Eating moon cakes is the traditional custom of Mid Autumn Festival. Do you know what the meaning of eating moon cakes is.
Why eat moon cakes on Mid Autumn Festival
Moon cakes on Mid Autumn Festival mean 'reunion'.
Moon cake, also known as Hu cake, palace cake, moon group, harvest cake, reunion cake, etc., is an ancient offering to worship the moon god in the Mid Autumn Festival. It is said that in ancient China, emperors had the ritual of sacrificing the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. In the folk, every Mid Autumn Festival in August, there is also a custom of worshipping or sacrificing the moon. "The moon is round on August 15, and the moon cakes are sweet in mid autumn". This proverb says that people in urban and rural areas eat moon cakes on the night of Mid Autumn Festival.
The moon cake was originally used as a sacrifice to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually took the Mid Autumn Festival to enjoy the moon and taste the moon cake as a symbol of family reunion. Slowly, the moon cake became an essential gift for the festival.
The origin of moon cake in Mid Autumn Festival
It is said that moon cake eating began in the Yuan Dynasty. In the last year of Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Futong of Yingzhou and the common people of all over the country launched uprisings, which made the court people uneasy and restless. In order to consolidate the reactionary rule, they sent soldiers to suppress the rebel forces and Tartars to control every household. All of them were suffering.
For the Han people, the Yuan Dynasty was actually a foreign nationality, and the Mongols ruled the Han people. Mongolians are nomadic people. After entering the Central Plains, one Mongolian soldier is responsible for the management of 30-50 Han people. And the equivalent of the later governor. They have great privileges and randomness to the Han family under their jurisdiction. For example, in order to prevent the rebellion of the Han people, the Han people should not have weapons, even if the kitchen knife is only available to 10 households, and it must be collected when it is kept and used, and returned when it is used.
The more important privilege is that they have the first night right to the Han people under their jurisdiction. The daughter-in-law of the Han family should break the melon with him before sharing the room with the bridegroom. At ordinary times, they can also rape the daughter-in-law of the Han family. Whether it's a girl's room or a bridal chamber, he can go in and out at will. Whoever wants to sleep with him will sleep with him. He is stubborn.
Later, it became possible to pay him a high price for the doorsill. Who doesn't buy doorsill? If he buys doorsill with money, he will behave a little bit. There is no fixed price for the doorsill. It's as much as he says, and you're not allowed to talk back. In this way, the rich can afford it, and the poor can make it difficult. A threshold can make you bankrupt. I can't afford it. My wife and daughter have to let it go. In the past, those who belittled a woman's immorality or decency always said: 'this is a girl who has no threshold. 'in Lu Xun's novel blessing, the protagonist Xianglin sister-in-law, who married several men, did not pay for a threshold to redeem her sins?
In many places, the system of 'family Tartars' is still practiced, that is, each family is responsible for supporting a Mongolian soldier, that is,' family Tartars', who eat, drink, and sleep in the Han family. Tartars are more noble than their ancestors. They have to eat and use all the good things. If they don't like it, they will either fight or scold you or even kill you. Usually three friends and four friends gather together, or two people whisper in one place. You need to provoke him. He falsely accuses you of trying to rebel, and even your life is gone. So at that time, when it's dark, the lights will blow, and no one dares to wander around, so as not to cause disaster.
Imagine, this tyranny is not a day, two days, or ten and a half months. People have gone through the tyranny. It's like this for years. Who can bear it? Therefore, some of the bloodthirsty men, risking their lives, revolted with Zhu Yuanzhang. However, after all, the management is too strict, the card is too dead, and there are not many rebels, who can't defeat Yuanbing. What should we do? Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Bowen, the military adviser, for advice. Liu Bowen knows how to do it. "People all over the world have a deep hatred for domestic Tartars. If you start together, don't say that there is only one domestic tartar in a family. Even if there are two domestic Tartars, you can kill them all." Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "it's very reasonable, but there are so many people in the country. What's the secret way to tell them that they all start together? In case of any leak of news Liu Bowen twists his beard and says with a smile: 'you don't have to worry. I have a good plan. '
The 14th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, August fifteen two days, shops, small beach, all over the wheat cakes. Some people can't afford it, others give it away. Tartars don't understand, so they ask, 'what is this?' people tell them: 'this is moon cake, the offering for worshiping the moon on August 15. "So they were relieved of their vigilance and stopped questioning. In the evening of Mid Autumn Festival, every family holds mooncakes and fruits to sacrifice the moon. After the ceremony, families gathered around a table to enjoy the moon and drink. Tartars also took advantage of the excitement and got drunk. Finally, break off the moon cakes so that they can be divided and consolidated. There is a piece of tissue paper in each moon cake. The article says: 'please kill your tartar soldiers at midnight tonight. 'the tartar soldiers don't know Chinese. They look blankly and ask,' what is that? 'some say it's cake core, some say it's to wish your family a happy reunion, and some say it's the moon lady who guarantees your safety. They believed it, grinning and giggling with joy. They said, "it's so interesting that you are famous in Chinese!"
As soon as Zishi arrived, some tartar soldiers were drunk, some were asleep, some were still playing. Because of their hatred for Tartars, the whole family was easy to discuss and understood when they squeezed their eyes and touched their elbows. It's not easy for several people to deal with one person. They use their hands to hold their necks and smash their heads with bricks. Everyone works together with one heart and one mind. They only listen to the whoop here. There is a whoop there. They don't use a meal, and the tartar soldiers are all reimbursed.
It was a jubilant night. After finishing the task of killing enemies, all the families went out of their houses and asked each other: 'did your Tartars kill you?' 'killed you?' 'what about your Tartars?' 'that's to say, long ago!' so people beat drums and gongs, and set off firecrackers.
From this beginning, the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid Autumn Festival has been handed down to this day. During the cultural revolution, the name of moon cake was changed to "harvest cake" and "loyalty cake". However, if the masses do not buy this account, it is still called moon cake.