The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the worship of the moon in autumn in ancient times. The Mid-Autumn Festival is popular in the Han Dynasty, which is a period of economic and cultural exchanges and integration between the north and the south of China, and cultural exchanges between different places spread together. The Mid-Autumn Festival custom was popular in northern China in the Tang Dynasty. Mid-Autumn Festival became an officially recognized national festival, about in the Tang Dynasty.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, August 15th of the lunar calendar was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival. There are seasonal foods in literary works, such as "small cakes are like chewing the moon, and there are crisps and fillings in them".
For example, Meng Yuan's "Tokyo Dream Record" said: "On the Mid-Autumn Night, your family is decorated with pavilions, and the people compete for the restaurant to play with the moon"; Moreover, "the string is full of enthusiasm, and it is close to the residents. At night, it is like a cloud. Children in the room, even the night wedding drama; As for the night market, as for familiarity. "
Mid-Autumn Festival custom:
Offering sacrifices to the moon is a very old custom in China, and it is actually a worship activity of the ancients to the "Moon God". In ancient times, there was a custom of "autumn dusk and evening moon". Evening moon, that is, worship the moon god. Since ancient times, in some parts of Guangdong, people have the custom of worshipping the Moon God (Moon Mother and Moonlight) on the Mid-Autumn Festival night.
In Yue Bai, a big incense table was set up, offering sacrifices such as moon cakes, watermelons, apples, red dates, plums and grapes. Under the moon, put the "Moon God" tablet in the direction of the moon, and the red candle burns high. The whole family worships the moon in turn and prays for blessings. Sacrificing the moon to admire it and remembering it expressed people's good wishes. As one of the important ceremonies of Mid-Autumn Festival, offering sacrifices to the moon has continued from ancient times to the present.