Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, Moonlight Birthday, Moon Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Festival, Moon Festival and Reunion Festival, is a traditional folk festival in China. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the worship of the autumn moon in ancient times.

At first, the festival of "Sacrificing the Moon" was held on the "autumnal equinox" of the 24 solar terms in the Ganzhi calendar, and later it was moved to August 15 in the summer calendar (lunar calendar). In some places, the Mid-Autumn Festival is set on August 16 in the summer calendar. Since ancient times, Mid-Autumn Festival has had folk customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, enjoying the moon, eating moon cakes, playing with lanterns, enjoying osmanthus and drinking osmanthus wine. It has been circulating for a long time.

origin

Mid-Autumn Festival is a relic of ancient celestial worship-the custom of worshipping the moon. In the "autumnal equinox" season of the 24 solar terms, it is an ancient "Mid-Autumn Festival", and the Mid-Autumn Festival comes from the traditional "Mid-Autumn Festival". In traditional culture, the moon and the sun are the same, and these two alternate celestial bodies become the objects of ancestor worship. The Mid-Autumn Festival celebration originated from ancient people's sacrifice to the moon, which is the legacy and derivative of China people's custom of sacrificing to the moon.

Sacrificing to the moon is a very old custom in China. In fact, it is a ritual activity of the ancients in some places in ancient China to "Moon God".

According to research, "Mid-Autumn Festival" was originally set on the day of autumnal equinox in the twenty-four solar terms of the Ganzhi calendar. However, due to historical development, the lunar calendar (summer calendar) was later used, so the Mid-Autumn Festival was transferred from the autumnal equinox among the 24 solar terms in the dry calendar to the 15th day of August in the summer calendar (lunar calendar). Mid-Autumn Festival is a synthesis of autumn seasonal customs, most of which have ancient origins.