Shanxi Mid-Autumn Festival etiquette and customs

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival where people are very excited and happy. Do you know the etiquette and customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Shanxi? Below I have carefully compiled the relevant information on the etiquette and customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Shanxi. I hope it can help you!

Shanxi Mid-Autumn Festival Etiquette and Customs

When talking about the Mid-Autumn Festival, the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind is mooncakes. Nowadays, there are many kinds of mooncakes. In fact, in traditional customs, mooncakes are very particular. Folklore expert Nie Yuanlong, editor-in-chief of Shanxi Provincial Chronicles Folklore Chronicles, said that the tradition of Shanxi people is to divide moon cakes into moon cakes for worshiping the moon (also called reunion moon cakes) and ordinary edible moon cakes. Mooncakes for worshiping the moon pay attention to four to a pound, which contains the desire for "stableness, symmetry and harmony". The moon cakes in northwest Shanxi are slightly different, ranging from large to small, built up like a pagoda, with a peach-shaped moon cake at the top.

Ordinary edible mooncakes come in different sizes, mainly round, but also gourd-shaped, peach-shaped, etc. Mooncakes specially given to children are particularly particular. They are usually small mooncakes in the shape of rabbits, which means "Toad Palace Wins the Laurel" and expresses adults' blessings for children. Fanzhi County's mooncakes are unique, they are spherical mooncakes.

Shanxi’s mooncakes are mostly made with oil and flour, and the fillings include red dates, walnuts, beans, persimmons, preserved fruits, brown sugar and other types. The traditional patterns on mooncakes are Guanghan Palace, Jade Rabbit and other patterns.

In addition to eating moon cakes, Shanxi people also have the custom of worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, every family reunites and sets up an altar table in the east side of the courtyard, with moonlight horses (images of the moon god), moon cakes, watermelons, edamame, fruits, etc. on it. The most discerning families also place incense burners, candlesticks, etc., in the incense burner. Light a coiled incense stick called rue. After the moon comes out, the whole family looks up at the bright moon, and the main worshiper kowtows and offers it, and also chants the moon worship song: "August and the fifteenth month are full, watermelon moon cakes to worship the gods, food, drink and clothing, and the whole family is safe." ?When the moonlight illuminates the offerings on the table, it means that Moonlight Bodhisattva has accepted this affection, so he burns incense and paper, and everyone is happy.

Girls in the old society had a special interest in worshiping the moon. They set up a separate moonlight picture and silently prayed to Fairy Chang'e to bless them with a bright future. In the past, in some places in Shanxi, it was a custom that men did not worship the moon, probably because the moon is yin. However, in some places in southeastern Shanxi, there was a custom that women did not look at the moon, and moon worship was only performed by men. However, later these particularities were not so strict. Strict.

Shanxi Mid-Autumn Festival Moon Sacrifice

In addition to moon cakes, there are also watermelons, grapes, and edamame. The sound of watermelon is derived from joy, the shape is derived from roundness, the flesh is derived from redness, and the number of seeds is derived from it, which means that the whole family is reunited, rejoicing, prosperous, and having many children is a blessing. To store watermelons until the Mid-Autumn Festival, watermelons must be carefully handled when harvested. The ones that are half-ripe, thick-skinned, and undamaged are selected and specially preserved for the purpose of worshiping the moon. According to folklore in southern Shanxi, watermelon is the head of a wild beast. It is fierce and powerful and always comes out to hurt people on the 15th night of August every year. People in southern Shanxi eat watermelon (animal head) to relieve their anger. Grapes are a specialty of Jinzhong and Taiyuan areas in Shanxi Province. They have a long history and mature just before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Grapes, with their fruit-bearing branches and crystal-clear roundness, have long been a symbol of fertility and family prosperity in folk customs. Using grapes to worship the moon is also a long-standing custom inherited by Shanxi people. Edamame beans are picked from young soybeans and boiled with sticks. They are golden in color and fragrant. It is said that rabbits like to eat them most. The edamame beans used to worship the moon are specially prepared for the Jade Rabbit in the middle of the moon. In many rural areas in northwestern Shanxi, it is customary to offer cooked corn on the cob as a sacrifice, which has a similar purpose to edamame and is also a favorite of rabbits. In addition, some seasonal fruits such as apples, pears, and persimmons are also offered when worshiping the moon. In some places in Jinzhong, watermelons are carved into various patterns, and an oil lamp is placed in the middle. The light shines through the hollow skin, making it soft and beautiful.

Shanxi Mid-Autumn Festival delicacies

Pork rotten seeds

Pork rotten seeds, a specialty of Shanxi, are popular in Shanxi and are a kind of coarse grain food. There are many types, including potatoes, beans, cabbage, etc. It is usually eaten after frying in oil, or you can add tomato chili sauce and stir it before eating.

Haggis cut

Haggis cut is a local snack in Shanxi. It is said that people in Shanxi started eating zongge in the Yuan Dynasty, and the name zongge was given by the mother of Kublai Khan. Haggis was originally a famous delicacy in Huairen and became famous in the Yanbei area. In the past, people in Huairen and Inner Mongolia had different habits of eating mutton. People in Inner Mongolia only ate meat, but people in Huairen did some work on sheep and created a delicacy called "Haggis". Wash the sheep's heart, lungs, liver, intestines, blood, etc., cook and chop them into pieces, add pepper, chili, salt, garlic, onion, ginger and other seasonings, add some cooking broth, and make haggis? , eat with vermicelli. Now it has developed into a local delicacy in Shanxi.

Buckwheat noodles from the river

Mix the buckwheat noodles with warm water and quicklime water, put them on the river fishing bed and press them into a boiling water pot, add them to the salt and vinegar soup, and pour the mutton sautee on top. , add some mature vinegar, it has a unique fragrance and is famous far and wide.