China has had the custom of enjoying the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival since ancient times. In the Book of Rites, it is recorded that there is "autumn dusk and evening moon", and the evening moon is to worship the moon god. People put moon cakes, watermelons, apples, plums, grapes and other seasonal fruits on the big incense table, and when the moon hangs in the air, they begin to worship. In the Tang Dynasty, it was quite popular to enjoy and play with the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was more popular. "Dream of Tokyo" records: "On the Mid-Autumn Night, your family decorated the terrace, and the people competed for the restaurant to play with the moon." On this day, all shops and restaurants in Beijing have to redecorate their facades, tie silk ornaments on archways, sell fresh fruits and refined food, and the night market is very lively, and most people board the balcony. Some rich families enjoy the moon in their own pavilions, and arrange food or family dinners to reunite their children and talk with them.
Mid-Autumn Festival custom-eating moon cakes
Eating moon cakes is the custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is crisp in autumn, the moon is the roundest, and the whole family is reunited-"the moon is * * *". It is this desire for reunion that forms the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital" records: "On August 15th, the cake will be round ... Those who have a wife who will return to Ning will return to their husband's house in time, which is also a reunion festival." Tian Rucheng, a Ming Dynasty man, directly linked the Mid-Autumn Festival with moon cakes in his Notes on the Tour of the West Lake: "August 15th is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people give moon cakes as a gift to show their reunion." Moon cakes symbolize reunion, and they are a must-have for Mid-Autumn Festival.
Who invented the Mid-Autumn Moon Cake? In ancient China, emperors had rituals of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, there are also customs that influence Yue Bai. Moon cakes are sacrifices to worship the moon god in ancient Mid-Autumn Festival. According to historical records, as early as 3,000 years ago in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, there was a kind of "Taishi cake" in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces to commemorate Taishi Wen Zhong, which was the ancestor of moon cakes in China. After Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, he introduced sesame seeds and walnuts, which added auxiliary materials to the production of moon cakes. At this time, a round cake filled with Hu (nuclear) peach kernels appeared, named "Hu cake". In the Tang Dynasty, there were bakers engaged in production among the people, and pastry shops began to appear in Chang 'an, the capital. It is said that one year in the Mid-Autumn Festival, when Tang Minghuang and Yang Guifei enjoyed the moon and ate Hu Bing, Tang Minghuang thought the name of Hu Bing was not nice. Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon and blurted out, "Moon cake." Since then, the name of "moon cake" has gradually spread.
Mid-Autumn Festival custom-Ciba
Similar to eating moon cakes, it is also the custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival to make rice cakes.
Moon cakes are round, symbolizing reunion; Ciba is also round, which means reunion and reunion. Because it is made of sticky glutinous rice, it symbolizes sticking everyone together and never separating. Moon cakes are good gifts, and Ciba is also a gift.
The difference is that the scope of eating moon cakes is nationwide, while the custom of making Ciba is mainly distributed in rice-growing areas in the Yangtze River valley, especially in Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei and Hunan. There is a folk saying: "If you don't snoring in the Mid-Autumn Festival, your wife and children won't go home."