解数千牛矣，而刀刃若新发于硎。彼节者有间，而刀刃者无厚；以无厚入有间，恢恢乎其于游刃必有余地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新发于硎。虽然，每至于族，吾见其难为，怵然为戒，视为止，行为迟。动刀甚微，謋然已解，如土委地。提刀而立，为之四顾，为之踌躇满志，善刀而藏之。”

文惠君曰：“善哉，吾闻庖丁之言，得养生焉。”

Chongyang Festival 重阳节

The 9th day of the 9th lunar month is the traditional Chongyang Festival, or Double Ninth Festival. It usually falls in October. This year, the Chongyang Festival was on 26 Oct.

The Chongyang Festival is also a time when chrysanthemum blooms. So enjoying the flourishing chrysanthemum also becomes a key activity on this festival. Also, people will drink chrysanthemum wine. Women used to stick such a flower into their hair or hang its branches on windows or doors to avoid bad luck.

In 1989, the Chinese government declared the Double Ninth Festival as the Seniors' Day. A scholar in the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644) described how the Festival is celebrated:

On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, people take wine glasses, teapots and food boxes and go up the mountains. All the mountains in the Xiangshan range are high. In these mountains are Fazang Temple with all a tall pagoda; Xianling Temple and Baoguo Temple, both elevated structures. Monks do not go up the mountains, but common people rent mountain gardens and pavilions or go to the pleasure haunts in the mountains to have fun.

The pastry shops sell cakes sprinkled with dates and chestnuts as thick as stars in a night sky. These cakes are called huagao – flower cakes. Pastry shop owners usually put colourful paper flags on their cakes. The flags are called ‘flower cake flags’. On that day, parents expect their married daughters to return home to eat flower cakes. If the daughter cannot come, the mother will complain, the daughter will be filled with sadness, and the younger sister will weep because she really wants to enjoy this rare chance to see her sister. Thus, this day is also called Daughter’s Day.

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九月九日是传统的重阳节，也叫双九节。通常是在阳历十月。今年的重阳节在十月二十六日。

重阳节正是菊花盛开的时刻。所以欣赏茂盛的菊花是这个节日主要的活动。人们也和菊花酒。妇人常爱把菊花插在头上，或把它的枝叶插在窗口或门上以避恶运。

1989年，中国政府宣布双九节为老人节。明朝 (1368 – 1644) 学者如此记载庆祝重阳节的情景：

明刘侗、于奕正《帝京景物略•春场》：

“九月九日，载酒具、茶炉、食榼，曰登高。香山诸山，高山也；法藏寺，高塔也；显灵宫、报国寺，高阁也，释不登。凭园亭，闯坊曲为娱耳。

面饼种枣栗其面，星星然，曰花糕。糕肆标彩旗，曰花糕旗。父母家必迎女来食花糕，或不得迎，母则垢，女则怨诧，小妹则泣，望其姐姨，亦曰女儿节。”

Smart When Young 小时了了

Kong Rong (Kong Wenju 153 – 208) was a bureaucrat, poet, and minor warlord during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. A well-known story commonly used to educate children even nowadays on the values of courtesy and fraternal love involves the four-year-old Kong Rong giving up the larger pears to his elder and younger brothers. This story is also mentioned in the Three Character Classic, a text used for elementary education since the Song Dynasty.

Kong Rong showed his quick wits since his young age. Here is a story recorded about him in ‘A New Account of Tales of the World’ (Shi Shuo Xin Yu).

Kong Wenju came to Luoyang with his father when he was ten.

At that time Li Yuanli (110-169) enjoyed great prestige in Luoyang as the Attorney-General. Only prominent figures or his close relatives were allowed to visit him.

Wenju approached his gate and said to the door man, ‘I’m a relative of Mr Li.’

After he was allowed in and sat down, Li asked him, ‘How is it that you are my relative?’

Wenju replied, ‘Long ago, my ancestor Confucius called your ancestor Laozi (note: Laozi’s surname is said to be Li) by the title of Master, therefore you and I have a relationship spanning many generations.’

Li and his guests were impressed by his reply. A while later, Chen Wei, an adviser of the Emperor, came and other told him the words of the boy. He uttered, ‘Being smart at a young age doesn’t mean he’ll be somebody when he grows up.’

Wenju answered, ‘I’m sure you must be smart when you were young.’

Chen was choked up.

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孔融(孔文举153-208) 是东汉三国时期的官僚、诗人、小军阀。他四岁时让梨给兄弟的故事至今还是教育儿童礼让与友爱的有名教材。三字经就有提到这个故事。

他从小就显示才智过人。这里是《世说新语》里记录有关他的一个故事。

孔文举年十岁，随父到洛阳。

时李元礼（110-169）有盛名，为司隶校尉。诣门者，皆俊才清称及中表亲戚乃通。

文举至门，谓吏曰：“我是李府君亲。”

既通，前坐。元礼问曰：“君与仆有何亲?”

对曰：“昔先君仲尼与君先人伯阳有师资之尊，是仆与君奕世为通好也。”

元礼及宾客莫不奇之。太中大夫陈韪后至，人以其语语之，韪曰：“小时了了，大未必佳。”文举曰：“想君小时必当了了。”

韪大踧踖。

Drawing Animals Without Eyes 画动物不画眼

The story of painting animals without eyes was first told in the book Taiping Guangji (Tai Ping Anthologies).

‘During the first year of the Qin dynasty, a man named Yi, who was good in carving and painting, was presented to the First Emperor.

By spurting out vermilion and green stone from his mouth onto the ground, he can transform them immediately into many funny faces and various things. When he carved stone into various types of animals, the animals were extremely lifelike that even their hairs appeared to be real thing.

He also marked the carving time on the chest of the animals.

By laying a cloth on the ground, he could paint rivers, maintains and maps of all states within the small piece of cloth.

The dragon and phoenix drawn by him were so lifelike that it appeared that they were ever ready to fly away into the sky. But no eyes would be drawn. If the eyes were drawn, the animals would really fly away. The First Emperor sighed and said, ‘These are not real things, how can they fly away?’ He allowed the painters to draw an eye on each of two jade tigers on a painting. In ten days, both jade tigers disappeared and nobody knew where to look for them.

Residents lived near mountains and rivers reported that they saw two tigers, each had only one eye. They always moved together and were inseparable as body and shadow. They looked the same, even the hair and colour looked exactly the same. They also looked different from the normal tigers.

In the following year, the Western people presented two tigers to the First Emperor, each had only one eye. The First Emperor inspected them and suspected they were from the painting. The tigers were killed and the marks on their chests shown that they were indeed painted in the first year of his reign.’

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有关画动物不画眼睛的故事最先记载于《太平广记》。

秦始皇元年，骞霄国献刻玉善画工名裔。

使含丹青以漱地，即成魑魅及鬼怪群物之象；刻石为百兽之形，毛发宛若真矣。

皆铭其臆前，记以年月。

工人以绢画地。方寸之内，写四渎五岳列国之图。

又为龙凤，骞翥若飞。皆不得作目，作必飞走也。始皇嗟曰：“刻画之形，何能飞走。”使以淳漆各点两玉虎一眼睛，旬日则失之，不知何所在。

山泽人云：“见二白虎，各无一眼，相随而行，毛色形相，异于常见者。”

至明年，西方献两白虎，皆无一眼。始皇发槛视之，疑是先所失者，乃刺杀之，检其臆前，果是元年所刻玉虎也。

Putting the Finishing Touch to the Picture of a Dragon 画龙点晴

The Chinese proverb ‘Hualong Dianjing’ (literally painting the dragon and adding the eyes) refers to the finishing touch, or is used to describe how, when writing or speaking, one or two key sentences could enhance the contents.

The proverb was made famous by a story about the famous painter Zhang Sengyou who lived in the Southern and Northern Dynasties Period (420-589).

“Once Zhang Sengyou visited the Jinan temple in Jin Ling (Nanjing) and painted on the wall four dragons, but gave none of them eyes.

He explained, 'With the eyes painted on, the dragons would fly away.'

Nobody believed this, so Zhang took up his brush and added eyes to one of the dragons. No sooner had he finished than the dragon flew into the sky amid a thunderstorm. The other dragons without eyes stayed painted on the wall.”

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成语“画龙点睛”常用来比喻作文或说话时在关键地方加一两句重要的话，使内容变得更加生动有力。

这句成语却因为南北朝时期(420-589)的画家张僧繇的一个历史故事而成名。

唐•张彦远《历代名画记•张僧繇》：

张僧繇于金陵安乐寺，画四龙于壁，不点睛。

每曰：“点之即飞去。”

人以为诞，因点其一。须臾，雷电破壁，一龙乘云上天。未点睛者皆在。

Zodiac Animal: Mouse 十二生肖：鼠

In China, people came up with a simple and amusing way to count the years. They use 12 animals, namely rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig, to represent years and make up the Chinese zodiac.

Do you know how they picked those animals? Do you know why the little rat is the first? The following interesting story will answer your questions.

Once upon a time, the cat and the rat were good friends, every day they would play together, everyday they would eat together, and life was very happy. One day, the Lord of Heaven told the God of Earth, "I feel that the way we calculate the years is really uncomfortable, so I think I’ll hold a competition for crossing the river between the animals, the first animals to arrive at the finish line will make up the new 12 calendar-years."

The God of Earth released the news to all the animals on earth. All the animals were happy to hear the news and they all wanted to participate.

As both cat and rate could not swim, on the day of competition, they rode on the ox to cross the river. When the ox arrived half way, the cat pointed at the other side of the river and said, "Look! The other animals still haven’t crossed the river, I’m sure we’ll be the firsts in the competition." The cat didn’t even get to finish his sentence, when the rat walked from behind and pushed him off, and the cat fell into the water. The rat laughed and said, "Oh, so sorry, my brother the cat. You can continue swimming slowly… now I’m definitely the first!"

The ox didn’t pay attention and continued to swim, and arrived at the end point. The little rat jumped of the ox to the shore and ran happily towards the finish line, seeing that the others still aren’t there.

The ox ran and arrived second. Next was the tiger, the little rabbit quickly followed, the dragon came from within the clouds and announced, "I’ve arrived". As the horse arrived at the finish line, a snake suddenly appeared from the grass, making the horse and the sheep jump in horror. The monkey, the chicken, and the dog quickly ran to the finish line. The competition was about to end.

The Lord of Heaven said, "Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken and the dog are the 11, who’s going to be the last one?” At that moment, a very fat pig came running in and announced, "I’m starving!"

The Lord of Heaven was about to announce the 12 winning animals, when the cat arrived, asking, "What number am I?" The Lord of Heaven replied, "I’m sorry, you got here too late, and you can’t be part of the Zodiac". The cat replied angerily, "That’s all the rat’s fault, I will never forgive him."

From that day forward, the cat wants to bite the rat, and so the rat fears the cat. The rat hides from the cat all day, and comes out only in the evening.
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在中国，人们想出一个简单而奇趣的方法来计算年代。他们以十二种动物，鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪，来代表年岁，组成十二生肖。

你知道十二生肖是如何选出来的吗？为什么小老鼠会排在第一呢？以下有趣的传说可以解答你的问题。

从前猫与鼠是好朋友，它们每天一起游玩，一起吃饭，日子过得好开心。一天，玉帝对土地公说：‘我觉得目前计算年岁的方法，很不方便，所以我想举办一次动物过河比赛，最先抵达终点的十二种动物组成十二周年。’

土地公于是把比赛的消息公布给所有地上的动物。动物们都很高兴，他们都想参加比赛。

由于猫与鼠都不会游泳，比赛那天，它们就坐在牛的背上出发。牛游到河中间的时候，猫就指着岸边说，‘你看，它们都还没过河呢。过河比赛我们一定领先。’猫还没说完，鼠却从毛背后用力地推，猫就掉下水了。鼠笑着说：‘对不起，猫大哥，你继续慢慢游吧。现在我肯定第一名了。’

牛根本就没有注意，继续往前游而抵达了终点。鼠从牛背上跳上岸，快乐地奔往终点，还没有动物抵达呢。

牛第二个抵达。下一个是虎，兔紧跟在后头，龙从云里出来，宣告说：‘我到了。’吗快要到终点时，蛇突然从草丛里转出来，把马与羊吓了一跳。猴、鸡与狗也快速跑到终点。比赛就快要结束了。

玉帝说：‘鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗，共十一个，谁会是最后一个呢？’就在这时，一个很肥的猪跑来说，‘饿死我了。’

就在玉帝要宣布十二名优胜的动物时，猫抵达了，它问：‘我得到第几名？’玉帝说：‘很抱歉，你来迟了，不能成为十二生肖。’猫很生气地说；‘都是可恶的老鼠的错，我永远不会原谅它。’

从此以后，猫一见老鼠就像咬，以致老鼠怕猫，白天只好躲在洞里，夜晚才敢出来。

Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节

The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the lunar eighth month, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon". It is also widely known as the Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival, Lantern Festival, etc. In the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurred sometime between the second week of September and the second week of October. This year, the Med-Autumn Festival falls on 3 Oct 09.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a popular East Asian and overseas Chinese celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Xia Dynasty.

The moon at the night of Mid-Autumn Festival is said to be at its fullest and brightest. Compared to many Chinese festivals that are inundated with vibrant colours and sounds, the Mid-Autumn festival remains more subdued. Traditionally celebrated outdoors under the moonlight, people eat moon cakes and pomeloes together, and gaze at the moon. In modern times, barbecues with families and friends are also common. There are additional cultural or regional customs, such as carrying brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on buildings and towers, floating sky lanterns, burning incense in reverence to deities including Chang'e, performing Fire Dragon Dances.

The custom of worshipping the moon (called xiyue in Chinese) can be traced back as far as ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 - 1066 BC). In the Zhou Dynasty (1066 - 221 BC), people held ceremonies to greet winter and worshiped the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival set in. It became very prevalent in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) that people enjoyed and worshiped the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), however, people sent round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts as an expression of their best wishes for family reunion. When it became dark, they looked up at the full moon or went sightseeing on lakes to celebrate the festival. Since the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing Dynasties (1644 - 1911), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration becomes unprecedented popular.

Mid-autumn festival is a time to think of and remember people close to us. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at the full moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home, and extending all of their best wishes to them.

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欢愉的中秋节是在阴历八月十五，秋分时候庆祝。很多人只把它称为‘八月十五’。其他的称呼还包括：月节，月饼节，灯笼节，等等。在阳历，这个节日大概是在九月的第二个星期与十月的第二个星期之间。今年，中秋节是在十月三日。

中秋节是东亚与海外华人是一个很流行的节日，它可以追溯到三千年前的中国夏朝。

据说中秋时的月最圆最亮。和其他色彩浓厚的中国节日比起来，中秋节算是低调的。传统上，人们在户外月下吃月饼和柚子，同时赏月。现在，一般与家人朋友一起吃烧烤肉。还有其他文化与地方性的风俗，如提灯笼、在建筑物与高塔挂灯笼、飞天灯、烧香拜神（包括嫦娥）、表演火龙舞，等等。

中秋拜月（也叫夕月）的风俗可以追溯到夏商（公元前2000至1066年）。在周朝(1066 - 221 BC)，人们每到中秋节会以仪式来迎接冬天到来与拜月。到了唐朝 (618 - 907)，赏月与祭拜圆月十分盛行。南宋 (1127 - 1279) 人喜爱以圆月饼作为礼物送给亲友，以表他们对团圆的愿望。天暗之后，他们仰天望明月，并到湖边庆祝节日。自明 (1368 - 1644) 清 (1644 - 1911) 以来，庆祝中秋节的风俗达到空前的兴盛。

中秋节是我们思念与怀念我们亲近的人的时候。每到中秋节，人们会仰天望月，饮酒以庆祝他们的美好日子，或怀念在远方的亲友，为他们祝福。