Mid-Autumn Festival Customs

Walking on the Moon

There is also a special moon-appreciating activity on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival called "Walking on the Moon." Under the bright moonlight, people were dressed in gorgeous clothes, traveling in small groups, or going to the market, boating on the Qinhuai River, or climbing upstairs to watch the moonlight, chatting and laughing. In the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing built the Moon Tower and the Wanyue Bridge, and in the Qing Dynasty, there was the Chaoyue Tower under the Lion Rock. They were all popular moon-viewing spots for tourists to "walk on the moon." Going out to enjoy the moon on the Mid-Autumn Festival night is called "moon walking" by Shanghainese. In Wu region, there is a custom of walking on the moon and walking on three bridges, which means traveling under the moonlight and crossing at least three bridges (see Gu Lu's "Qing Jia Lu Volume 8"). This custom also exists in Shanghai (see "Haizouye Travel Records" by Yu Squid). The so-called people who walk on the three bridges obviously have the taste of surviving misfortune.

Moon Sacrifice

Moon Sacrifice is a very ancient custom in our country. It is actually an activity of worship of the "Moon God" by the ancients. In ancient times, there was the custom of "autumn twilight and evening moon". On the eve of the moon, worship the moon god. Since ancient times, people in some areas of Guangdong have had the custom of worshiping the moon god (worshiping the moon mother and worshiping the moonlight) on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. To worship the moon, set up a large incense table and place moon cakes, watermelons, apples, dates, plums, grapes and other sacrifices. Under the moon, the "Moon God" tablet is placed in the direction of the moon, with red candles burning high, and the whole family worships the moon in turn and prays for blessings. Offering sacrifices to the moon, appreciating the moon, and remembering the moon express people's best wishes. As one of the important rituals of the Mid-Autumn Festival, moon worship has continued from ancient times to the present, and has gradually evolved into folk activities of appreciating and praising the moon. It has also become the main form of modern people's desire for reunion and their good wishes for life.

Moon Appreciation

The custom of appreciating the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon, and the solemn sacrifice has turned into a relaxed joy. It is said that the moon is closest to the earth on this night, and the moon is the largest, roundest and brightest. Therefore, there has been a custom of drinking and feasting to admire the moon since ancient times. The daughter-in-law who returns to her parents' home must return to her husband's home on this day to express perfection and good luck. According to written records, the folk Mid-Autumn Festival moon appreciation activity began around the Wei and Jin Dynasties, but it has not become a custom. In the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular, and many poets included verses praising the moon in their famous works.

Chasing the moon

Chasing the moon is also a custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The so-called "chasing the moon" means that after the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the excitement is still not over, so the next night, Many people invite relatives and friends to continue admiring the moon, which is called "Chasing the Moon." According to the preface to "Lingnan Miscellaneous Notes" by Chen Zihou of the Qing Dynasty: "On the 16th night of August, good people in Guangdong gather relatives and friends to feast and enjoy the moon, which is called chasing the moon."

Begging for the moon to shine on the moon< /p>

In the old days, some women in Dongguan believed that "Yue Lao was a matchmaker." Anyone who had an adult man or woman in the family and unintentionally fell in love would burn incense and candles under the moonlight at the third watch of the Mid-Autumn Festival and beg Yue Lao to match them. It is said that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, soaking in the moonlight can make women pregnant. In some areas, on the moonlit night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, some women who have been married for a long time and are infertile will go out of their homes to bathe in the moonlight, hoping to have a baby soon, which is called "shining the moon".

Tide watching

The custom of watching the tide during the Mid-Autumn Festival has been around for a long time. "I know that the Jade Rabbit is very round, and the frost and wind are blowing in the cold September. I leave the key to the important door, and leave the night tide to look at the middle of the moon." This is the poem "Looking at the Tide on August 15th" written by Su Shi, a great poet in the Song Dynasty. In ancient times, in Zhejiang, besides admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, watching the tide was another Mid-Autumn event.

Eat moon cakes

Moon cakes, also called moon cakes, harvest cakes, palace cakes, reunion cakes, etc., were offerings to worship the moon god during the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times. Mooncakes were originally used as sacrifices to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded appreciating the moon and tasting mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion. Moon cakes symbolize reunion, and people regard them as festive food, using them to worship the moon and give them to relatives and friends. To this day, eating mooncakes has become a must-have custom for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in both north and south China. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people eat mooncakes to express "reunion."

Burning incense sticks

On the Mid-Autumn Festival night in Jiangsu, people burn incense sticks. The incense cup is surrounded by gauze and silk, and the scenery of the Moon Palace is painted on it. There are also incense buckets made of incense threads, with Kuixing and colorful flags tied with paper inserted on them. Shanghai folk still have the custom of burning incense and fighting with each other.

Ancestor Worship

Mid-Autumn Festival customs in Chaoshan area of ??Guangdong. On the afternoon of the Mid-Autumn Festival, each family hall sets up a stage to set up sacrifices, places ancestors and gods, and offers various offerings. After the sacrifice, the sacrifices are cooked one by one, and the whole family has a sumptuous dinner at the same time.

Lighting lanterns

Lighting lanterns to support the moonlight. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, candles are burned in lamps and tied to bamboo poles, on tile eaves, on terraces and other high places, commonly known as "Tree Mid-Autumn Festival" or "Standing Mid-Autumn Festival".

Riddles

On the full moon night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, many lanterns are hung in public places. People gather together to guess the riddles written on the lanterns, because they are loved by most young men and women. At the same time, love stories are also spread in these activities, so Mid-Autumn Festival lantern riddle guessing has also been derived as a form of love between men and women.

Putting up the Mid-Autumn Festival

In some places in Guangdong, there is an interesting traditional custom during the Mid-Autumn Festival called "Treeing the Mid-Autumn Festival". The tree also means erecting, which means erecting the lights high, so it is also called "erecting the Mid-Autumn Festival". With the help of their parents, children tie up rabbit lanterns, carambola lanterns or square lanterns with bamboo paper, hang them horizontally on short poles, and then erect them on high poles. When they are skilled, the colorful lights shine, adding to the Mid-Autumn Festival. A scene. Children often compete with each other to see who can erect taller, more lanterns and the most exquisite lights. There are also sky lanterns, that is, Kongming lanterns, which are made into large-shaped lanterns with paper. Candles are burned under the lanterns, and the heat rises, making the lanterns fly in the air, attracting people to laugh and chase. In addition, there are various lanterns carried by children to enjoy under the moonlight.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, each family will tie up lanterns with bamboo strips. The lanterns come in various styles, such as fish and dragon lanterns, bird and animal lanterns, flower and fruit lanterns, etc. They can also be built into lanterns with the words "Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival". At night, candles are burned in the lamp, and many small lamps, colorful flags, silver bells, etc. are connected below. They are tied to bamboo poles with ropes and erected high on the eaves or terraces, or small lamps are built into glyphs or various shapes and hung. On high places in the house, such as on platforms, roofs or tall trees. At night, the city is filled with lights, like stars, competing with the bright moon in the sky to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Playing Luzai

"Playing Luzai" was a very popular children's game during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the past. Flowers were carved out of grapefruit shells, with lanterns hung in the middle. Children carried them in groups. People play in teams, or they carry lanterns in the shapes of various animals, melons and fruits, and walk along the street singing, while singing "playing Luzi": "Play Luzi, play Luer, light up the lanterns. Those who know how to be polite value politeness, and the world Reading is the first priority, don’t say that articles are useless. Ancient cloud says that a word is worth a thousand pieces of gold, and there are noble people from books..." The children dispersed after having fun and went home to eat moon cakes and fruits.

Playing with Rabbit

Playing with Rabbit originated around the late Ming Dynasty and was popular in Beijing. Ji Kun of the Ming Dynasty (who lived around 1636) wrote in "The Remaining Manuscript of Kao Pavilion": "On the Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing, people often wear rabbits in the shape of mud, with clothes and hats sitting like human figures, and children worship them." By the Qing Dynasty. , the function of Lord Rabbit has been transformed from offering sacrifices to the moon to being a Mid-Autumn Festival toy for children. Lord Rabbit is made of clay, with the head of a rabbit and the body of a rabbit, wearing armor, a flag on his back, a gold clay face on his face, and colorful paintings on his body. He sits or stands, pounding a pestle or riding an animal, with two big ears erect, which is both solemn and harmonious. "Yanjing Chronicles": "Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the clever people in the city use loess to make toad and rabbit images for sale, which are called Lord Rabbits." The court of the Qing Dynasty called the Jade Rabbit in the middle of the month the Lord of Taiyin. However, people in Beijing call it Lord Rabbit. According to the folk customs in Beijing, worshiping the Rabbit during the Mid-Autumn Festival is not solemn enough but more playful than anything else.

Playing with lanterns

There are many games and activities during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The first is playing with lanterns. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three major lantern festivals in my country, and people play with lanterns during the festival. Of course, there is no large-scale lantern festival like the Lantern Festival during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Playing with lanterns is mainly done among families and children. As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, "Old Martial Arts" recorded the customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival, including the activity of "putting a "little red" lantern into the river to float and play." People who play with lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival are mostly concentrated in the south. For example, at the Foshan Autumn Color Fair mentioned above, there are various kinds of lanterns: sesame lanterns, eggshell lanterns, wood shaving lanterns, straw lanterns, fish scale lanterns, chaff lanterns, melon seed lanterns, bird and animal flower tree lanterns, etc. People admire. In Nanning, Guangxi, in addition to various lanterns tied with paper and bamboo for children to play with, there are also very simple grapefruit lanterns, pumpkin lanterns, and orange lanterns. The so-called grapefruit lamp is made by hollowing out the grapefruit, carving a simple pattern, putting it on a rope, and lighting a candle inside. The light is elegant. Pumpkin lanterns and orange lanterns are also made by removing the flesh. Although simple, it is easy to make and is very popular. Some children even float grapefruit lanterns into the pond and river as a game.