August 15th of the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival. On this night, people like to sit together and chat, enjoy the moon and eat moon cakes. Do you know why you eat moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival? ?

Or the rulers at the end of the Yuan Dynasty practiced the brutal rule of "three families and one yuan, five families and one dish". Liu Bowen organized a peasant uprising, specially made a big round cake, and there was a hidden note in it, which stipulated the August 15th uprising. As a result, the uprising succeeded, overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty. Since then, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival has become more popular. ?

The traditional Mid-Autumn Festival is a reunion festival, so there are some poems in ancient poetry, such as "I miss my relatives twice during the festival and miss someone every time", that is, by the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone is more looking forward to reunion. If someone in the family can go home for reunion overseas or in other places, it will increase the sense of missing, which is the characteristic of China taking the family as the social unit, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is the concentrated expression of this characteristic. ?

China has been founded by agriculture for generations, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is just the spring and autumn season, with a bumper harvest in agriculture. Therefore, there is a custom to worship "taro kui" in rural areas, that is, eating sweet potatoes and taro in the Mid-Autumn Festival. These two root crops are big and round, symbolizing bumper harvest and fullness. Moreover, giving moon cakes between relatives and friends is also a symbol of perfection and reunion. ?

Moon cakes in Song Dynasty are called "Lotus Leaf", "Golden Flower" and "Hibiscus Flower", and the making method is more clear. Su Dongpo, a poet, has a poem praising: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp and stuffing." Potato chips are fried potato chips, and the stuffing is sugar. It tastes sweet, crisp, fragrant and beautiful. After the Song Dynasty, making moon cakes not only pays attention to the taste, but also designs various patterns related to the legend of the Moon Palace on the cake surface. At first, the pattern on the surface of the cake was probably drawn on paper and then pasted on the surface of the cake. Later, I simply pressed it on the moon cake with a dough mold. ?

The moon cake in the shape of a full moon symbolizes a happy reunion, just like the full moon on the 15th National Day. People regard it as holiday food, and use it to worship the moon and give it to relatives and friends. This is undoubtedly a reflection of the national psychology of the Han nationality. ?

It is said that during the Wude period in Tang Gaozu, the border guards invaded this territory. Commander-in-chief Li Jing went to war and won a great victory. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people celebrated all night inside and outside Chang 'an. Sometimes, Tubo people will present cakes to celebrate their victory. Gaozu took out the round cake, pointed and said with a smile, "You want to invite toad with Hu cake." Later, it was given to ministers, so the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival was formed. Second, during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty, people climbed the stairs to see the bright moon quickly, and then held the Yue Bai ceremony. There are round cakes as sacrifices. According to "Mooncakes at the Age of Yanjing", "Mooncakes are everywhere, and the largest one is more than a foot long. The moon palace is painted with the shape of a toad, and some people eat it after the sacrifice". This is the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival in Song Dynasty. ? Tang Xizong eats moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival. They are very delicious. And when he heard that the newcomer Qujiang held a wedding banquet, he ordered the chef to wrap the moon cakes from HongLing and give them to the newcomer. This is the earliest record of moon cakes we can see. ?

In short, the custom of reunion, moon viewing and eating moon cakes has a long history. After several generations of inheritance, new contents are constantly added to enrich this traditional festival with national characteristics, which is still popular today. ?