According to legend, there was a man named WU GANG in the Moon Palace, who was a native of Xihe in Han Dynasty. He once followed the immortal to the heaven, but he made a mistake. The immortal relegated him to the Moon Palace and cut down the laurel trees in front of the Moon Palace every day as a punishment. This osmanthus tree grows luxuriantly, with a height of more than 500 feet. Every time it is cut down, the cut place will be closed immediately. Li Bai wrote in the poem "Give Cui Sihu Wen Kun Ji": "If you want to stay in the middle of the moon, you will be paid for the cold."
Extended data:
Historical origin
This is a traditional festival in China. On the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, there is a custom of enjoying the moon and eating moon cakes.
Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival in China. According to historical records, the word "Mid-Autumn Festival" first appeared in the book Zhou Li. By the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a record of "telling Shangshu Town that cattle were confused, and mid-autumn evening and the left and right traveling incognito across the river". It was not until the early years of the Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. The Book of Tang Taizong records the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th. The prevalence of Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Song Dynasty, and by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was as famous as the Spring Festival and became one of the major festivals in China. This is also the second largest traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival.
According to China's calendar, the eighth month of the lunar calendar is in the middle of autumn, which is the second month of autumn, and it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival", while the fifteenth day of August is in the middle of it, so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival". There are many nicknames for Mid-Autumn Festival: it is called "August Festival" and "August and a half" because it falls on August 15th; Because the main activities of Mid-Autumn Festival are all around the "moon", it is also commonly known as "Moon Festival" and "Moon Festival". The full moon in Mid-Autumn Festival symbolizes reunion, so it is also called "Reunion Festival".
In the Tang Dynasty, Mid-Autumn Festival was also called "Correcting the Moon". The record of "Reunion Festival" was first seen in the Ming Dynasty. "Notes on the Tour of the West Lake" said: "August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send mooncakes as a token of reunion". "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of Dijing" also said: "On the 15th of August, when the moon is sacrificed, the cakes will be round, the melons will be wrongly divided, and the petals will be carved like lotus flowers. ..... Those who have a wife who returns to Ning will return to her husband's house one day, which is called "Reunion Festival".
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a custom of "reunion" in most parts of China, that is, a small cake symbolizing reunion and resembling a moon cake, which is filled with sugar, sesame, osmanthus and vegetables, and covered with designs such as the moon, osmanthus trees and rabbits. After the moon festival, the elders in the family will divide the cake into pieces according to the number of people, one for each person, and if someone is not at home, leave a copy for them to show family reunion.
Another explanation for the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is that the 15th day of the eighth lunar month happens to be the moment when rice is ripe, and all families worship the land god. The Mid-Autumn Festival may be the legacy of the Autumn Newspaper.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a vestige of the ancient celestial worship-the custom of respecting the moon. According to Zhou Li Chun Guan, there have been activities in the Zhou Dynasty, such as "welcoming the cold in the mid-autumn night", "offering good clothes in the mid-autumn" and "the autumn equinox and the evening moon (Yue Bai)". In the Han Dynasty, on the Mid-Autumn Festival or the day of beginning of autumn, the elderly were respected and provided with male coarse cakes. There was also a Mid-Autumn Festival in Jin Dynasty, but it was not very common. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival was combined with fairy tales such as the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang's felling of laurel, Jade Rabbit's smashing medicine, Yang Guifei's changing to the moon god, and Tang Minghuang's visiting the moon palace, which made it full of romance, and the wind of playing with the moon flourished.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, August 15th was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there were seasonal foods such as "small cakes are like chewing the moon, and there are crisps and fillings in them". Meng Yuanlao's Tokyo Dream Record said: "On the Mid-Autumn Night, your family decorated the terrace, and the people competed 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. " Wu Zimu's Dream of Liang Lu said: "On this occasion, the golden phoenix is refreshing, the jade dew is cool, the osmanthus fragrance is floating, and the silver toad is full of light.
Prince Sun's son, a rich man with a huge room, never fails to climb a dangerous building, play with the moon on the porch, or open a wide pavilion, have a feast, and sing loudly with his harps and harps, so as to predict the joy of the evening. Even if it's a house with a mat, you can also board a small platform, arrange family dinners and gather around your children to reward the festival. Although the poor man in the mean lane knows how to drink in the agricultural market, he barely welcomes the joy and refuses to waste it. This night, I sold and bought in the street until the fifth drum, playing with tourists on the moon, and my mother-in-law was in the market, until it burned endlessly. "
More interestingly, The Newly Edited Notes on Drunken Weng describes the custom of Yue Bai: "The children of Qingcheng family can reach twelve or thirteen by themselves without being rich or poor, and all of them are decorated with the eyes of adults, and they go upstairs or the atrium to burn incense in Yue Bai, each with its own direction; Men are willing to go to the toad hall early and climb the fairy laurel. ... women want to look like Chang' e and be as round as the bright moon. "
Moon-watching activities in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were very popular. "Its fruit cake must be round"; Every family should set up a "moonlight position" and "worship for the moon" in the direction of the moon. Lu Qihong's "Beijing's Year of China" contains: "On the Mid-Autumn Night, people have their own symbols of the Moon Palace, and the symbols are free from standing like people; Chen melon and fruit are in court, and the cake surface is painted with moon palace toad exemption; Men and women worship incense and burn it. "
Tian Rucheng's "Notes on the West Lake Tour" says: "It's evening, and people have a feast to enjoy the moon, or take a boat with Baihu Lake to swim along the river. On top of Su Causeway, it is no different from daytime to join hands in singing "; "People invite each other with moon cakes and take the meaning of reunion". Fucha Dunchong's "Yanjing Year's Chronicle" said: "Mid-Autumn moon cakes are the first in Kyoto, and there is not enough food elsewhere. Moon cakes are everywhere. The big one is more than a foot, and the shape of the moon palace wax rabbit is painted on it. " "Every Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhumen, the mansion, presents moon cakes and fruits.
By the full moon of May, Chen Guaguo was in court for the moon, and was sacrificed to edamame and Celosia cristata. It's the right time, when the colorful clouds are scattered at the beginning, and the children are noisy. It's really called a festive season. When the moon is only available, men don't bow down. At the same time, in the past 500 years, festivals such as burning incense, walking on the moon, putting sky lanterns, planting Mid-Autumn Festival, lighting tower lanterns, dancing dragon, dragging stones and selling male prostitute have been launched. Among them, the customs of enjoying the moon, eating moon cakes and having a reunion dinner have been passed down to today. ?
References:
Wu Gangfa Gui _ Baidu Encyclopedia