Not only the Han people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, but more than 20 ethnic minorities, including the Dong, Miao, She, Zhuang, Dai, Li, Manchu, Korean and Gaoshan people, also celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Zhuang people are accustomed to worshiping the moon with rice cakes on their bamboo raft houses in the river. Girls put lanterns on the water to measure their happiness in life, and sing the beautiful folk song "Invite the Moon Girl".
The She people sing with guests. Every year on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the She people regard this day as a good day to visit relatives and friends, and singing with guests is a unique custom of the She people. During the Mid-Autumn Song Festival, not only do you have to sing with guests, but you also have to go to the county town to sing duets. When singing in antiphonal style, men and women stand on separate sides, and women especially like to squeeze together. Women who do not participate in singing also have to squeeze together with the singers to build momentum.
The Korean people "explore the moon". The Korean people use wooden poles and pine branches to build a "moon-watching frame". They first invite the elderly to go up to explore the moon, then light the moon-watching frame, beat long drums, play the hole flute, and dance together "Farmhouse Music and Dance".
The Li people call the Mid-Autumn Festival the "August Meeting" or the "Tiaosheng Festival". At that time, singing and dancing gatherings will be held in each market town, and each village will be led by a "tiaoshengtou" (i.e. the leader) of young men and women to participate. After everyone arrived, everyone gave each other moon cakes, fragrant cakes, colorful fans and vests, and gathered in groups. At night, they gather around the fire, roast game, drink rice wine, and engage in grand antiphonal songs. Unmarried young people take the opportunity to find their future partners.
The Miao people "dance to the moon" every Mid-Autumn Festival night, the bright moonlight shines all over the Miao village. After the Miao men and women reunite with their families, they go to the clearings of the mountains and forests to sing and dance and hold the "moon dance" activity. .
In the ancient legend of the Miao people, the moon is a loyal, honest, hard-working and brave young man. There was a young and beautiful girl named Shui Qing. She rejected ninety-nine young men from ninety-nine prefectures who proposed to her and fell deeply in love with the moon. In the end, she also experienced all kinds of hardships caused by the sun, and finally combined happily with the moon.
To commemorate their happy love, the Miao elders will bathe in the light of the moon and dance Miao songs and dances on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival for generations, and call this custom "moon dancing". . In the "moon dance", young men and women look for each other's sweethearts and express their love for each other, saying that they want to be as clear as the water and the moon, with a pure and bright heart, and a happy marriage forever. Every Mid-Autumn Festival night, the Miao people bathe in the wisps of moonlight, play the melodious Lusheng, and dance Miao songs and dances. Young people find each other's loved ones in the "Moon Festival" activity, and express their feelings to each other like the moon and clear water. Pure and bright, lasting for hundreds of years.
Gaoshan people’s “Ball Dance” Taiwan’s Gaoshan people wear beautiful national costumes every Mid-Autumn Festival night and gather at the edge of the Sun Moon Lake. Under the silvery moonlight, men and women, Play the game of "ball dance".
According to legend, in ancient times, there was a young couple by the Daqing River. The man was named Brother Dajian and the woman was called Sister Shuihua. They made a living by fishing. One day, the sun and moon suddenly disappeared. The sky was dark and the earth was dark. The seedlings withered, the flowers and fruits did not grow, and the insects and birds cried. Dajian and Shuihua decided to get the sun and moon back. Under the guidance of the white-haired old woman, they used a golden ax to kill the male dragon that swallowed the sun in the deep pool; they also used golden scissors to kill the female dragon that swallowed the moon. They also took large palm branches to hold the sun and moon up into the sky. In order to conquer the evil dragon, they always stayed by the pool and turned into two mountains, Dajian and Shuihua. This big pool, people call it "Sun Moon Lake".
So, every Mid-Autumn Festival, the Gaoshan compatriots miss the dedication of Dajian and Shuihua, and they go to the Sun Moon Lake to imitate the colorful balls that the couple held up to the sun and moon, preventing the balls from falling to the ground. I pray that the sun and moon will be bright, the weather will be smooth, and the grain will be plentiful.
Mongolian “Chasing the Moon” On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mongolians love to play the game of “Chasing the Moon”. People mounted their horses and galloped on the grassland under the silvery moonlight. They galloped toward the west, and the moon rose from the east and set in the west. The persistent Mongolian rider will not stop "chasing the moon" until the moon sets in the west.
Tibetans "Looking for the Moon" The custom of Tibetan compatriots in some areas of Tibet to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival is "Looking for the Moon". That night, young men and women and children walked along the river, followed the bright moon reflected in the water, and reflected the moon shadow in the surrounding river ponds, and then went home to reunite and eat moon cakes.
The Hezhen people "sacrifice the moon" In the Hezhe people's settlements in northeastern my country, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, people gather grapes and worship the moon. According to legend, it is to commemorate a smart and hard-working daughter-in-law of the Hezhe ethnic group. She couldn't stand her mother-in-law's abuse and ran to the river to ask the moon for help. Finally I ran to the moon.
The Ewenki people's "Moon Offering" The Ewenki compatriots celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with family gatherings and making offerings to the moon as the main content. During the festival, we also visit relatives and friends and entertain each other. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people gather around the bonfire, singing and dancing until late at night.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Lusheng singing and dancing troupes from each village walked in the moonlight to the nearby village, where they gathered with the villagers to admire the moon, compete in singing and dancing, and rejoice all night long.
The De'ang people "cross the moon". The young men and women of the De'ang people in Luxi, Yunnan, during the Mid-Autumn Festival when the moon is high and particularly bright, from time to time at the top of the mountain, a melodious sound of gourds and shengs can be heard. Young people expressed their true feelings together by "stringing the moon" together. Some people also make engagements by sending banquets and tea through "Moon Moon".
The Dai people of Yunnan "worship the moon" have a popular custom of "worshiping the moon" on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
According to Dai legend, the moon was transformed by Yan Jian, the third son of the emperor. Yanjian is a brave and strong young man. He once led the Dai people to defeat the enemy and won the love of the Dai folks. Later, after his unfortunate death, he turned into the moon and rose into the sky, continuing to emit soft moonlight and bring light to the Dai people in the darkness.
Every Mid-Autumn Festival, young men take their gunpowder guns and go up the mountain to shoot finches and pheasants early in the morning to hunt for festive game. Girls and wives are busy catching fish in lakes and ponds. They were all busy preparing the festive dinner. The old lady was busy pounding glutinous rice and making food of different sizes. She placed a round glutinous rice cake on each of the four table corners, and put a stick of cold incense on each cake. As soon as the moon rises over the mountains and forests, cold incense is lit, and the whole family begins to "worship the moon." Then, gunpowder guns were fired into the air to show respect for the hero Yanjian. Finally, the whole family sat happily around the small square table, tasting food, talking and laughing, admiring the moon, and then left happily.
The Dong people of Guangxi celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival by walking on the moon. When the moon rises, the well-prepared Lusheng Song and Dance Troupe walks under the moonlight to a nearby village to compete in singing and dancing. The music is deafening, the dances are dancing, and the happy crowd is immersed in the watery moonlight.
The Dong people in Hunan steal moon vegetables. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Dong Township, Hunan, an interesting custom of "stealing moon vegetables" is popular.
According to legend, in ancient times, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fairies in the Moon Palace would descend to the lower world and spread nectar all over the world. The fairy's nectar is selfless, so people can enjoy the fruits and vegetables sprinkled with nectar together that night. The Dong family named this custom "stealing moon vegetables".
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dong girls hold flower umbrellas and choose the gardens of their beloved children to pick vegetables without being regarded as "stealing". They even shouted loudly and intentionally: "Hey! I've ripped off your vegetables. Come to my house to eat oil tea!" It turned out that they were using the Fairy of the Moon Palace to pass on the red thread. If they can pick a melon with parallel stems, it means they will have a happy love. Therefore, beans growing in pairs became their picking targets. The sisters-in-law also went to other gardens to "steal moon vegetables" that night. However, they hoped to pick the fattest melon or a handful of fresh and green edamame, because this symbolizes the child's fatness and hairiness. health (the homophone of edamame refers to children). Young men also have the custom of "stealing moon vegetables" because they also hope that the Moon Palace Fairy will give them happiness. However, they could only cook and eat it in the wild and could not take it home. "Stealing moon vegetables" adds infinite joy and magic to the Mid-Autumn Festival night in Dong Village.
The Zhuang people worship the moon with rice cakes and "sacrifice the moon" during the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, with the changes in historical environment and the evolution of cultural customs, this ritual has gradually faded out of people's sight, but it has been retained by the Zhuang people. this ancient tradition. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Zhuang people set up a table in the open air at the beginning and end of the village to place sacrifices and incense burners. On the right side of the table, there is a tree branch or bamboo branch about one foot high, which symbolizes the social tree and also serves as the ladder for the moon god to descend to earth and ascend to heaven. , the ancient moon myth factors are preserved here. The entire activity is divided into four stages: inviting the Moon God to come down to earth, with one or two women acting as the Moon God's spokesperson; antiphonal singing between gods and men; fortune-telling by the Moon God; and singers singing songs to send the Moon God back to heaven.
The Buyi people steal old melons and cook glutinous rice. The Buyi people have the custom of stealing old melons and cooking glutinous rice on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. They wrapped the stolen old melons in red cloth and fired firecrackers all the way to homes where children were missing. The owner of this house wants to treat them to a night of wine and dinner, as it is said that this will bring children to the family. The people who had the melons stolen would not blame the person who stole the melons, but thought that this would bring them a better harvest.
The Gelao people worship their ancestors on Mid-Autumn Festival night. The Gelao people call the Mid-Autumn Festival the "August Festival". On the first day of the festival, all the people, old and young, wear new clothes and gather on the ground of the village. A few young people brought an ox with a big red flower on its head, and the "tribe elder", the longest in the village, began to pray for a good harvest; the band played the "Eight Immortals" song, and at the same time fired powder guns and set off firecrackers. Then the cow is killed and its heart is cut off, giving each household a portion to express the unity of the whole family. Later, the "tribe elder" led the crowd to hold three animals, namely piglets, chickens and geese, to offer sacrifices under the Bodhisattva tree. After the ceremony, the whole family gathered together for a meal until dark. The next day, after each household holds a family banquet, the women take their children back to their parents' homes to give gifts; the men go around the streets to meet friends, sing and chat. It is said that the singing and dancing activities of young men and women continued until the last day of the festival.
The Tu people hit the moon. In the original religious beliefs of the Tu people, the relationship between human beings and the moon is inseparable. The Tu people call the moon and the sun "the two auspicious things of the sun and the moon" and believe that both are part of the sky. It can be seen that , the Tu people have deep religious feelings towards the moon.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, every family puts a basin of water in their yard. When the reflection of the full moon appears in the basin, people keep hitting it with pebbles until the full moon is shattered. "Body without skin".
Special customs of the Achang people The Achang people in Lianghe County, Yunnan Province never forget to feed their dogs every Mid-Autumn Festival.
It is said that in the past, rice grew on its own and was as tall as a banana tree. Therefore, people developed the habit of eating and being lazy, and spoiled all the rice they could not finish. One day, when Lady Guanyin saw how little people valued food, she became angry and blew up a strong wind, which swept away all the grain.
Soon, people howled with hunger one by one. When Guanyin heard the dog barking, he thought that it was a human being who was doing the evil, not a dog, so he dropped handfuls of grains toward the place where the dog barked. The people drove the dogs away to grab the grain seeds to eat. An old man dissuaded everyone and sowed the few grains of grain he picked up in the fields by the river. From generation to generation, people not only learned to plant grains, but also learned that life depends on hard work. In order not to forget the lessons of the past, and to repay the kindness of dogs for bringing in grain seeds, on the morning of August 15th, every household would cook and feed the dogs with the newly harvested rice, and then visit relatives and friends and gather for entertainment.
The Axi people "dance over the moon" The traditional custom of the Axi people during the Mid-Autumn Festival is to "dance over the moon". On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people from various villages gathered in the open space in the mountain village. Girls in veils danced, and young men with big sanxian on their shoulders danced. However, what is particularly sultry is the antiphonal song in which young men and women express their love, as if the moon is also moved by it.
Folklore experts said that although the Mid-Autumn Festival customs of various ethnic groups are many and the forms are different, they all entrust people with infinite love and yearning for life. They all have "May people live long and live thousands of miles*" **Chanjuan's beautiful wishes.
(China Ethnic and Religious Network Comprehensive)