August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, Moonlight Festival, Moon Eve, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Worship Festival, Moon Mother Festival, Moon Festival, Reunion Festival, etc.

It is a traditional Chinese folk festival, and Yancheng folklore has a history of more than 2,000 years. It is said that ancient emperors used to worship the sun on the morning of February 15th in spring and the moon on the night of August 15th in autumn. This is what was later said, "it is not too late to worship the sun and the moon, and it is just the right time in mid-spring and mid-autumn." In ancient times, the three days of each quarter of the lunar calendar were The months are called Meng, Zhong and Ji respectively.

The fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar happens to be in the middle of autumn. Therefore, in addition to calling the fifteenth day of the eighth month "Mid-Autumn Festival", people also call it "Zhongqiu". The emperors worshiped the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. High-ranking officials and scribes also followed suit, and this custom gradually spread to the people of Yancheng. Therefore, every Mid-Autumn Festival in Yancheng has the custom of offering sacrifices to, worshiping and appreciating the moon.

Customs on August 15th

It is said that this custom is related to the legend of Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty who visited the Moon Palace on August 15th. It is said that one year, on the night of August 15th, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty had a dream. Accompanied by the Taoist Luo Gongyuan, he flew to the Moon Palace along the path opened by the magical crutch, and walked to the beautiful palace gate. Suddenly I felt a chill and a fragrant aroma. When I calmed down, I saw a white rabbit making medicine under a huge osmanthus tree in front of the door. There is a huge plaque with six characters written on the door: "The Mansion of Guanghan Qingxu".

They entered the Guanghan Palace, and there were strange Yao grasses everywhere, giving the impression of a beautiful palace. In the magnificent hall with carved jade pillars, hundreds of fairies wearing pure white and transparent jade gauze danced gracefully to melodious music. After waking up from the dream, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty quickly ordered his men to write down the tunes in the Moon Palace. After sorting them out, it became the "Nancy Clothes and Feather Clothes Song" that was later spread among the people.