The custom of enjoying the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon, and serious sacrifices have become relaxed pleasures. Folk Mid-Autumn Festival activities began in Wei and Jin Dynasties, but they did not become a habit. In the Tang Dynasty, it was quite popular to enjoy and play with the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, and many poets wrote poems about the moon in their masterpieces. By the time of the Song Dynasty, a Mid-Autumn Festival centered on the activities of appreciating the moon was formed and officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival.
As early as the Zhou Dynasty, ancient emperors had the custom of offering sacrifices to the sun at the vernal equinox, to the land at the summer solstice, to the moon at the autumn equinox and to heaven at the winter solstice. The moon altar in Beijing is the place where the emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties sacrificed the moon.
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In the early Ming Dynasty, there was a Moon-looking Building and a Moon-playing Bridge in Nanjing. In the Qing Dynasty, a Moon-watching Building was built under Lion Mountain, all of which were for people to enjoy the moon, and those who played the Moon-playing Bridge were the most. When the bright moon is hanging high, people go to the moon tower and play the moon bridge together, taking pleasure in seeing the jade rabbit.
In recent years, the Confucius Temple in Nanjing has been renovated, restored some pavilions in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and dredged rivers. Until the Mid-Autumn Festival, you can enjoy the fun of playing the moon together.
In Wuxi County, Jiangsu Province, it is necessary to burn incense in mid-autumn night. There is gauze and silk around the incense bucket, and the scenery in the moon palace is painted. There are also incense sticks woven with thread incense, with paper kuixing and colorful banners inserted on them. Shanghainese Mid-Autumn Festival banquet is accompanied by osmanthus honey wine.
In addition to eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival in Sichuan Province, people also eat cakes, ducks, sesame cakes and honey cakes. In some places, orange lanterns are also lit and hung at the door to celebrate. There are also children who put incense on grapefruit and dance along the street, which is called "dancing meteor balls". The Mid-Autumn Festival in Jiading County is called "Watching the Meeting" for offering sacrifices to the land gods and performing zaju, vocal music and cultural relics.