Legends on the Moon cakes
Having read so many tales about deities and animals on the moon, what about the origin of the mooncake? There are two tales on how this delicious sweet festive pastry is derived.
The 1st one is based on the story of Chang Er. Yearning to meet her husband again, Chang Er instructed Hou Yi to, on the day of full moon, create a pill made of flour, as round as the moon.
He was to place this flour pill at the west side of the house and call out her name. As promised, on the night of full moon, Chang Er flew down to reunite with him once every Mid-Autumn festival. The mooncake tradition then evolved from there.
Zhu Yuan Zhang Mooncake Rebellion (朱元璋与月饼起义 : zhū yuán zhāng yǔ yuè bǐng qǐ yì)
The 2nd tale is set in the late Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1279 – 1368). This is a famous legend about Zhu Yuan Zhang who gathered the masses to rebel against the tyrannical Yuan government. However, the Yuan soldiers conducted stringent checks which made communication among the rebel groups difficult.
Liu Bo Wen, his strategist, then came up with an idea. He instructed the writing of”八月十五夜起义” (Rebellion on the 15th day of the 8th month) on slips of paper which were then stuffed into pastries. These boxes of pastries with the secret message on the date of rebellion were sent to the ally forces without notice from the Yuan soldiers.
On the fateful day (which is set on the Mid-Autumn day), Zhu Yuan Zhang led a successful rebellion and founded the Ming Dynasty. Since then celebrations on the Mid-Autumn Festivals included these moon cake pastries to commemorate the event.
Source: http://ilearn-culture.com/the-origin-and-legends-of-the-mid-autumn-festival/