The Lantern Festival and the moon

BY | 02-09-2017
(Chinese Social Sciences Today)

 

八月十五云遮月,正月十五雪打灯
Clouds cover the moon on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month (Mid-autumn Festival); then snow hits the light on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival).
This agricultural proverb is commonly used in North China. It indicates that the weather on the Mid-autumn Festival can predict what the weather will be like on the Lantern Festival. 

 

月过十五光明少,人到中年万事休
Once past the fifteenth day of the lunar month, the moon loses its luster; on reaching middle age, life loses all its glow.
The proverb advises people to cherish time and advance bravely while they are young.

 

月满则亏,水满则溢
The moon waxes and wanes; water brims only to overflow.
The proverb means that anything carried to its extremes will lead to its decline.

 

月是故乡明
Our moon at home is solely brighter in its gleams.
It originally comes from Tang poet Du Fu’s poem Recall My Brother at a Moon Night to express his nostalgia. It indicates that a person travelling or residing in a place far away from home deeply miss the hometown and family members.   


 
月晕而风,础润而雨
A halo around the moon indicates the rising of wind; the damp on a plinth is a sign of approaching rain.
The proverb is used with reference to premonitions of future events.

 

云破月来花弄影
As the moon breaks through the clouds, flowers play with their shadows.
The proverb indicates that time flies and everything changes, but life won’t be in an infinite sea of nothingness and good things that have departed will arise again.