The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival:

The word "Mid-Autumn Festival" was first recorded in the Custom Ceremony of Mid-Autumn Festival. It is called "Mid-Autumn Festival" because August 15th of the lunar calendar is exactly the autumn of a year, and it is in the middle of August.

In addition, in the four seasons of the year, each season is divided into three parts: Meng, Zhong and Ji, so the second month of autumn is called Mid-Autumn. It was not until the early years of the Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. There are also folk myths and legends about "Wu Gang cutting Guangxi and the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon". On May 2th, 26, the State Council listed it in the first national intangible cultural heritage list. Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national legal holiday since 28.

On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is bright. The ancients regarded the full moon as a symbol of reunion, so it was also called "Reunion Festival". Throughout the ages, people often use "the full moon" and "the lack of the moon" to describe "joys and sorrows", and the wanderers who live in other places rely on the months to express their deep affection. Poems such as "lifting myself to look, I found that it was moonlight, sinking back again, I thought suddenly of home" by Li Bai, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, "he knows that the dews tonight will be frost, how much brighter the moonlight is at home!" by Du Fu, and "The spring breeze is green in Jiang Nanan, when will the bright moon shine on me" by Wang Anshi in the Song Dynasty are all timeless.

And the story of the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon has been passed down to this day: According to legend, Hou Yi went to Kunlun Mountain to visit friends and ask for a package of immortal medicine from the Queen Mother, and was threatened by Peng Meng's concern. After Chang 'e had to swallow the immortal medicine and flew to the Moon Palace, she missed her wife, so she sent someone to Chang 'e's favorite back garden, set up a incense table, put on the honey and fresh fruit that Chang 'e usually liked, and offered a remote sacrifice to Chang 'e in the Moon Palace. After hearing the news that the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon became an immortal, people set up incense tables under the moon to pray for good luck and peace to the kind Chang 'e. Since then, the custom of Yue Bai in Mid-Autumn Festival has spread among the people.

Customs about Mid-Autumn Festival in other parts of China

China has a vast geographical area, a large population and different customs, and the customs about Mid-Autumn Festival are also varied, with strong local characteristics, forming various customs about Mid-Autumn Festival.

In Pucheng, Fujian, women have to cross Nanpu Bridge during the Mid-Autumn Festival to live longer. In Jianning, hanging lanterns in mid-autumn night is a good omen for asking for children from the moon palace. People in Shanghang County celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and most of their children are invited to visit their parents when they are in Yue Bai. When Longyan people eat moon cakes, parents will dig out round cakes with a diameter of two or three inches in the center for their elders to eat, which means that the secret can't be told to the younger generation. This custom stems from the legend that moon cakes contain anti-yuan killing messages. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival in Jinmen, Yue Bai should pay homage to God.

Wuxi county, Jiangsu province

Douxiang is to be burned in mid-autumn night. There is gauze and silk around the incense bucket, and the scenery in the moon palace is painted. There are also incense sticks woven with thread incense, with paper kuixing and colorful banners inserted on them. Shanghainese Mid-Autumn Festival banquet is accompanied by osmanthus honey wine.

Ji 'an County, Jiangxi Province

In the evening of Mid-Autumn Festival, every village burns crocks with straw. After the crock is red, put the vinegar in it. At this time, there will be a fragrance floating all over the village. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in Xincheng County, grass lanterns are hung from the night of August 11th until August 17th.

Wuyuan, Anhui Province

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, children build a hollow pagoda with bricks. Decorations such as curtains and plaques are hung on the tower, and a table is placed in front of the tower to display all kinds of utensils to worship the "tower god". At night, lights and candles are lit inside and outside. Children in Jixi Mid-Autumn Festival play Mid-Autumn Festival firecrackers. The Mid-Autumn Festival cannon is made of straw tied into a braid, soaked and then picked up to hit the stone, making a loud noise and having the custom of swimming in the dragon. A fire dragon is a dragon made of grass with incense sticks inserted in it. When you visit the dragon, there are gongs and drums teams, which travel around the villages before being sent to the river.

In addition to eating moon cakes, people in Sichuan Province also have customs about the Mid-Autumn Festival, such as beating, killing ducks, eating sesame cakes and honey cakes. In some places, orange lanterns are also lit and hung at the door to celebrate. There are also children who put incense on grapefruit and dance along the street, which is called "dancing meteor balls". The Mid-Autumn Festival in Jiading County is called "Watching the Meeting" for offering sacrifices to the land gods and performing zaju, vocal music and cultural relics.

in the north, farmers in Qingyun county, Shandong province offer sacrifices to the earth god on August 15th, which is called "Young Miao Society". Zhucheng, Linyi, Jimo and other places have to pay homage to their ancestors in addition to the moon. Landlords in guanxian, Laiyang, Guangrao and Postal City also entertain tenants in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Jimo Mid-Autumn Festival eats a festive food called "Wheat Arrow". Lu 'an, Shanxi Province hosted a banquet for her son-in-law in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Datong county calls moon cakes reunion cakes, and it is the custom to keep vigil in mid-autumn night.

Wanquan county, Hebei province calls the Mid-Autumn Festival "Little New Year's Day", and there are pictures of Taiyin Star Jun and Guandi reading the Spring and Autumn Festival at night on moonlight paper. Hejian county people think that the mid-autumn rain is bitter rain. If it rains on the Mid-Autumn Festival, local people think that vegetables must taste bad.

On mid-autumn night in Xixiang County, Shaanxi Province, men went boating on the cliff, and women arranged a beautiful banquet. No matter rich or poor, you must eat watermelon. In the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are drummers blowing drums along the door to ask for money. In Luochuan County, parents lead students to bring gifts for their husbands, and lunch is more than school dinners.

Many special customs about Mid-Autumn Festival have been formed in some places. Besides enjoying the moon, offering sacrifices to the moon and eating moon cakes, there are Hong Kong's dancing dragon, Anhui's piling pagoda, Guangzhou's Mid-Autumn Festival, Jinjiang's burning tower boy, Suzhou Shihu's watching the moon, Dai's Yue Bai, Miao's jumping on the moon, Dong's stealing moon dishes and Gaoshan's holding dance.