First, it originated from the sacrificial activities of ancient emperors. It is recorded in the Book of Rites that the emperor worships the moon in the spring, the sun rises in the autumn, and the moon falls in the evening, indicating that as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, emperors began to worship the moon and Yue Bai. Later, aristocratic officials and scholars followed suit and gradually spread to the people.
Second, the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival is related to agricultural production. Autumn is the harvest season. The interpretation of the word autumn is: autumn is when the crops are ripe. Mid-Autumn Festival in August, crops and various fruits are maturing one after another. In order to celebrate the harvest and express their joy, farmers take Mid-Autumn Festival as a festival. Mid-Autumn Festival means the middle of autumn. The August of the lunar calendar is a month in the middle of autumn, and the 15th is a day in the middle of this month. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival may be a custom inherited from the ancient autumn newspaper.
Third, some historians have pointed out that the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival should be Tang Jun at the end of Sui Dynasty on August 15th, 13th year of Daye, and Pei Ji of Tang Jun invented moon cakes with the idea of a full moon, and distributed them to the army as military salaries, which successfully solved the problem of military rations derived from absorbing a large number of anti-Sui rebels.
Fourth, the Mid-Autumn Festival evolved slowly from the ancient worship of the moon. The ancient calendar divided each season into three months, namely, Meng Yue, Mid Moon and Ji Yue. August of the lunar calendar happens to be the second month of autumn, so it is called Mid-Autumn, while August 15th of the lunar calendar happens to be half of autumn, so it is called Mid-Autumn Festival. At first, this day was designated as a festival for the ancient emperors to sacrifice the moon, and it gradually evolved into the Mid-Autumn Festival.