In fact, the predecessor of moon cakes is the common round pasta with Hu cakes as the mainstay. As a kind of ordinary pasta, Tianlun moon cake has been produced for a long time. "Cake" was a general term for all pasta in ancient times, including round flat cakes, and later it specifically referred to flat round food made by steaming or baking. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were records about cakes. "Mozi Gengzhu" said that there was a man who had endless beef and mutton at home, but "when he saw people making cakes, he stole them", that is, when he saw others making cakes, he also stole their cakes. Mozi said that there is only one explanation, that is, this person has the problem of stealing. From the tone of these words, we can see that the cake at that time was not a delicious food, but a very ordinary food. It was not until the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties that stuffing was added to pasta. Schleswig likes to eat steamed cakes stuffed with dried dates and walnut pulp.
Although the Mid-Autumn Festival has been formed in the Tang Dynasty, the diet is mainly about feasting to enjoy the moon, but it can't be said that there are special seasonal foods. Zhi Zhi Moon Cake "Qing Yi Lu" written by Tao Gu, a Northern Song Dynasty, is an essay collection which is a miscellaneous collection of anecdotes from Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Five Dynasties. It is written that in the Five Dynasties, there was a Zhang Shoumei who monopolized snacks of the four seasons and sold moon cakes every Mid-Autumn Festival. It was made of longan, lotus seeds and lotus root starch. This is the first recorded Mid-Autumn Festival food.
Hu cakes and some round cakes and snacks mixed with ghee, honey and sugar, or filled with nuts, bean paste, sugar, minced meat and flower materials are similar in appearance and practice to the later Mid-Autumn moon cakes. From Guanshengyuan to Ming Dynasty, written records of Mid-Autumn moon cakes appeared clearly.
in the song dynasty, moon cakes were listed as the best holiday products.
A few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, there was already a strong festive atmosphere in the streets of the song dynasty. Anderson moon cake shop sells new wine and redecorates the colorful building in front of the door. In the evening, the silk, bamboo and flute in the restaurant work side by side, and everyone rushes to board and enjoy the moon. The night market is crowded with people, even poor people living in mean alleys will pawn their clothes to buy wine to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
According to Tokyo Dream of China, on this day, many restaurants in Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, sell newly opened good wines, and fruit shops are full of fresh and beautiful fruits, so the night market is rare in a year. Moon cakes are bought by dignitaries and giants, enjoying the moon in their own pavilions and pavilions, with elegant harps and instruments. Ordinary citizens are scrambling to occupy the restaurant in order to see the moonlight first.
during the song dynasty, moon cakes were officially listed as holiday delicacies, and Su Dongpo had a saying that "small cakes are like chewing the moon, and there are crisps and fillings in them". Customs such as enjoying the moon, tasting moon cakes and having a reunion dinner have been passed down to this day.