Moon cakes were originally used as sacrifices to the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded the Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion. Moon cakes symbolize a happy reunion. People regard them as holiday food, and use them to worship the moon and give them to relatives and friends.

Up to now, eating moon cakes has become a necessary custom for Mid-Autumn Festival in northern and southern parts of China. On this day, people eat moon cakes to show "reunion".

Extended data

Mooncakes symbolize reunion and should have been recorded in writing since the Ming Dynasty. If we look at the information about moon cakes and Mid-Autumn Festival folklore in the Ming Dynasty, we should be able to see the historical track of the reunion of moon cakes: after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family will sit around and share the moon cakes and fruits (offerings for the moon).

Because the moon cake is also round and shared by the family, it gradually forms the implication that moon cakes represent family reunion. In some parts of Guangdong, there is a custom of Mid-Autumn Festival in Yue Bai, mainly for women and children. There is a common saying that "men don't have a full moon, and women don't sacrifice stoves". Among ethnic minorities, the custom of offering sacrifices to the moon is also popular.

Folk customs in the south of the Yangtze River are also varied during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition to eating moon cakes, Nanjing people must eat osmanthus duck, a famous dish of dancing dragon Jinling. In addition to eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival in Sichuan Province, people also eat cakes, ducks, sesame cakes and honey cakes.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Mid-Autumn Festival

Baidu encyclopedia-moon cake