Chinese worship the Moon, Westerners worship the Sun, Why?

Chinese worship the Moon, Westerners worship the Sun, Why?
Aug 13, 2009 03:45
ICEBLUE Points: Join Date: Aug 30, 2007 Status: offline	There has been a prevalent worship of the moon in China since the ancient times such as the fairytale of Chang’e Flyiing to the Moon and Moon Festival (Mid-autumn Festival), Lantern Festivals. Innumerable ancient Chinese poets have composed poems singing high prais to the moon. Also, China’s own calendar (Lunar Calendar) is set based on the wax and wane of the moon. Western calendar is the solar calendar. All of these reflected the prevalent worship of the Moon in China (and even the East) and and the prevailing worship of the Sun in the West. This has seemingly formed a cultural difference: Chinese have kind of Moon Complex and Westerners have the tendency of worshiping the Sun. Do you ever think about why? Best poem about Moon Festival written by Su Shi, a famous poet of Song Dynasty 水调歌头The Moon Festival 苏轼Su shi 明月几时有，把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年？我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人间！转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。 Bright moon, when was your birth? Winecup in hand, I ask the deep blue sky; Not knowing what year it is tonight In those celestial palaces on high. I long to fly back one the wind, Yet dread those crystal towers, those courts of jade, Freezing to death among those icy heights! Instead I rise to dance with my pale shadow; Better off, after all, in the world of men. Rounding the red pavilion, Stooping to look through gauze windows, She shines on the sleepless. The moon should know no sadness; Why, then, is she always full when dear ones are parted? For men the grief of parting, joy of reunion, Just as the moon wanes and waxes, is bright or dim: Always some flaw-and so it has been since of old. My one wish for you, is long life And a share in this loveliness far, far away!

Aug 13, 2009 03:45

ICEBLUE
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Join Date: Aug 30, 2007
Status: offline

There has been a prevalent worship of the moon in China since the ancient times such as the fairytale of Chang’e Flyiing to the Moon and Moon Festival (Mid-autumn Festival), Lantern Festivals. Innumerable ancient Chinese poets have composed poems singing high prais to the moon. Also, China’s own calendar (Lunar Calendar) is set based on the wax and wane of the moon. Western calendar is the solar calendar. All of these reflected the prevalent worship of the Moon in China (and even the East) and and the prevailing worship of the Sun in the West. This has seemingly formed a cultural difference: Chinese have kind of Moon Complex and Westerners have the tendency of worshiping the Sun. Do you ever think about why?

Best poem about Moon Festival written by Su Shi, a famous poet of Song Dynasty
水调歌头The Moon Festival
苏轼Su shi
明月几时有，把酒问青天。
不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年？
我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，
高处不胜寒。
起舞弄清影，何似在人间！
转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。
不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？
人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，
此事古难全。
但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

Bright moon, when was your birth?
Winecup in hand, I ask the deep blue sky;
Not knowing what year it is tonight
In those celestial palaces on high. I long to fly back one the wind,
Yet dread those crystal towers, those courts of jade,
Freezing to death among those icy heights!
Instead I rise to dance with my pale shadow;
Better off, after all, in the world of men.
Rounding the red pavilion,
Stooping to look through gauze windows,
She shines on the sleepless.
The moon should know no sadness;
Why, then, is she always full when dear ones are parted?
For men the grief of parting, joy of reunion,
Just as the moon wanes and waxes, is bright or dim:
Always some flaw-and so it has been since of old.
My one wish for you, is long life
And a share in this loveliness far, far away!

Aug 13, 2009 03:49	#1
ICEBLUE Points: Join Date: Aug 30, 2007 Status: Offline	Yummy round “moon cakes”,are a traditional food eaten during the Moon Festival(Mid-Autumn Festival)

Aug 13, 2009 07:11	#2
ANASTASIA_H Points: Join Date: Aug 13, 2009 Status: Offline	Sun is hot,flamboyant while moons is calm,implicit--do these features tell some difference? And I think Chinese can figure out it must be really hot for Chang e settle down on moon,unlike Romen and Greek's mythologies failing to figure it out... Moon represents reunion,sends missing affection and brights out sorrows of nostalgia in China.

Aug 16, 2009 04:38	#3
LEONARDO Points: Join Date: May 21, 2007 Status: Offline	ANASTASIA, you are probably right. Sun is hot, flamboyant while moon is calm and implicit. Maybe that is why men are compared to the Sun; women are compared to the Moon. The moon has the feminine features.
LEONARDO Points: Join Date: May 21, 2007 Status: Offline	Last edited by LEONARDO: Aug 16, 2009 04:40

Aug 16, 2009 23:15	#4
GUEST7788	Chinese prefer to be fair skinned; Westerners like to look like boiled lobsters ha ha ha

Sep 7, 2013 12:55

GUESTRICHARD

When the Earth fell from spirit into matter, billions or years ago, the moon 'Lunar' eventually came to the Earth's recue. Lunar was a beautiful celestial system in her own right. The moon came close to the Earth to try to give it some atmosphere to kick start the Earth back into life. But the Earth took all of the Moons atmosphere, water, peoples everything. It is believed that the Chinese are the souls who once peopled the moon.

Sep 12, 2013 08:43	#6
WANHU Points: Join Date: Feb 20, 2007 Status: Offline	Quote: Originally Posted by ICEBLUE and Westerners have the tendency of worshiping the Sun. Kindly provide more info. TQ Wan

Sep 16, 2013 11:10

NOBODY
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Join Date: Feb 13, 2011
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Quote:

Originally Posted by ANASTASIA_H

And I think Chinese can figure out it must be really hot for Chang e settle down on moon,unlike Romen and Greek's mythologies failing to figure it out...

I thought that the Greek god Helios, pulled the sun behind his chariot of 4 horses across the sky (sun rise and sun set) Helios also was a personification of the sun. Of course they knew that the sun is hot, but they just imagined that only a Titan or god could live up there and keep the sun burning and moving.

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