Introduction to Mid-Autumn Festival:
Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, Moonlight Birthday, Moonlight Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Worship Festival, Moon Festival, Moon Festival, Reunion Festival, etc. Is a traditional cultural festival popular among many ethnic groups in China, which falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month every year. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the worship of the autumn moon in ancient times.
Offering sacrifices to the moon has a long history, and it is an activity of offering sacrifices to the "Moon God" in some places in ancient China. The autumnal equinox in the twenty-four solar terms is an ancient "Moon Festival". Since ancient times, Mid-Autumn Festival has had folk customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, enjoying the moon, eating moon cakes, watching lanterns, enjoying osmanthus and drinking osmanthus wine.
Mid-Autumn Festival is usually the harvest season, spring blossoms and autumn harvest is fruitful, which is the inherent law of nature. The ancients believed that the harvest was the result of good weather, and after the harvest, they would worship heaven and earth to show their gratitude. In ancient times, it gradually became a custom to offer sacrifices to the Moon God to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. With the development of the festival, the full moon gradually evolved into the meaning of "reunion of people", and reunion became the core connotation of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Dragon Boat Festival are also called the four traditional festivals in China. Influenced by China culture, Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival for overseas Chinese in some countries in East and Southeast Asia, especially local Chinese. On May 20th, 2006, the State Council listed it in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage. Since 2008, Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national statutory holiday.
Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "correcting the moon". The record of "Reunion Festival" was first seen in the literary works of the Ming Dynasty. Travel Notes on the West Lake says: August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send moon cakes to show their reunion. "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital" also said: "On August 15th, the moon was sacrificed, the cakes were round, the melons were wrongly divided, and the petals were carved with lotus flowers.
The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the worship of the autumn moon in ancient times. Offering sacrifices to the moon has a long history, and it is an activity of offering sacrifices to the "Moon God" in some places in ancient China. The autumnal equinox in the twenty-four solar terms is an ancient "Moon Festival".