Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Mid-Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, August Festival, Moon Chasing Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Daughter's Day or Reunion Festival, is a popular traditional cultural festival in many ethnic groups and countries in China. It happened on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, so it was named Mid-Autumn Festival, because it was only half of Sanqiu. Some places are scheduled for August 16.
The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the early years of the Tang Dynasty and prevailed in the Song Dynasty. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become one of the major festivals in China, which was as famous as the Spring Festival. Influenced by China culture, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival for some GJ in East and Southeast Asia, especially for local Chinese and overseas Chinese. Since 2008, Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a GJ statutory holiday. On May 20th, 2006, it was listed in the first list of GJ intangible cultural heritage by the State Council.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, enjoying the moon, eating moon cakes, enjoying osmanthus and drinking osmanthus wine. Since ancient times, and spread to this day, it lasts for a long time. The Mid-Autumn Festival takes the full moon as a symbol of people's reunion, which is based on the yearning for hometown and relatives. Pray for a bumper harvest and happiness and become a rich and precious cultural heritage. Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Spring Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day are also called the four traditional festivals in China.
The Origin and Legend of Mid-Autumn Festival
As an ancient festival, Mid-Autumn Festival has existed since ancient times. At that time, people had the custom of worshipping the moon god, and autumn was the harvest season. Therefore, they choose to worship on the night of the full moon at the autumn equinox to show people's respect for nature and look forward to a bumper harvest next year. With the evolution of the times, the festival of the moon has gradually become an opportunity for people to reunite. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, various customs to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival were also derived from this, such as eating moon cakes, enjoying flowers and watching lanterns, and so on, which were gradually handed down among the people.
There are many legends about Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon's story should be the one that everyone has heard the most. In fact, there are many legends and stories related to the Mid-Autumn Festival. For example, WU GANG is often associated with Chang 'e, and many people may not know the origin of this story. Legend has it that in the Han Dynasty, WU GANG followed an immortal to practice. I had a chance to go to the fairy class, but I broke the dogma in heaven, so I was punished for cutting osmanthus trees in Guanghan Palace. This tree is 100 feet high and will heal again every time it is cut, so it has been repeating this action for thousands of years.