Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, cookies, moon cakes, reunion cakes, etc. It is an offering to worship the moon god in ancient Mid-Autumn Festival. Since it was handed down, the memorandum has formed the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Moon cakes have a long history in China. According to historical records, as early as the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, there was a kind of "Taishi cake" in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to commemorate Taishi Wenzhong, who was the "ancestor" of China moon cakes. During Zhang Qian's voyage to the West in Han Dynasty, sesame seeds and walnut kernels were introduced, which added auxiliary materials for making moon cakes. At this time, a round cake filled with walnuts appeared, which was called "Hu cake".
By the Tang Dynasty, there were already cake makers who specialized in making moon cakes. It has also become a well-known pastry on Chang 'an Avenue in Beijing, but it has not yet become the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yang Guifei looked at the bright moon and saw that the shape of Hu cake was very similar to the moon, so she took out the moon cake at hand. From then on, the name of moon cakes began to spread among the people.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, the royal family liked to eat a kind of cake called palace cake, which was commonly known as "small cake" and "moon cake" among the people.
In the Ming Dynasty, a clever baker carved some vessels with the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon fairy tale patterns, which were used to print various patterns on moon cakes. At that time, eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival has gradually spread among the people, and the appearance of moon cakes with fairy tales has been welcomed by the people. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty was corrupt and incompetent, and the government was cruel. The broad masses of people in the Central Plains could not bear the cruel rule of the ruling class in the Yuan Dynasty, and they revolted against the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang joined forces with various resistance forces to prepare for the uprising, but the court officers and soldiers searched very closely and it was very difficult to pass on the news. Liu Bowen, a military adviser, came up with a plan and ordered his men to hide a note with the words "Uprising on the 15th of August" in a moon cake, and then sent people to the uprising troops in different places to inform them to respond to the uprising on the 15th of August. Therefore, the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown in one fell swoop. To commemorate this achievement, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival has been handed down.
Moon cakes are round, symbolizing reunion, reflecting people's good wishes for family reunion and sharing them with everyone, so they gradually form the meaning of family reunion. Enjoy the moon while eating moon cakes. The moon on this day is the roundest in a year.