If you don't eat moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival, it means that you haven't celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, which shows how important it is to eat moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. In other words, eating moon cakes has become a tradition of Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that moon cakes were not called "moon cakes" at first? Well, it has several names, such as Hu Bing, Gong Bing, Xiao Bing, Yue Tuan, Reunion Soldiers and so on. In ancient times, it was originally used as an offering to worship the moon god in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Later, in the process passed down from generation to generation, eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival gradually became a fixed custom.

According to historical records, there is a kind of round cake called "Taishi cake" in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, which is said to be used to commemorate Taishi Wenzhong. Because the round cakes are very similar to the later moon cakes, some people think that the Taishi cakes are the "ancestors" of moon cakes? . Until the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian brought back sesame seeds and walnuts from the Western Regions. When people make those round cakes, they add walnuts to their stuffing, which tastes quite good, hence the name "Hu cake".

During the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty, members of the royal family usually ate a round cake called "official cake", which was commonly known as "small cake" or "moon group" among the people. This kind of cake should also belong to the early form of moon cakes. Whether the word "moon cake" first mentioned by Zhou Mi in Song Dynasty refers to this kind of "palace cake" is unknown. But there is a legend that the inventor of the word "moon cake" originated from Yang Guifei, which makes people feel very surprised.

During the Xuanzong period of the Tang Dynasty, not only the custom of making cakes was quite popular, but also many masters with superb skills in making cakes appeared. In the capital Chang 'an, there are many shops that make and specialize in cakes. In the palace, eating cakes is especially regarded as a kind of enjoyment. ? One Mid-Autumn Festival night, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Yang Guifei were enjoying the moon under the moon, eating cakes specially made by the imperial court, and asked Yang Guifei according to their names at that time: "What's the taste of Hu cakes this year?" Yang Guifei replied: "The taste of Hu cakes this year is better than in previous years." Tang Xuanzong nodded and smiled: "I feel the same way." Yang Guifei, with a piece of Hu cake in her hand and her eyes shining, said to herself inexplicably, "Such a delicious cake is called Hu cake, which is terrible." Xuanzong freely asked, "really? According to my love princess, what should she be called? " Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon in the sky and said, "This cake is round, much like the bright moon tonight. Isn't it better to call it' moon cake'? " Tang Xuanzong praised happily and said, "Effie is so right, so let's call it' moon cake'." Since then, the name "moon cake" has spread.

Because the shape of moon cakes is round, on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family sits together to eat moon cakes, which means family reunion. In the book "A Visit to the West Lake" in the Ming Dynasty, There is such a record: "August 15th is called Mid-Autumn Festival, and people gather moon cakes as a heritage." Nowadays, moon cakes are more and more exquisite and varied. They are not only bought and eaten by themselves, but also given to relatives and friends as important gifts for the Mid-Autumn Festival.