In the Tang Dynasty, people had bakers engaged in production, and pastry shops began to appear in Chang 'an, the capital. It is said that one Mid-Autumn Festival, when Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei enjoyed the moon and ate Hu Bing, Tang Xuanzong thought Hu Bing's name was not nice. Looking up at the bright moon, Yang Guifei was filled with emotion and casually thought of "moon cakes". Since then, the name of "moon cake" has gradually spread among the people.
The royal family in the Northern Song Dynasty likes to eat a kind of "palace cake", commonly known as "small cake" and "moon group". Su Dongpo has a poem: "A small cake is like chewing the moon, and it is crisp and refreshing."
The writers of the Song Dynasty were thorough. The name of "moon cake" was first mentioned in Old Stories of Wulin, which described the scene of Lin 'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty.
In the Ming Dynasty, eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival gradually spread among the people. At that time, ingenious bakers printed the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon's fairy tales on moon cakes as food art pictures, making moon cakes a necessary food for Mid-Autumn Festival.
In the folk, every Mid-Autumn Festival in August, there is the custom of Yue Bai or offering sacrifices to the moon. On August 15, the moon is full, and the Mid-Autumn moon cakes are sweet and fragrant. This famous saying says.
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people in urban and rural areas eat moon cakes every day. Moon cakes are mostly used to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion, and mooncakes gradually became holiday gifts.
allusion
Moon cakes were originally a sacrifice to the moon, and later they became gifts given by the people. The Journey to the West said: "People give mooncakes to each other as a sign of reunion." Dongpo praised the moon cake "a small cake is like chewing the moon, and there is a pulp in the cake". According to legend, in ancient China, the emperor had a ritual system of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. In the folk, every Mid-Autumn Festival in August, there is also a custom about Yue Bai or offering sacrifices to the moon. The famous proverb "The moon is full on August 15th, and the moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival are sweet and fragrant" tells the custom of urban and rural people eating moon cakes on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival. At first, moon cakes were used to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion, and mooncakes gradually became holiday gifts.
Moon cakes originally originated from Zhu Jie food in the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Tang Gaozu, General Li Jing conquered the Huns and returned home in triumph on August 15.
At that time, Turpan people who were doing business presented cakes to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Gaozu Liyuan took the gorgeous cake box, took out the round cake, smiled at the bright moon in the sky and said, "We should invite toads with Hu cakes." After that, share the cake with the ministers.
Moon cakes symbolize reunion and are a must-eat food for the Mid-Autumn Festival. On holiday nights, people also like to eat some reunion fruits, such as watermelons and fruits, and wish their families a happy, sweet and safe life.
Eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional folk custom in China, just like eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival and dumplings on Lantern Festival. Throughout the ages, people regard moon cakes as a symbol of good luck and reunion. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, when the bright moon is in the sky, the whole family will get together, enjoy cakes and the moon, talk about everything and enjoy family happiness. Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, cookies, moon cakes, reunion cakes, etc. It is an offering to worship the moon god in the ancient Mid-Autumn Festival, and the custom of eating moon cakes has been formed since it was handed down. Moon cakes have a long history in China. According to historical records, as early as the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, there was a kind of "Taishi cake" to commemorate Taishi Wenzhong, the "ancestor" of China moon cakes. Zhang Qian introduced sesame seeds and walnuts when he went to the Western Regions in Han Dynasty, which added auxiliary materials for making moon cakes. At this time, a round cake filled with walnuts appeared, which was called "Hu cake". In the Tang Dynasty, people had bakers engaged in production, and pastry shops began to appear in Chang 'an, the capital. It is said that one Mid-Autumn Festival night, when Emperor Taizong and Yang Guifei enjoyed the moon and ate Hu Bing, Emperor Taizong thought Hu Bing's name was not nice. Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon, full of emotion, and casually came up with "moon cakes". Since then, the name of "moon cake" has gradually spread among the people. The royal family in the Northern Song Dynasty likes to eat a kind of "palace cake", commonly known as "small cake" and "moon group". Su Dongpo has a poem: "A small cake is like chewing the moon, and it is crisp and refreshing." In the Ming Dynasty, eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival gradually spread among the people. At that time, ingenious bakers printed the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon's fairy tales on moon cakes as food art pictures, making moon cakes a necessary food for Mid-Autumn Festival. In the Ming Dynasty, Tian Rucheng's The Journey to the West said, "August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send moon cakes to show their reunion." By the Qing Dynasty, the production technology of moon cakes had been greatly improved, and there were more and more varieties. Moon cakes prepared for the moon can be seen everywhere. Yuan Jinglan, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, has a long poem "Moon Cake Poetry", in which there is a sentence "Go into the stove to defrost and steam the pot. Rub fine dust and moisten rouge marks. This sentence, "Let relatives and friends give gifts to each other and save everything ... children sit together and cups and plates are scattered" is described, from making moon cakes, exchanging moon cakes between relatives and friends to holding family banquets and enjoying the moon.
It is said that moon cakes appeared in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. It is the most important item in Yue Bai during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it is shared by the whole family after the sacrifice. Because moon cakes symbolize reunion, they are called "reunion cakes" in some places. "Mooncakes at the Age of Yanjing" says: "Mooncakes can be seen everywhere. The largest mooncake is more than a foot long, with the shapes of a moon toad and a moon rabbit painted on it." Those who eat after the sacrifice, and those who eat until New Year's Eve. Su Dongpo's poem says, "A small cake is like chewing the moon, and it has crispness and pulp." Yang Guangfu wrote in Song Nan Cuisine Fu in Qing Dynasty: "Mooncakes are filled with peach meat, and ice cream is filled with icing." It seems that the moon cakes at that time were quite similar to the moon cakes now.
The traditional Mid-Autumn Festival is a reunion festival, so there are words like "I wish people a long time", that is, by the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone is more looking forward to reunion. If someone in the family can go home for reunion overseas or in other places, it will increase the feeling of missing. This is the characteristic that China takes the family as the social unit, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is a concentrated expression of this characteristic.
China has been founded on agriculture for generations, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is just the spring and autumn season, with a bumper harvest in agriculture. Therefore, there is a custom of offering "taro naan" in rural areas, that is, eating sweet potatoes and taro in the Mid-Autumn Festival. These two root crops are big and round, symbolizing bumper harvest and fullness. Giving mooncakes to relatives and friends also symbolizes perfection and reunion.
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family sits around and looks at the bright moon in the sky, or drinks at the moon, or drinks tea and eats moon cakes to help Tan Xing, which is also a pleasure of life. Therefore, you can eat moon cakes without Mid-Autumn Festival, but it is not Mid-Autumn Festival without moon cakes, so Mid-Autumn Festival and moon cakes are closely linked and indispensable. And the origin of this custom, there are many sayings.
It is said that during the Wude period in Tang Gaozu, the border guards invaded the territory. Li Jing, a commander, went out to fight and won a great victory. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people celebrated all night inside and outside Chang 'an. Sometimes, Tubo people will present cakes to celebrate their victory. Gaozu took out the round cake, pointed to Yue Ming and said with a smile, "You should invite toads with Hu cakes." Later, ministers presented gifts together, thus forming the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Secondly, during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty, people would quickly climb mountains and stairs to see the bright moon first, and then hold the Yue Bai ceremony. There are round cakes as sacrifices. According to "Mooncakes at the Age of Yanjing", "Mooncakes are everywhere. The largest mooncake is more than a foot long. The moon palace is painted with the shape of a toad. Some people eat mooncakes after the sacrifice". This is the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival in Song Dynasty.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the rulers practiced the brutal rule of "three households with one yuan and five households with one dish". Liu Bowen organized a peasant uprising, specially made a big round cake, and there was a piece of paper hidden in the cake, which stipulated the August 15th uprising. As a result, the uprising succeeded, overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty. Since then, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival has become more popular.
In short, the custom of reunion, moon viewing and eating moon cakes has a long history. After several generations' inheritance, new contents are constantly added, which enriches this traditional festival with national characteristics and is still popular today.
Mid-Autumn Festival is the second largest festival in China, symbolizing the reunion of human beings with the full moon. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival in August every year, all kinds of moon cakes on the market have become a great landscape. People give mooncakes to each other, especially on the fifteenth night, when family members get together to face the bright moon in the sky, it is very interesting to enjoy cakes and enjoy the moon.
As for the origin of moon cakes, people always have different opinions, and even it is related to the legendary Houyi shooting day and the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon. Here is a story about Ming Di in the Tang Dynasty in the eighth century.
According to legend, on a Mid-Autumn Festival night during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty was enjoying the moon in his palace. Luo Gong, a Taoist priest beside him, did magic, threw his cane into the sky and turned it into a long bridge, inviting Xuanzong to visit the Moon Palace together. When they walked across the long bridge, a palace suddenly appeared in front of them, and the book read "House of Wide Cold and Clear Deficiency". It's fascinating to see the Fairy Mountain Qiongge in the palace. In the palace, Chang 'e ordered the ladies-in-waiting to hold delicious fairy cakes for the guests to taste and watched the songs and dances performed by the immortals.
When he returned to earth, Emperor Ming of Tang ordered people to copy them one by one according to what they saw and heard in the Moon Palace. Since then, there have been "colorful feathers" and "moon cakes" in the shape of a full moon. Su Dongpo's poem "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp and stuffing" shows that moon cakes in the Song Dynasty are very exquisite in craftsmanship and popular in the world.
In addition, it is said that Zhang Shicheng, the leader of the peasant uprising in the late Yuan Dynasty, took advantage of the custom of exchanging moon cakes between relatives and friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival, put uprising notes in the stuffing of moon cakes and invited people from all over the country to do something during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which finally overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.
It is said that the origin of moon cakes is because the two countries are at war, and a special way to convey superstition is to roll up a piece of paper and put it in a round cake to convey information without being discovered by the enemy. Later, when the soldiers were hungry, they ate this kind of moon cake, which was later widely circulated.