1, enjoy the moon
From offering sacrifices to the moon, serious sacrifices turned into light 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. Different from the Tang people, the Song people appreciate the moon more because they feel hurt by things, and often use rain or shine as a metaphor for human affairs. Even on the Mid-Autumn night, the clear light of the bright moon can't hide the sadness of the Song people.
2. Go to the moon
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, there is another special activity called "Walking the Moon". In the bright moonlight, people wear gorgeous clothes, travel in groups of three or five, or wander the streets, or lack boats on the Qinhuai River, or go upstairs to watch the Yuet Moon, talking and laughing.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a Moon-looking Building and a Moon-playing Bridge in Nanjing. In the Qing Dynasty, there was a Moon-looking Building under Lion Mountain, which was a scenic spot for tourists to enjoy the moon when they "walked on the moon". The Moon Building in Mochou Lake Park, which was built after liberation, has become a new attraction for citizens to enjoy the moon.
3. Sacrifice the moon
Sacrificing the moon is a very old custom in our country. According to historical records, as early as the Zhou Dynasty, ancient emperors had the custom of offering sacrifices to the sun at the vernal equinox, to the ground at the summer solstice, to the moon at the autumn equinox and to heaven at the winter solstice.
Its places of worship are called Ritan, Ditan, Yuetan and Tiantan. It is located in four directions: southeast and northwest. The moon altar in Beijing is the place where the emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties sacrificed the moon.
4. Play with lanterns
Mid-Autumn Festival, there are many game activities, the first is to play with lanterns. Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three major lantern festivals in China, so we should play with lanterns on holidays. Of course, there is no large lantern festival in Mid-Autumn Festival like Lantern Festival, and playing with lanterns is mainly between families and children.
5. Worship the Moon God
In ancient times, there was a custom of "autumn dusk and evening moon". The evening moon is to worship the moon god. Set up a big incense table, and put moon cakes, watermelons, apples, red dates, plums, grapes and other sacrifices, among which moon cakes and watermelons are absolutely indispensable, and watermelons should be cut into lotus shapes.