The Tang Dynasty, the folk have been engaged in the production of cake masters, the capital city of Chang'an also began to appear cake store. It is said that one Mid-Autumn Festival night, the Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei enjoy the moon to eat Hu cake, Tang Xuanzong smacked "Hu cake" name is not good to hear, Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon, the heart surging, out of the mouth and "moon cake", from the "Moon Cake "
The name of the mooncake has been gradually spread in the folklore.
The Northern Song Royal Mid-Autumn Festival like to eat a kind of "Palace cake", folk commonly known as "small cakes", "moon ball". Su Dongpo has a poem: "small cakes such as chewing the moon, there are crispy and Yi."
Zhou Mi, a writer in the Song Dynasty, first mentioned the name "mooncake" in his account of Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty.
During the Ming Dynasty, mooncakes were gradually popularized among the people during the Mid-Autumn Festival. At that time, the clever baker, the Chang'e moon myth as a food art pattern printed on the mooncake, so that the mooncake has become more popular among the people of the Mid-Autumn Festival of the necessary food.
In folklore, there is a custom of worshipping or sacrificing to the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival in August. The moon is full on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and the mooncakes are fragrant and sweet, which is a famous saying
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the people in urban and rural areas eat mooncakes as a custom. The mooncake was first used as an offering to the moon god, and then people gradually took the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival as a symbol of family reunion by enjoying the mooncake, which slowly became a gift for the festival.
"Allusion"
Mooncakes, originally a kind of offerings during the moon festival, later became gifts for folk to give to each other. According to the West Lake Tourism Record, "Folks give each other mooncakes to take the meaning of reunion." Dong Po to "small cakes such as chewing the moon, there are crispy and syrup" to praise the moon cake. Legend has it that in ancient times, the emperor had the ritual of sacrificing the sun in spring and the moon in fall. In folklore, there is also a custom of worshipping or sacrificing to the moon around the mid-autumn festival in August. The famous proverb "The moon is full on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and the mooncake is fragrant and sweet" describes the custom of eating mooncakes on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in both urban and rural areas. The mooncake was first used as an offering to the moon god, and then people gradually took the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival mooncake as a symbol of family reunion, and slowly the mooncake became a gift for the festival.
The mooncake was first introduced to the Tang Dynasty as an army food. During the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, General Li Jing was victorious in his campaign against the Xiongnu, and returned home on August 15 in triumph.
The Turpanese, who were merchants at the time, offered mooncakes to the Tang emperor to wish him well. Li Yuan, the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty, took the gorgeous cake box, took out the round cake, and pointed to the bright moon in the sky with a smile and said, "I should invite the toad with the Hu cake". After saying this, he distributed the cakes among his ministers and ate them together.
Mooncakes symbolize reunion and are a must-have for the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the night of the festival, people also love to eat some watermelons, fruits and other fruits of reunion, praying for the family to live a happy, sweet and peaceful life.
Mid-Autumn Festival to eat moon cakes, and the Dragon Boat Festival to eat zongzi, Lantern Festival to eat dumplings, as is the traditional custom of China's folk. Throughout the ages, people have taken mooncakes as a symbol of good luck and reunion. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon in the sky, the family reunion, tasting cakes and enjoying the moon, talk about heaven and earth, to enjoy the happiness of heaven and earth. Mooncake, also known as Hu cake, Palace cake, small cakes, moon ball, reunion cake, etc., is the ancient Mid-Autumn Festival offerings to worship the moon god, passed down, it formed the Mid-Autumn Festival to eat the custom of mooncakes. Mooncakes have a long history in China. According to historical records, as early as in the Yin, Zhou period, Jiang, Zhejiang, there is a commemorative master Wenzhong's thin side of the heart of the thick "Master Cake", which is China's mooncake "ancestor". Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian's mission to the West, the introduction of sesame seeds, walnuts, moon cakes for the production of additional ingredients, then appeared in the walnut kernel as the filling of the round cake, called "Hu cake". Tang Dynasty, the folk have been engaged in the production of cake masters, the capital Chang'an also began to appear cake store. It is said that one Mid-Autumn Festival night, Tang Taizong and Yang Guifei enjoy the moon to eat Hu cake, Tang Taizong smacked "Hu cake" name is not good, Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon, the heart surging, out of the mouth and "moon cake", and from then on "moon cake The name of "mooncake" has been gradually spread in the folklore. Northern Song Dynasty Royal Mid-Autumn Festival like to eat a "palace cake", folk commonly known as "small cakes", "moon ball". Su Dongpo has a poem: "small cakes such as chewing the moon, there are crispy and Yi." To the Ming Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival to eat moon cakes in the folk gradually spread. At that time, the clever baker, the Chang'e moon mythological story as a food art pattern printed on the mooncake, so that the mooncake has become more popular Mid-Autumn Festival essential food. The Ming Dynasty Tian Rucheng "West Lake Excursions" said: "August 15 is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, the folk to the moon cake to send each other, take the meaning of reunion." Qing Dynasty, the production process of moon cakes has improved greatly, the variety is also increasing, for the moon moon cakes everywhere. Yuan Jinglan, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, wrote a long poem entitled "Mooncake Poem", which reads, "The light in the kitchen snatches the frost, and the steam kettle flows with liquid. The mooncake is kneaded with fine flour dust and dotted with rouge traces. Relatives feed each other, the festival is not allowed to neglect ...... children sit in the reunion, cups and plates scattered mess," and other lines, from the production of mooncakes, friends and relatives to give each other mooncakes to set up a family feast and enjoy the moon, the narrative is exhaustive.
It is said that the mooncake appeared in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. It was the main item used to worship the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and was shared by the whole family after the offering. Since mooncakes symbolize reunion, they are called "reunion cakes" in some places. According to "Yanjing Yushiji - Moon Cakes", "Moon cakes for moon worship are found everywhere, and the large ones are more than a foot in size, on which the moon is painted in the shape of a toad and a rabbit. There are those who eat them after the festival and those who eat them on New Year's Eve." In a poem by Su Dongpo, he said, "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispy and syrupy ingredients." Yang Guangfu's Songnan Caifu (Songnan Caifu) of the Qing Dynasty wrote, "Mooncakes are filled with peach and meat, while ice-cream is sweetened with sugar cane cream." It seems that the mooncakes of that time were already quite similar to those of today.
The traditional Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival of reunion, which is why there are words and phrases such as "wishing for people to be together for a long time, thousands of miles of **** Cain Juan," that is to say, when the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, everyone looks forward to the reunion even more. If someone in the family overseas or out of town can come to the family reunion, will increase the feeling of longing, this is China to the family as a social unit has the characteristics, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is the concentration of this characteristic performance.
China's successive agricultural country, the Mid-Autumn Festival is just spring and autumn, the agricultural harvest season, so the rural areas have to "taro Kui" worship custom, that is, the so-called Mid-Autumn Festival to eat sweet potatoes, taro, the two root crops, the shape of its large and round, symbolizing the meaning of the harvest and the completion of the. The gift of mooncakes between friends and family, is also a symbol of completion, the meaning of reunion.
Mid-Autumn Festival night, sitting around the family, the moon in the sky, or the moon drinking, or tea to eat mooncakes to help the conversation, but also one of life's pleasures. So no Mid-Autumn Festival can eat mooncakes, and no mooncakes are not Mid-Autumn Festival, so Mid-Autumn Festival and mooncakes are closely linked indispensable. The origin of this custom is also said to be various.
It is said that during the reign of Emperor Wu De of the Tang Dynasty, the border invasion. Li Jing marshal division went to war, won a great victory in the Mid-Autumn Festival triumph, inside and outside Chang'an all-night celebrations, there are Tubo people offer cakes to wish success, Gaozu took out the round cake fingers bright moon said with a smile, "should be Hu cake invite toad." Subsequently distributed to the group of ministers **** bite, and then formed the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Two said that the Northern Song Dynasty Mid-Autumn Festival to climb the mountains and buildings to see the moon as soon as possible, and then held a ceremony to pay homage to the moon, offerings have round cake, according to the "Yanjing Years and Years - moon cake" cloud: "to the provision of mooncakes, everywhere, the big one more than a foot, on the painting of the moon Palace toad of the shape of the festival, there are sacrifices than those who eat". This is the Song dynasty custom of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Or that the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the ruler of the implementation of the "three families to raise a dollar, five families a dish million" of brutal oppression, Liu Bowen organized a peasant revolt, the special large round cake, hidden inside the note, agreed to the night of the 15th of August revolt, the results of the revolt succeeded in overthrowing the Yuan Dynasty, the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, and the custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes are more popular.
In short, the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, the moon and the custom of eating moon cakes, has a long history, and after generations, constantly adding new content to enrich this traditional festival rich in national characteristics, has been passed down to the present day, and prevails.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second largest folk festival in China, in addition to the New Year's Day, with the Mid-Autumn full moon to symbolize the reunion of the world. Every year in August, the Mid-Autumn Festival has not yet come, the market is already a wide range of mooncakes have become a major landscape. People give each other moon cakes, especially on the night of the fifteenth, family reunion in the face of the moon in the sky, cake and enjoy the moon is not interesting.
As for the origin of the moon cake has always been different opinions, and even with the ancient legend of Hou Yi shoot the sun, Chang'e run to the moon with a little relationship. Here is a story about Emperor Tang Minghuang in the eighth century AD.
According to legend, the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong years of a mid-autumn night, the Tang Emperor Li Longji in the palace to enjoy the moon, beside the Taoist priest Luo Gongyuan magic, will be thrown to the clouds into the sky cane into a long bridge, invited Xuanzong with the Moon Palace. Two people walked across the bridge, suddenly appeared in front of a palace, the book "Guanghan Qingxu House". And then look at the palace of fairy mountains and pavilions fascinating. In the palace, Chang'e ordered the palace maid to bring delicious cakes for the guests to taste, and watched the celestial fairies perform a light song and dance.
To return to the earth, the Tang Emperor ordered people according to the moon palace seen and heard one copy down. Since then, the earth has been "Nishang Yuyi song" and the shape of the full moon "moon cake". Su Dongpo has "small cakes such as chewing the moon, there are crispy and syrup," the poem, indicating that the Song Dynasty moon cakes have been very sophisticated workmanship prevalent in the world.
Additionally, it is rumored that Zhang Shicheng, the leader of the late Yuan Dynasty peasant uprising, took advantage of the custom of giving mooncakes to friends and relatives during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and inserted a note of uprising into the mooncake filling, which led to the eventual overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty by gathering people from different parts of the country to fight on the Mid-Autumn Festival.
It is said that the origin of the mooncake is because the two countries are at war, came up with a special way to send superstitions, is to roll the note in a round cake, go to pass the message is also good not to be found by the enemy, and then the soldiers were hungry, ate the mooncake, and then it was widely circulated.