Dreaming of the moon in Chinese dream interpretation: meaning
In the Chinese tradition the full moon is above all an image of reunion. Round shapes stand for wholeness, and a bright moon in a dream is often read warmly, as longing for or being together with the people you love.
Within this tradition
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, when the moon is said to be at her fullest and brightest. Families gather, eat mooncakes and look at the moon. The key word is tuanyuan: being round and being reunited at once. A full moon in a dream is therefore often read in that direction: a family coming together again, a relationship becoming whole, or the longing for it.
Chinese poetry has captured that longing. In Li Bai's famous poem the moonlight falls before his bed, so white that he takes it for frost on the ground; he raises his head towards the bright moon and then bows it, thinking of home. Su Shi wrote at the Mid-Autumn Festival of 1076 that people know sorrow and joy, parting and meeting again, just as the moon is dark and bright, waxing and waning. He wished that those far apart might still share the same lovely moon. Anyone who dreams of the moon far from home often dreams in that tradition.
In thinking in terms of yin and yang the moon belongs to yin: the cool, receptive and nocturnal, set against the sun as yang. A moon dream can thus be about rest, about the inner life, or about a woman in your life. Popular dream books in the line of the Zhou Gong Jie Meng, which differ from one edition to the next, often read seeing the sun or the moon as honour or a favourable turn. There are also old stories of mothers who dreamt that the moon entered their bosom before they had a child.
Of the moon itself there is the legend of Chang'e, who took the elixir of life and rose to the moon, where she lives with the jade rabbit pounding medicine. The story has many versions, but it always holds something lonely and something beautiful. A dream of a woman or a hare on the moon is often linked with longing and homesickness.
Finally, folk speech knows the monkeys who try to fish the moon out of the well. They see her reflection in the water and think the moon has fallen in. The phrase stands for going to great trouble for something that is not really there. A dream in which you try to take the moon out of the water can thus be a gentle question: are you chasing a reflection?
Common variations
A round, bright full moon
Reunion and wholeness, as at the Mid-Autumn Festival. Often a warm image of family or of someone you miss.
Looking at the moon far from home
A dream full of homesickness, in the spirit of Li Bai and Su Shi: whoever is far away looks at the same moon.
Trying to fish the moon out of the water
Recalls the monkeys at the well: you are working hard for something that may only be a reflection.
A hare or a woman on the moon
Calls up Chang'e and the jade rabbit and is often about longing, beauty and a touch of loneliness.
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Write your dream in the appFrequently asked questions
What does a full moon mean in Chinese dream interpretation?
Above all reunion and completeness. The round moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival stands for a family that is together.
Is the moon yin?
Yes, in yin and yang thinking the moon belongs to yin and the sun to yang. A moon dream is therefore often about rest, the inner life or receptiveness.