Mid Autumn Festival Banquet

The **Mid Autumn Festival Banquet** is a yearly event taking place both in the Heavenly Court and the mortal realm. The Heavenly Officials gather to celebrate as they watch mortals for entertainment and also determine the ranking of the most popular Gods among them.

## Drummed Flower Passing

The Drummed Flower Passing is a game of entertainment and the first part of the festival banquet. Thunder would start to roll and Jun Wu would pour a glass of wine, which he then would pass on. The Heavenly Officials would quickly pass the glass further, being able to hand it to anyone except the person who gave it to them.

Once the thunder stops, the person who is holding the glass would drink the wine and a mortal play of them would be shown on the stage. Since mortals make up a lot of stories and legends, nobody knew what would happen on stage, making it both thrilling and embarrassing for Heavenly Officials to play.

Heavenly Officials whose plays were shown during Drummed Flower Passing in the novel:

1. Pei Ming: A love tale between him and Ling Wen where the actors sang flirtacious songs to one another.
2. Shi Wudu: Another love tale, where Shi Qingxuan was written to be Shi Wudu's wife instead of his sibling.
3. Quan Yizhen: A silly, comedic play about him and a two-faced, cunning clown that would backstab him constantly.
4. Xie Lian: A tale called "Adventures in the Kingdom of Banyue", depicting his and Hua Cheng's interactions during that mission.

## Battle of the Lanterns

The Battle of the Lanterns is a traditional part of the festival to see how many Blessings Lanterns of Everlasting Light a God receives from their biggest, most renown temple and thus, determining who the most popular Heavenly Officials are. For centuries, Jun Wu and the Great Martial Palace have always won first place with its number of lanterns steadily increasing each year. Due to this, he was removed from the actual competition.

Although it's technically just a game, many Heavenly Officials are eager to win and take the Battle of the Lanterns very seriously. The worshipers of Mu Qing and Feng Xin share a rivalry just like the gods themselves and actively try to beat each other every year.

The results of the Battle of the Lanterns that takes place in the novel are as follows:

## Trivia

* The Mid-Autumn Festival, also called Moon Festival, is a real traditional festival celebrated by East and Southeast Asia. It takes place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the traditional Chinese calendar with a full moon at night. Like in the novel, lanterns are a traditional part of the celebration.
* The Heavenly Officials dress themselves like their divine statues in the mortal realm for this event.
* During the Drummed Flower Passing, Heavenly Officials can call for the play to be stopped if they donate one hundred thousand merits.
* The mortals do not know they're being watched when the plays happen, unable to see and hear the Heavenly Officials while they're on stage.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 89: The Mid Autumn Festival; Battling Lanterns on Moon Watch Eve
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 90: The Mid Autumn Festival; Battling Lanterns on Moon Watch Eve II
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 91: Temple of a Thousand Lights Endlessly Illuminating the Lingering Nights
4. ↑ 中秋节 Mid-Autumn Festival