Customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival - Moon Appreciation
Our country has had the custom of appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival since ancient times. "Book of Rites" records "Autumn Twilight and Xiyue", and the Xiyue month means worshiping the moon god. People place moon cakes, watermelons, apples, plums, grapes and other seasonal fruits on the large incense table, and begin to worship when the moon reaches mid-air. In the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular.
In the Song Dynasty, the custom of admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival became even more popular. "Tokyo Menghualu" records: "On the Mid-Autumn Festival night, noble families decorate their pavilions, and people compete for restaurants to enjoy the moon." All shops and restaurants in the capital will redecorate their facades on this day, tie silk and hang colors on the archways, and sell fresh The night market is bustling with delicious fruits and refined foods, and most people go to the balcony. Some wealthy families enjoy the moon on their terraces and pavilions, place food or arrange family banquets, reunite their children, and talk to each other while watching the moon.
Mid-Autumn Festival custom-eating moon cakes
Eating moon cakes is a custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is full of crisp autumn air, the moon is the roundest, and the whole family is reunited - "the full moon of a person". It is this desire of people to reunite that formed the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. "The Scenery of the Imperial Capital" records: "On August 15th, the cake will be round... If the wife returns to peace, she will return to her husband's house on that day, which is the Reunion Festival." Tian Rucheng of the Ming Dynasty wrote in his "West Lake Tour Notes" Zhong directly links the Mid-Autumn Festival with moon cakes: "The fifteenth day of August is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people use moon cakes as gifts (gifts) to symbolize reunion." Moon cakes symbolize reunion and are a must-eat during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Who invented the Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes? Ancient Chinese emperors had a ritual system of worshiping the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in August among the people, there is also the custom of worshiping the moon. Moon cakes are offerings to worship the moon god during the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times. According to historical records, as early as the Yin and Zhou Dynasties 3,000 years ago, there was a "Taishi Cake" in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas to commemorate Taishi Wen Zhong. This is the "ancestor" of our country's mooncakes. After Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty went to the Western Regions, he introduced sesame seeds and walnuts, and added auxiliary materials for the production of moon cakes. At this time, round cakes filled with walnut (walnut) kernels appeared, called "Hu cakes". In the Tang Dynasty, there were already private bakers engaged in production, and bakery shops began to appear in Chang'an, the capital. It is said that one year on the night of the bright moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, when Emperor Tang Ming and Concubine Yang were admiring the moon and eating Hu cakes, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty thought the name "Hu cakes" was unpleasant. Concubine Yang looked up at the bright moon, her heart was surging, and she blurted out: "Moon cakes." From then on, The name "moon cake" gradually spread.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the royal family of the Northern Song Dynasty liked to eat a kind of "palace cake", which is commonly known as "small cake" and "moon cake" among the people. Su Dongpo, a poet of the Song Dynasty, wrote: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispy and glutinous rice in them." (Suzhou refers to butter, and glutinous rice refers to malt sugar), which shows that the production of mooncakes at that time was more sophisticated, with a sweet and crisp taste, delicious and delicious. During the Yuan Dynasty, ethnic conflicts intensified unprecedentedly. According to folklore, in order to consolidate its dominance, the imperial court at the end of the Yuan Dynasty prohibited private possession of iron weapons and stipulated that ten households should share a kitchen knife. Zhang Shicheng, a man from Gaoyou, secretly connected with each other and put a small note in the mooncake, agreeing on the time of the uprising: "August 15th to kill." Yuan soldiers, every household took action." They sent people to secretly pass it around, thus deceiving the searching Yuan army, and the uprising succeeded, and later the Yuan Dynasty was finally overthrown.
The small mooncakes also record the glorious history of the ancient people's struggle against national oppression. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival was widely spread among the people. Yang Guangfu, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, wrote: "Mooncakes are filled with peach and meat fillings, and ice cream is sweet with cane sugar frosting." It can be seen that mooncakes at this time are quite similar to today. The mooncakes have been renovated, the varieties have increased, and the quality has been greatly improved. During the Republic of China, Cantonese-style mooncakes were the most famous. According to the 32nd issue of the "Folklore" weekly published in 1927, more than 80 kinds of mooncakes are on display during the Mid-Autumn Festival, most of which are Cantonese style. The extremely precious ones include Tang Huang Yan Yue, Seven Stars Accompanying the Moon, and Xi Shi Su Yue.
Mooncakes have developed to this day, with more varieties and different flavors depending on the place. It has bid farewell to the single function of Mid-Autumn Festival food and has gradually evolved into delicious pastries that can be eaten in all seasons. Among them, Beijing-style, Soviet-style, Cantonese-style, Ning-style, Chaozhou-style mooncakes are widely loved by people from all over the world. In recent years, the media has continuously disclosed that some mooncake manufacturers have specially produced a batch of unique "super mooncakes" and "sky-priced mooncakes" with extremely exquisite packaging and price tags ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan. This is not tasting mooncakes, but eating "style". The inherent cultural meaning of mooncakes has been distorted and alienated, turning it into a deformed form of consumption, which is very abnormal.
Since ancient times, people have regarded mooncakes as a symbol of good luck and reunion. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, when the bright moon is in the sky, families gather together, enjoy cakes and admire the moon, and enjoy family happiness.
Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, small cakes, moon cakes, and reunion cakes, are offerings to worship the moon god during the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times. The custom of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival has been passed down. The legend of mooncakes originated in the early Tang Dynasty. When Li Yuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival with his ministers, he happily held the ornately decorated round cakes presented by Tufan merchants, pointed at the bright full moon in the sky, and laughed loudly: "I should give you the round cakes on credit." Distribute the round cakes to the officials and celebrate together.
Mooncakes were called round cakes in the Tang Dynasty, and records of mooncakes appeared in Zhou Mi’s "Old Wulin Stories" and Wu Zimu's "Mengliang Lu" in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, it was very common to eat mooncakes on the fifteenth day of the lunar month, and there were superb techniques for making mooncakes. The variety and quality of mooncakes in the Qing Dynasty have undergone new developments. They have good fillings, fresh taste and beautiful shapes. The cakes are printed with "Chang'e Flying to the Moon", "Three Pools Reflecting the Moon" and patterns of fortune, wealth, longevity and happiness. Nowadays, different styles of varieties are formed across the country due to differences in regions and differences in materials, seasonings and shapes.
The main varieties include Beijing style, Soviet style, Cantonese style, Chaozhou style and Yunnan style. There are many kinds of fillings, sweet, salty, meat and vegetarian, each with its own characteristics, with good color, flavor and flavor.
Mid-Autumn Festival Custom - Beating Rice Cake
Similar to eating moon cakes, beating Rice Cake is also a Mid-Autumn Festival custom.
Mooncakes are round, symbolizing reunion; glutinous rice cakes are also round, symbolizing reunion and reunion. Because they are made of extremely sticky glutinous rice, they symbolize sticking everyone together and never being separated. Moon cakes are great gifts, and glutinous rice cakes are also great gifts.
The difference is that the scope of eating mooncakes is nationwide, while the custom of making glutinous rice cakes is mainly distributed in the rice-growing areas of the Yangtze River Basin, especially in Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, and Hunan. There is a folk proverb that says: "If you don't beat glutinous rice cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, your mother-in-law and children will not go home." ("Wulong County Chronicles") Beating glutinous rice cakes means pounding and pounding glutinous rice cakes, and its production is not complicated. According to the "Dianjiang County Chronicle": On the Mid-Autumn Festival, "every household steams the glutinous rice in the morning, then uses wooden sticks to pound it in the nest to make glutinous rice cake, mix it with sugar or soybean pasta." The specific procedure is: soaking Glutinous rice - steamed glutinous rice - poured into a stone pestle and pounded into fine pieces - rolled into glutinous rice cake (topped with fried soybean flour).
Baking glutinous rice cakes is the climax of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Often the festive delicacies and wine are put on the table, just waiting for the last glutinous rice cake meal. While the whole family was gathered around the Shizui nest to "watch the fun", the elder sister-in-law brought over the steamed hot glutinous rice and poured it into the Shizui. Going forward, he beat the glutinous rice cakes rhythmically, pounding, pounding, kneading and pulling, from dozens to hundreds of times. He couldn't help but hum the chant of "Hey! Hey!". For a moment, the strong man shouted Even though he was dripping with sweat, the bystanders continued to encourage him and sometimes even hit him a few times. With the enthusiastic care of the whole family, the glutinous rice cakes were finally put on the table and the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion dinner was served. In the rural area of ??Fuling in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, nursery rhymes like this are sung:
The crow's tail is spread out, and it means it is happy to arrive at the owner's house; rice is soaked in brown sugar (popcorn), and glutinous rice cake is dipped in white sugar.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, the busy autumn harvest season has passed. Every family buys delicious food and wine, makes glutinous rice cakes, pushes tofu puddings, and cooks bacon to celebrate the harvest. After a short rest, the family is reunited, in harmony, chatting and laughing, and having fun. .
When making glutinous rice cakes on August 15th, they must be made with new glutinous rice, which means enjoying the fruits of the harvest. In the past, they could only be eaten after offering sacrifices to the moon and worshiping ancestors, which was called "announcement of autumn". When eating, the elders at the table or the elderly at home must be allowed to taste it first. When a man and woman in rural areas get engaged, the woman's family will make two big glutinous rice cakes. The workmanship is particularly exquisite and two big red characters of "happy" will be pasted on it, which means that the new son-in-law will be firmly bonded and the couple will be a happy couple.
In addition to making glutinous rice cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, rural men and women in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and Wujiang River Basin often also make glutinous rice cakes and send them as gifts when they are engaged or when their children are one month old.
Mid-Autumn Festival Customs-Appreciating Osmanthus
When the Mid-Autumn Moon is full in August, it is the season when the fragrant osmanthus blooms. Therefore, during the Tang and Song Dynasties, in addition to admiring the moon, there was also the Mid-Autumn Festival custom of appreciating osmanthus.
As Han Yangmin said in "Ancient Chinese Festival Customs": "Looking at the moon and looking at the laurel in the moon, admiring the cinnamon in the world, and then thinking about the legend of Wu Gang cutting osmanthus and the osmanthus in the moon falling into the world can inspire people even more. It inspires poets and adds festive flavor."
The ancients have many poems describing the custom of appreciating osmanthus under the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Just as Song Zhiwen (656-712), a poet of the early Tang Dynasty, said, "The osmanthus falls in the sky, and the fragrance of the sky is floating outside" ("Lingyin Temple"); "Wen" ("Brother You Huaihan"). These poems describe the fragrance of osmanthus and the scene of admiring osmanthus under the moon. The poet Li Qiao (644-713) of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Gui":
"It is not planted in the silver palace, but the jade palace is quiet. The branches are full of infinite moon, and the flowers are full of natural autumn."
The swordsman is a horse, and the immortal leaves are a boat. I hope that with your Taoism, you can stay in the water."
This poem describes the swaying appearance of the sweet-scented osmanthus under the moon, and the infinite love for the sweet-scented osmanthus. Affection.
Mid-Autumn Festival Customs - Appreciating Lanterns
In the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a custom of appreciating lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
According to "Old Wulin Stories", during the Mid-Autumn Festival, hundreds of thousands of small sheepskin water lanterns were placed in Zhejiang, floating on the water like stars, attracting people to stop and watch, and became a major attraction at the time. Lanterns are hung high in markets across the country to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Guangzhou and other places have "Mid-Autumn Festival trees" during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Before the festival, each family ties lanterns with bamboo strips and pastes them with colored paper to make product lanterns, bird and animal lanterns, fish and insect lanterns, space lanterns, etc. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the lanterns are hung on Gaohan or planted on the terrace with tile eaves, which is called "Tree Mid-Autumn Festival".
In the South, lanterns are a must on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Lanterns include various types of lanterns, such as wood shaving lanterns, straw lanterns, fish scale lanterns, chaff lanterns, melon seed lanterns and bird, animal, flower and tree lanterns. In Nanning, Guangxi, in addition to various lanterns tied with bamboo paper for JL children to play with, there are also very simple cypress lanterns, pumpkin lanterns, and orange lanterns. The so-called sleeve lamp is to hollow out the sleeves, draw a pattern, put a string on it, and light a candle inside. Pumpkin lanterns and orange lanterns are also made by taking out the flesh. These lamps are simple in appearance and easy to make, and are very popular. With the help of their parents, children in Guangzhou and Hong Kong tie bamboo paper into rabbit lanterns, carambola lanterns or square lanterns, hang them horizontally on short poles, and then put them up on tall poles. The Mid-Autumn Festival brings beautiful scenery.
Mid-Autumn Festival Customs - Respecting the Elderly
"It's the month of the month. It's time to support the elderly. Give them a few sticks and eat rice porridge." Whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, the government will visit the elderly from door to door. They also sent stools and walking sticks, as well as some food. The folk custom of respecting the elderly during the Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history. Married women should go back to their natal homes to visit their parents and give them Mid-Autumn gifts to express their gratitude for their upbringing. The younger generation should give holiday gifts to their elders. While expressing condolences, it also expresses respect.
The Xiaoqiu Festival is also one of the three major festivals (the other two are the Spring Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival) in which people in our country give gifts to each other. The gifts on the Mid-Autumn Festival are mostly moon cakes, glutinous rice cakes, wine, etc. Mid-Autumn Festival banquets vary from place to place. Pond fish must be eaten in Anhui and other places; roast duck or salted duck is a must in other places; Hunan folk say that this day is the birthday of taro, and people like to steam a pot of "steamed taro meat" to make the feast rich. Delicious food. In the evening, the whole family sat around under the moonlight, with a cup of agar liquor and several plates of mooncakes and candies, enjoying the moon, chrysanthemums, and osmanthus, chatting about their daily lives, talking about knowledge of the moon and celestial bodies, aerospace news, Mid-Autumn Festival customs, and ancient myths. Stories have become a new fashion for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival today.
The custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival - Fire Dragon Dance
The Fire Dragon Dance is a custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong. In the Tai Hang area of ??Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, it starts from the 14th night of the eighth lunar month and continues for three nights. A grand fire dragon dance event will be held. The fire dragon is more than 70 meters long, with a 32-section dragon body made of pearl grass and filled with longevity incense. On the night of the grand event, the streets and alleys were filled with winding and undulating fire dragons dancing joyfully amidst lights and dragon drum music, creating a bustling atmosphere.
Mid-Autumn Festival custom - reunion radish
In Chang'an, Shaanxi, every family makes reunion radish during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The mold has two layers, top and bottom, with sesame seeds sandwiched in between. On the upper level, a big old bowl is used to draw a circle, symbolizing the moon. A "stone" is carved in the center of the circle, and a naughty "little monkey" stands on the "stone" and eats "flat peaches". Prick various flower shapes around the moon with thimbles and large needles, then heat them in a pot. When eating, cut it into the shape of many fangs, and give one tooth to each member of the family. If someone is away for a short time, you can keep it; if the girl is married, someone should send it to you.
Mid-Autumn Festival Customs-Rabbit
Playing with Rabbit is a Mid-Autumn Festival custom in northern China. Lord Rabbit is popular in Beijing and Tianjin areas, also known as "Colorful Rabbit". Fucha Dunchong of the Qing Dynasty said in "The Rabbit Lord's Stall" in "The Years of Yanjing": "Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the clever people in the city make statues of toads and rabbits out of loess for sale, which are called Lord Rabbit. Those who have clothes and hats and covers. There are those with armored stomachs and stupid flags, some are riding tigers, and some are sitting silently. The big one is three feet, and the small one is more than one foot. "People take toads and jade rabbits in the middle of the moon to worship them to pray for good luck in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Pan Rongbi of the Qing Dynasty recorded in "Historical Records of the Imperial Capital's Years": "The capital made white jade rabbits out of yellow sand and decorated them with colorful makeup in various shapes. They gathered in the sky streets under the moon and moved around the market." Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, Many vendors on the street sell rabbit rabbits. Residents rushed to buy them and put them in their houses or worship them on moon festival tables.
Customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival - Burning Towers
"China National Customs" records: Jiangxi "On Mid-Autumn Night, ordinary children pick up tiles in the wild and burn them red, and then pour kerosene on them to add fuel to the fire. , and suddenly the fields are red, shining like daylight. Until late at night, when no one is watching, it is called burning tile lanterns. "Burning tile lanterns is to burn pagodas, which is one of the customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The towers are mostly made of broken tiles. Large towers also have bricks as the bottom, with a tower opening at the top for putting fuel. Mid-Autumn Festival. On the night of the festival, wood, bamboo, and rice husk fuels are lit, and when the fire is strong, rosin powder is poured on it to ignite the flames, which is extremely spectacular.
Our country has a vast territory, abundant resources, a large population, and different customs. The ways of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival are also diverse and have strong local colors. In addition to admiring the moon and eating moon cakes, there are also a series of wonderful celebration activities such as tree planting, inviting moon aunts, worshiping the moon god, stealing the moon, etc., making the Mid-Autumn Festival one of the most culturally significant traditional festivals in my country.
The custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival - Reporting to the God of the Land
The spring society activity of the ancients was to pray to the land god to bless a good harvest; the autumn society was an autumn report after a good harvest. When crops mature or are harvested around August 15th, the time is close to the autumnal equinox. This is spring prayer and autumn repayment. The Autumn Anniversary Ceremony involves singing, dancing, and drinking, making it joyful and lively. It not only entertains the gods, but also entertains people themselves. In the Book of Songs, there are records of harvest celebrations and sacrifices to the Lord of the Land. The Tugong is also the public servant. According to legend, his birthday is August 15th. Later, he was painted on cloth, walls or sculpted like him. He usually had white hair and a white beard, holding a cane in one hand and dragging a gold ingot with the other, which made people feel amiable. He has the functions of land management and financial management, so people respect him very much. Some people say that when they get rich, they "make money from the land lord", which is a festive Mid-Autumn Festival custom.