Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, Moonlight Birthday, Moon Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Festival, Moon Festival and Reunion Festival, is a traditional folk festival in China. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the worship of the moon in autumn and evening in ancient times. Since ancient times, Mid-Autumn Festival has had folk customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, enjoying the moon, eating moon cakes, watching lanterns, enjoying osmanthus flowers, drinking osmanthus wine, etc., which have spread to this day and lasted for a long time.
The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in ancient times, popularized in the Han Dynasty and shaped in the Tang Dynasty. Mid-Autumn Festival is a synthesis of seasonal customs in autumn, and most of the festival customs contained in it have ancient origins. As one of the important customs of folk festivals, offering sacrifices to the moon has gradually evolved into activities such as appreciating and praising the moon. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a colorful and precious cultural heritage, with the full moon as a sign of people's reunion, as the sustenance of missing their hometown and their loved ones, and hoping for a bumper harvest and happiness.
Moon cake uprising
It is said that eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival began in Yuan Dynasty. It is said that at that time, the broad masses of people in the Central Plains could not bear the cruel rule of the ruling class in the Yuan Dynasty and rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang joined forces with various resistance forces to prepare for the uprising. However, the officers and men of the court searched very closely and it was very difficult to pass on the news. Strategist Liu Bowen came up with a plan and ordered his subordinates to hide the note containing the "August 15th night uprising" into the cake, and then sent someone to send it to the uprising troops in various places separately to inform them to respond to the uprising on August 15th night.
On the day of the uprising, all the rebels responded together. Soon, Xu Da captured the Yuan Dynasty and the uprising was successful. When the news came, Zhu Yuanzhang was so happy that he quickly handed down a message that all the soldiers would have fun with the people in the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, and he would give the "moon cakes" that sent messages in secret when he started fighting that year as seasonal cakes to his ministers. Since then, the production of "moon cakes" has become more sophisticated and more varied. After that, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival spread among the people.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Mid-Autumn Festival (one of the four traditional festivals in China)