The word "Mid-Autumn Festival" first appeared in Zhou Li's records. There are two theories about the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival.
First of all, the Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the sacrificial activities of ancient emperors: The Book of Rites records that "the son of heaven worships the sun in spring and the moon in autumn". "Evening Moon" is the worship of the moon by ancient emperors. This shows that there was an example of Emperor Yue Bai as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. The second argument is that the Mid-Autumn Festival is related to agricultural production: autumn is the harvest season. In the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, all kinds of crops are ripe, and people have a bumper harvest of crops and fruits. In order to celebrate the joy of Mid-Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival is regarded as a festival. The unprecedented development of agriculture, commerce and handicrafts in the Tang Dynasty greatly promoted the progress of social, political and economic systems. During this period, the national strength was strong and there was a joyful scene of singing and dancing. These conditions have played a cumulative role in the formation of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It also involves a short story. According to legend, on August 15th, Li Xuanzong was already in Xianban. At that time, he was visiting the Moon Palace, from which he saw that the country he ruled was so prosperous. I remember that my birthday is August 5th. I vaguely feel that we should combine the two to form a program to celebrate ourselves. This formed the initial state of Mid-Autumn Festival. Later, with the integration of the two, August 15 was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival went from the upper class to the masses, and the whole people reveled. This is because the maturity of papermaking and printing technology has generally improved people's cultural level, and the knowledge related to Mid-Autumn Festival has been widely spread. At that time, Goulan and Washe were both open. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people can drink and have fun, which makes it an important day.
And it is said that even the emperor will come out to play in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Even if the emperor comes out to play, it will naturally drive the lower class. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival became an important festival of national carnival in this period.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is recorded in the literary works of the Song Dynasty, such as Dream of Tokyo, Dream of Liang, Drunken Man's sake is not wine, etc.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, due to the relationship between the times and the skill factors in society, coupled with the multiplicity of entertainment methods, secular tastes were strong. Mid-Autumn Festival began to become a folk festival alongside Dragon Boat Festival and Spring Festival.
There are records about the Mid-Autumn Festival in the 75th and 76th chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions. The basic introduction is August 15, when Rongguo Gongfu beat drums to enjoy flowers, drank wine and listened to flutes on the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Until today, it has become an indispensable festival. On Mid-Autumn Festival, people get together with their families, eat moon cakes, drink osmanthus wine, sit and watch the moon, and chatter at home.