The Mid-Autumn Festival is scheduled for July 15th of the lunar calendar, commonly known as July 30th. Legend has it that all the ghosts were released to the underworld on that day, and people usually carry out activities to sacrifice ghosts. Where there is a new funeral, people will go to new graves, but generally speaking, ghosts and ghosts will sacrifice locally. Therefore, as a whole, it is a festival centered on the worship of ghosts and gods, and it is the largest folk ghost festival in China.
It was a small autumn before July, and a batch of crops were ripe. As a rule, people should worship their ancestors, offer sacrifices, such as new rice, and report Qiu Cheng to their ancestors. Song Mengyuan's "Dream of China in Tokyo" said in Volume 1: The day before Yuan Zhong, when I was enjoying the sacrifice, I bought exercise leaves (leaves of a fragrant plant) to line the table, and I also bought a nest of hemp seeds and tied them at the foot of the table, which was the mind of my ancestor Qiu Cheng. China people who pay attention to filial piety should report to their ancestors and ask them to taste new things, so they make sacrifices to their ancestors in July. Taoism in the Eastern Han Dynasty set up three sessions and five cloudy days, among which July 7th was Delu, which was also the day when regular Taoist priests came to the hospital for examinations. The main content of May Day is to offer sacrifices to ancestors. The date of ancestor worship in July was later fixed on this day, and Taoism set the birthday of local officials in the Central Plains and the corresponding date of sacrifice on July 15.
Taoist Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a religious festival in Taoism, but also a folk festival. At the beginning of Taoism, there were three officials worshipping. The orthodox school believed in the three officials of heaven, earth and water, and was later called the Three Officials Emperor. They each have their own responsibilities. Celestial officials bless Shangyuan, local officials forgive the sins of the Central Plains, and water officials call Xia Yuan Jieyi. The Taoist book says that in these three days, the three officials should correct the crimes committed on earth in order to decide rewards and punishments. Among them, the local officials are in charge of the underworld, and of course the focus of the inspection is on ghosts. So on this day, all ghosts will leave the underworld and be examined. On this day, Doumen held a routine ceremony to celebrate the birthday of local officials. At the same time, believers also funded fasting, prayed for the blessing of their ancestors, and asked local officials to forgive their sins and ascend to heaven as soon as possible. This is the main reason why Mid-Autumn Festival has become a folk festival.