Every year on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, it is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival.

This is the middle of autumn, so it is called Mid-Autumn Festival.

In the Chinese lunar calendar, a year is divided into four seasons, and each season is divided into three parts: Meng, Zhong and Ji. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called Zhongqiu.

The moon on August 15th is rounder and brighter than the full moon in other months, so it is also called "Yuexi" and "August Festival".

This night, when people look up at the bright moon in the sky, they naturally look forward to family reunions.

Wanderers who are far away from home also use this to express their longing for their hometown and relatives.

Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the "Reunion Festival".

Our people have had the custom of "autumn twilight and evening moon" in ancient times.

On the eve of the moon, worship the moon god.

By the Zhou Dynasty, every Mid-Autumn Festival night would be held to welcome the cold and worship the moon.

Set up a large incense table and place mooncakes, watermelons, apples, dates, plums, grapes and other offerings. Mooncakes and watermelons are absolutely indispensable.

The watermelon should also be cut into lotus shapes.

Under the moon, the moon statue is placed in the direction of the moon, with red candles burning high. The whole family worships the moon in turn, and then the housewife cuts the reunion moon cakes.

The person who cuts the food must calculate in advance how many people are in the family. Those who are at home and those who are out of town must be counted together. They cannot cut more or less, and the sizes must be the same.

According to legend, Wu Yan, an ugly girl from the ancient state of Qi, worshiped the moon devoutly when she was a child. When she grew up, she entered the palace with outstanding moral character, but she was not favored.

On August 15th of a certain year, the emperor saw her under the moonlight while admiring the moon. He thought she was beautiful and outstanding, so he made her his queen. This is how the Mid-Autumn Festival came to worship the moon.

In the middle of the moon, Chang'e is famous for her beauty, so the girl worships the moon and wishes that she "looks like Chang'e and has a face like the bright moon."

In the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular.

In the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.

On the night of August 15th, people all over the city, rich and poor, old and young, wear adult clothes, burn incense and worship the moon, express their wishes and pray for the blessing of the moon god.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, people gave each other mooncakes as gifts to symbolize reunion.

In some places, there are activities such as dancing grass dragons and building pagodas.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival have become more popular; many places have formed special customs such as burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn Festival trees, lighting tower lanterns, releasing sky lanterns, walking on the moon, and dancing fire dragons.

Today, the custom of playing under the moon is far less popular than in the past.

However, it is still very popular to hold banquets to admire the moon. People drink wine to admire the moon to celebrate a good life, or wish their relatives far away to be healthy and happy, and to "live thousands of miles away" with their families.

There are many customs and forms of the Mid-Autumn Festival, but they all express people's infinite love for life and yearning for a better life.