multitude of beautiful females; the
cakes made in her honour are therefore veritable offerings to the
Queen of the Heavens. Now in a part of Lancashire, on the banks of
the Ribble, there exists a precisely similar custom of making cakes
in honour of the 'Queen of Heaven,'--a relic, in all probability, of the
old heathen worship which was the common fount of the two
customs." [177] Witness is also borne to this ceremony by a
well-known traveller. "We arrived at Chaborte on the fifteenth day of the
eighth moon, the anniversary of great rejoicings among the Chinese.
This festival, known as the _Yue-Ping_ (loaves of the moon), dates
from the remotest antiquity. Its original purpose was to honour the
moon with superstitious rites. On this solemn day, all labour is
suspended; the workmen receive from their employers a present of
money, every person puts on his best clothes; and there is
merry-making in every family. Relations and friends interchange cakes of
various sizes, on which is stamped the image of the moon; that is to
say, a hare crouching amid a small group of trees." [178] And
Doolittle says: "It is always full moon on the fifteenth of every
Chinese month; and, therefore, for several days previous, the
evenings are bright, unless it happens to be cloudy, which is not
often the case. The moon is a prominent object of attention and
congratulation at this time. At Canton, it is said, offerings are made
to the moon on the fifteenth. On the following day, young people
amuse themselves by playing what is called _'pursuing_,' or
'_congratulating_' the moon. At this city [Fuhchau], in the
observance of this festival, the expression '_rewarding the moon_' is
more frequently used than 'congratulating the moon.' It is a common
saying that there is 'a white rabbit in the moon pounding out rice.'
The dark and the white spots on the moon's face suggest the idea of
that animal engaged in the useful employment of shelling rice. The
notion is prevalent that the moon is inhabited by a multitude of
beautiful females, who are called by the name of an ancient beauty
who once visited that planet; but how they live, and what they do, is
not a matter of knowledge or of common fame. To the question, 'Is
the moon inhabited?' discussed by some Western philosophers, the
Chinese would answer in the affirmative. Several species of trees
and flowers are supposed to flourish in the moon. Some say that,
one night in ancient times, one of the three