What is the custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival?
First, sacrifice? ancestor
The festival of ancestor worship falls on July 15th in the lunar calendar, so it is called "July and a half" for short. Folks believe that ancestors will also return home to visit their children and grandchildren at this time, so they need to worship their ancestors. Worship ceremonies are usually held in the evening before the end of July, and are not limited to a specific day. According to the old custom, incense and paper should be burned for ancestors during the Mid-Autumn Festival to offer sacrifices to the dead. The old people who live at home will set up tables, chairs and tea in front of their own doors or frontispiece's house, so that the returning people can have a rest here for free to show their wishes.
Second, the river lights
River lanterns are also called "lotus lanterns". Generally, they put lamps or candles on the base, and they are placed in rivers, lakes and seas at Mid-Autumn Festival, leaving them floating. The lantern festival is said to have evolved from the lantern festival (Lantern Festival) custom. According to the folk, Shangyuan is human festival, Zhongyuan is ghost festival, man is yang, ghost is yin, land is yang, and water is yin, so Shangyuan lights up on land and Zhongyuan is in water. The mysterious darkness under the water reminds people of the legendary hell, where ghosts sink. So the lantern in Shangyuan is on land, and the lantern in Zhongyuan is in water.
Third, dough modeling
Before the 15th day of July, dough sculpture activities were popular among folk women, especially in northern Shanxi. A steamed bun shop, neighbors came to help. First of all, according to the actual number of people in the family, give everyone a big steamed bun first. The steamed buns given to the younger generation should be kneaded into a flat shape, which is called a noodle sheep. I hope that the younger generation will not forget the kindness of their parents. The flower steamed buns given to the older generation should be shaped into an adult, which means that the children and grandchildren are full of people and live a long life; The steamed buns given to peers should be shaped into fish, which is called noodle fish, which means more than one year.
Fourth, make eggplant cakes
People believe that eggplant cake can be the dry food of the deceased ancestors. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, every family in old Nanjing makes eggplant cakes, that is, fresh eggplant is shredded, flour is added and fried in oil. In fact, eggplant cake is now a common home-cooked dish. If you want to eat it, you can always make a plate to relieve your hunger.
V. Pray for a bumper harvest
Offering sacrifices on the Mid-Autumn Festival is often associated with wishing for a bumper harvest. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also the season near the harvest. Besides offering sacrifices to ghosts, it also undertakes the task of praying for a bumper harvest. Therefore, on shi gu night, every family should burn incense at their doorstep and pray for a bumper harvest of rice, and put incense sticks on the ground. This is also called "planting rice" (transplanting rice). The more you insert, the better, which symbolizes the bumper harvest of rice in autumn.
VI. Sacrificing land and crops
On the 15th of July, it was still popular among the people to offer sacrifices to land and crops. Scatter the offerings into the fields, burn the paper, and then wrap it around the ears of crops with five-color paper cut into pieces. Legend has it that hail can be avoided and a bumper harvest can be achieved in autumn. At the same time, some places have to go to Houtu Temple to offer sacrifices.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is the embodiment of China's traditional culture. The Mid-Autumn Festival contains China's traditional virtue of filial piety for thousands of years. It is a traditional cultural festival to remember the ancestors, and its cultural core is to respect the ancestors and perform filial piety.