Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival: ESL Lesson Plan
Have you ever eaten a Mooncake?
Do you know who Chang’e and Hou Yi are?
Ever heard of the Jade rabbit or the cherry bay tree?
These all belong to Chinese folktales that explain the origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It’s the second largest festival in China after the Lunar New Year.
The festival is enjoyed by old and young, rich and poor across the mainland and throughout the world where people get together and offer mooncakes and light lanterns to pray for the health and happiness of family and friends.
Here’s a way you can bring that festival into your classroom.
FESTIVAL DATE: October 1, 2020
Before you teach:
If you’re able, I highly recommend purchasing mooncakes for this lesson. It’ll give your students the opportunity to taste something they might otherwise never eat.
I would also recommend getting some lanterns (if they’re legal where you live) and doing a ceremony with your students to commemorate the day. Believe me, it’s lots and lots of fun!
Lesson Aim:
to familiarize students with the origins and customs of the Mid-Autumn festival
Lesson objectives:
students will be able to identify elements of common folktales.
Suitable for:
Intermediate and high-intermediate students
Hook:
Show students a high-resolution photo of the moon. You can use this one. Ask students if they see anything unusual about the moon. Ask them if they know that a woman lives there and has lived there for thousands of years :)
Intro:
Ask students if they know what “folktale” means. If not, give them a chance to guess and expand on any answers that mention stories that are told by older people and passed on to younger ones.
Show students the painting of Chang’e and ask the following questions:
Do you think this woman is important or average? Why? (ANSWERS WILL VARY)
Why do you think she may have been painted? Because she became the goddess of the moon.
How long ago do you think she lived? 3000 years ago!
We Do:
Have students read the following passages which were adapted from China Highlights and Travel China Guide, then discuss questions.
NOTE: If you’re teaching this lesson on or around the festival, you can give students more information about the holiday using the two links above (if time allows).
THE WIFE
3000 years ago, the earth had ten suns. The heat from the suns burned all the trees and crops, causing widespread death around the world. One day a superior archer named Hou Yi used his bow and arrows to shoot down nine of the suns. He threatened the tenth sun with the same outcome if the sun did not agree to rise and set every day and give people a break from its heat. The sun agreed and our Earth was saved.
For his role in saving the planet, the Western Queen Mother gave Hou Yi a bottle of elixir that could make one person immortal. However, Hou Yi did want to become immortal; he wanted to grow old with his wife Chang'e and so he kept the elixir at home.
Pang Meng, one of Hou yi’s students, tried to steal the elixir while he was out. He threatened to kill Chang’e to get the elixir. Faced with greedy Pang Meng, Chang'e decided to drink the elixir. When she ascended toward the heavens, she decided to stay on the moon so she could be as close to Hou Yi as possible.
Devastated, Hou Yi began the ritual of putting out cakes and offerings hoping to bring Chang’e back to him and so the yearly celebration began.
THE WOODMAN
There once lived a man named Wu Gang. He was a woodman who wanted immortality but wasn’t dedicated enough to learn the magic spells to do it.
The Emperor of Heaven became impatient with Wu Gang’s lazy attitude, so to teach him a lesson, he planted a huge cherry bay tree a mile high toward the moon and told Wu Gang that if he could cut it down, he would become an immortal.
Wu Gang thought this was his chance to try hard at something he was good at to get immortality he so desperately wanted. Unfortunately for him, the Emperor of Heaven had made it so that the cherry bay healed every time Wu Gang chopped it.
Today, people still believe an obvious shadow on the moon is made by the huge cherry bay.
THE RABBIT
Once upon a time long ago, three animals lived in a forest: a fox, a rabbit, and a monkey.
Three immortals, pretending to be beggars, went through the forest asking for food. The fox and the monkey quickly offered them food.
The rabbit, who was less resourceful but very pious, felt guilty. She said, “I'm so sorry I couldn't offer any food to help you, but I can give myself”, and jumped into the fire.
The three immortals were moved by the rabbit's sacrifice and decided to make the rabbit an immortal, sending her to live in the Moon Palace.
You all do:
Have students discuss the following:
Identify the “good” character in each story. Why are they good?
Identify the “bad” character in each story. Why are they bad?
What problem is the good character experiencing?
What universal truth, lesson, or value do you learn from each story?
FURTHER DISCUSSION IF YOU HAVE TIME:
What is one word you keep seeing in all three stories? (immortality)
Why do you think the moon is connected to immortality? (The best reason I could find was that the moon “dies” for 3 days (waning, new moon) and resurrects itself the following month (waxing, full moon), however, let your students’ imaginations blossom and see what they come up with!)
Why do folktales often have talking animals?
What are some famous folktales from your country? Do they involve immortals or talking animals?
You do:
Introduce mooncakes and lanterns to your class. You can pass them out to students and give them a chance to tell you if they’ve ever tasted something like this before.
If you have some time, you can also make a game of guessing what’s inside (some mooncakes are really weird).
If your school will allow, you should also take the students outdoors and let the class send off a lantern (individually or as whole) and have them write down life lessons, values, or well wishes on each lantern if possible. If these activities are improbable, you can stick to individual reflection and have the students complete the activity below.
ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY
Celebrating the mid-autumn festival is about celebrating life’s fertility, longevity and a desire to reunite with our loved ones.
Mooncakes and lanterns are symbols of this festival that help carry the message.
Do any festivals in your country celebrate something similar?
Do you know how the festival originated?
How is it the same or different? Use a T-chart to make comparisons and share the results with your partner.