The Mid Autumn Festival is a traditional festival in China, also known as the mid autumn reunion festival. On this day, people have other celebrations besides enjoying the moon and eating moon cakes. It is very lively! Do you know the origin of the Mid Autumn Festival? What are the customs of the Mid Autumn Festival? Let's have a look
The origin of the Mid Autumn Festival
The Mid Autumn Festival has a long history. Like other traditional festivals, it is also slowly developed and formed. Ancient emperors had the ritual system of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. As early as Zhou Li, the word 'mid autumn' has been recorded. Later, nobles and scholars of letters followed suit. In the Mid Autumn Festival, they looked at the bright and round moon in the sky, watched and worshipped and reposed their feelings. This custom spread to the people and formed a traditional activity. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that people paid more attention to the custom of sacrificing the moon that the mid autumn festival became a fixed festival. The book of Tang & middot; Taizong records the 'mid autumn festival on August 15'. This festival prevailed in the Song Dynasty. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was as famous as new year's day and became one of the main festivals in China.
Legend of the Mid Autumn Festival
The legends of the Mid Autumn Festival are very rich. Fairy tales such as Chang'e running to the moon, Wu Gang cutting GUI and Jade Rabbit pounding medicine spread widely. China is geographically vast, with a large population and different customs. The Mid Autumn Festival is also a variety of ways, with strong local characteristics. In Pucheng, Fujian, women have to cross Nanpu Bridge during the Mid Autumn Festival in order to live a long life. In Jianning, hanging lanterns on the night of the Mid Autumn Festival is an auspicious omen to ask for a son from the Moon Palace. Shanghang county people celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival. Most of their children invite Yuegu when they worship the moon. When Longyan people eat moon cakes, their parents will dig out round cakes with a diameter of two or three inches in the center for their elders to eat, which means that the secret can't be known to the younger generation. This custom stems from the legend that the moon cake contains the message of anti yuan killing the enemy. Before the Mid Autumn Festival in Kinmen, we should worship the God first.
The custom of Mid Autumn Festival
The customs of the Mid Autumn Festival have nothing in common: sacrificing the moon, appreciating the moon, watching lanterns and eating moon cakes. In addition, there are also folk worship of the moon, moonlight horses, rabbit God, Mid Autumn Festival banquet customs, fire dragon dance, burning pagoda lights, stealing vegetables and asking Lang, stealing melons and praying for children, Mid Autumn Festival Bo cake, sacrificing the moon and burning incense bucket, begging the moon to shine on the moon, climbing the moon, walking the three bridges of the moon, etc.
1. Enjoy the moon
In terms of season, Chinese seed is the 'Autumn Harvest Festival', and the grain sown in spring and summer should be harvested in autumn. Since ancient times, people have drunk and danced in this season to celebrate the harvest, which is described in the book of songs, the earliest collection of poetry in China. From the origin, the Mid Autumn Festival is also a 'Moon Festival', which originates from the ancient human worship of nature. In the ritual system of ancient emperors, there were two spring and autumn sacrifices: Spring sacrifice to the day and autumn sacrifice to the moon. At first, the day of sacrificing the moon was on the 'autumnal equinox', which is different every year in August. Therefore, there is not necessarily a moon on the autumnal equinox. Sacrificing the moon without the moon is a great evil. It is gradually established by convention. The day of sacrificing the moon is fixed on August 15. According to scientific observation, the inclination between the earth and the sun increases in autumn, and the warm and humid air over the earth in China gradually subsides. At this time, the northwest wind is still very weak. In this way, the moisture has gone, the dust has not risen, the air is particularly fresh, the sky is particularly clean, and the moon looks round and big. It is the best time to enjoy the moon. Just as the ancient poem said: 'bright, ancient and modern, but appreciating the mid autumn moon and thinking about whether it is a different moon? All because the air in the sky is clear on earth. "
2. Eat moon cakes
It is said that during the Yuan Dynasty, the people in the central plains were unwilling to be subjected to the cruel rule of the Mongols and revolted against the Yuan Dynasty one after another. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to unite the resistance forces, but the officers and soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty searched closely and were unable to pass on the news. So Liu Bowen came up with a plan and ordered Wang Zhaoguang to make cakes and hide a note saying "August 15 night uprising" in the cakes. Then send people separately to the local rebel forces to inform them to respond to the uprising on the evening of August 15. Therefore, the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown in one fell swoop. In order to commemorate this achievement, the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid Autumn Festival was passed down. Especially in Northeast China, there is a saying that "kill Dazi on August 15". No matter where the moon cake comes from, it has become the wish of people all over the world to symbolize people's reunion with the circle of the moon, and to symbolize people's constant life with the circle of the cake. It has become the wish of people all over the world to use the moon cake to repose the feeling of missing their hometown and relatives, and pray for harvest and happiness.