Cantonese-style mooncakes

It is said that as early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the mooncake’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s grandpa’s “Taishi Cake” (in commemoration of Taishi Wen Zhong) appeared in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. ).

But this is just a legend. In fact, at least before the Tang Dynasty, people still couldn’t distinguish the concept of cakes, but called all kinds of pasta snacks uniformly.

For example, noodles are called soup cakes, steamed buns are called steamed cakes, dumplings are called boiled cakes, and cold noodles are called steamed cakes.

Later, the pasta from the northern grassland people was introduced, and it was also called "Hu cake". Only then did the mooncakes gradually begin to look like our mooncakes today.

It is said that during the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, the general Li Jing returned triumphantly from the expedition against the Huns and presented to the emperor a kind of Hu cake obtained from a Tibetan merchant.

It happened to be August 15th. Li Yuan was in a good mood. He took out a round Hu cake, smiled at the moon in the sky and said: "You should invite Toad with the Hu cake." (Toad: I'm here, where's the cake? )

Then Li Yuan gave the cakes to the ministers to taste, so the custom of eating cakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival began.

At best, this story can only show that the shapes of mooncakes and the full moon are similar, but it does not necessarily mean that mooncakes have any inevitable connection with the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In fact, the term mooncake was not born until the Southern Song Dynasty.

In the "Meng Liang Lu" written by Wu Zimu in the Southern Song Dynasty, moon cakes are a common cake that exists at the same time as other cakes. They are "available at all times and can be requested at any time." They still have nothing to do with the Mid-Autumn Festival.

However, it is worth noting that the meaning of "reunion" during the Mid-Autumn Festival has indeed taken shape in the Song Dynasty.

The most typical one is Su Dongpo's "Water Melody Song" "Head": "I hope that people will live long and travel thousands of miles to meet the beautiful woman."

In fact, the earliest record of a clear connection with eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is found in the Ming Dynasty's "West Lake Tour Chronicles":

"August 15th During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people send mooncakes to each other to symbolize reunion.”

At the same time, the Ming Dynasty historian Shen Bang also recorded the grand occasion of sending mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival in "Wanshu Miscellaneous Notes":

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“Made flour cakes are given to each other, ranging in size. The cakes are stuffed with fruit, so they have a strange name. One cake is worth hundreds of dollars.”

The styles of mooncakes are becoming increasingly rich. Shortening and pulping have also been further widely used.