Statement 1: Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the sacrificial activities of emperors.
The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival is said to have a history of more than two thousand years. "Book of Rites" records: "The son of heaven springs in the morning, the sun rises in autumn, and the moon sets in autumn. The Asahi is facing the DPRK, and the evening is in the evening. " "Moon at night" here means "Yue Bai". Sacrificing the moon was originally a ritual of emperors, but later officials and scribes followed suit, and this trend gradually spread to the people. Form traditional activities. Later, it was more important to enjoy the moon than to sacrifice it, and serious sacrifice turned into light entertainment.
Statement 2: The origin and prosperity of August Festival are related to Nanjing.
Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th, Jiangnan is also called August Festival. The origin and prosperity of August Festival is related to Nanjing.
As the season of the New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival came into being late, but enjoying the moon has a long history. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Nanjing's "Cow and Bamboo Playing on the Moon" was the most influential story so far, and even evolved into the Mid-Autumn Festival that the broad masses of the people loved for thousands of years.
Niuzhu (now Caishiji) belonged to Moling, Danyang County (now Nanjing) in Han Dynasty. "The History of Counties and Counties in Continued Han Dynasty" says that there is "Nanniuzhu" in Moling County. As early as 1600 years ago, the Eastern Jin Dynasty established its capital in Nanjing (then called Jianye), and Xie Shang, who was guarding Niuzhu, went boating on the Niuzhu River on a moonlit night. I heard that he satirized his poem "Ode to History" on the charter, which greatly appreciated him and invited him to cross the boat. This man is Justin. It hit it off and recited the poem until dawn. At that time, Xie Shang was a general in Zhenxi, while Justin was just a poor scholar who made a living by renting. Because of the respect for talents, the status barrier between them has been broken. Justin was praised by Xie Shang and became famous from then on. Xie Shang plays the moon, Yuan Hong chants history before, while scholars chase the moon after, so boatmen and moonwalkers emerge one after another. When Li Bai, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, came to Jinling to learn about it, he wrote a poem saying, "I heard about the five chapters of swimming in Niuzhu. Why thank Yuan Jialang today?" Emotionally, go to the Sun Kitchen Restaurant in the west of the city to "play with the moon". In the Tang Dynasty, Ouyang Zhan's Preface to Poems on the Moon also said: "Playing Gu Yue, Xie Fu Bao's family, looking at a castle in the distance, and in a bright building, all play the moon." Ming Chengzu visited the Moon Palace at night in the Tang Dynasty, and these are the stories that have been handed down to this day.
On August 15th, when it was Sanqiu, it was called Mid-Autumn Festival. Mid-Autumn Festival, the temperature is cool, the sky is crisp and the moon is in the middle of the sky. In order to enjoy the moon in the best season, people love to enjoy the moon at this time, which has gradually evolved into a festival since the Tang Dynasty. This is the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival.
Statement 3: Mid-Autumn Festival and Seasons
The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is just the moment when rice is ripe, and every household worships the land god. Mid-Autumn Festival may be the legacy of Qiubao. Seasonally, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the "Autumn Harvest Festival", and the grain sown in summer and spring should be harvested in autumn. Since ancient times, people have been drinking and dancing in this season to celebrate the harvest with joy, which is described in China's earliest collection of poems, The Book of Songs. From the origin, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a "Moon Festival", which originated from the worship of nature by ancient humans. In the ritual system of ancient emperors, there were two festivals in the Spring and Autumn Period: the Spring Festival for the sun and the Mid-Autumn Festival for the moon. At first, the day of offering sacrifices to the moon was at the "autumnal equinox", and August was different every year, so there was not necessarily a moon at the autumnal equinox. Sacrificing the moon without it is a great spoil, and August 15 is gradually established as the day of sacrificing the moon. From the scientific observation, the inclination of the earth and the sun increases in autumn, and the warm and humid air flow over China gradually fades, while the northwest wind is still very weak. In this way, the moisture is gone, the dust is gone, the air is particularly fresh, the sky is particularly clean, and the moon looks everywhere.
Round and big, it is the best time to enjoy the moon. Just as the ancient poem said, "Bright and bright, but enjoying the mid-autumn moon in ancient and modern times, I wonder if it is moonlight?" The sky is clear. "
Statement 4: The name of Mid-Autumn Festival
According to the China calendar, the eighth month of the lunar calendar is in the middle of autumn, and the second month of autumn is called "Mid-Autumn Festival", and August 15th is in the middle of it, so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival". Mid-Autumn Festival has many nicknames: it is called "August Festival" and "August and a half" because it falls on August 15th; Because the main activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival are all around the moon, it is also commonly known as the "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, the Mid-Autumn Festival was also called "correcting the moon".
The word Mid-Autumn Festival first appeared in Zhou Li: "In mid-spring, drummers advocate elegance and welcome the heat of summer;" Mid-autumn night is also like a cloud. According to Ouyang Zhan's Preface to Poems on the Moon in Chang 'an Opera, "Qiu Lai was followed by Xia Dong, and Qiu Lai in August. The season began at night and ended in the middle of the month. If you take it from the sky, it will be cold and hot, and if you take it from the number of months, it will be the toad soul garden. " In other words, the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is the middle of August in autumn, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival.
It is said that the Mid-Autumn Festival originated in the Han Dynasty and started in autumn. By the Tang Dynasty, there had been activities such as going to the stage to enjoy the moon, boating and drinking on the moon. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, August 15th was designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there was a custom of offering sacrifices to the moon, worshipping Dan, enjoying the moon and eating moon cakes. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this trend has not declined.
Statement 5: The origin of eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival.
China has long had the custom of eating moon cakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. There are different opinions about the origin of this custom.
Generally speaking, in the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, in order to conquer the northern Turks and pacify their repeated violations, let his general Li Jing personally lead the troops to station in the frontier fortress, and as a result, he repeatedly made outstanding achievements. On August 15, he returned to Beijing triumphantly. In order to celebrate the victory, guns were fired and music was played inside and outside Chang 'an, Kyoto, and the soldiers and civilians reveled all night. At that time, a Tubo went to Chang 'an to trade, and specially presented round cakes to the emperor to celebrate the victory. Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, was overjoyed. He took the decorated cake box, took out five-color round cakes and pointed to the bright moon hanging in the sky.
"Hu Bing was invited to be a toad, that is, the moon." Subsequently, the round cakes were distributed to civil and military officials. Since then, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival has been handed down.
The theory began in the Song Dynasty. In the Northern Song Dynasty, in Tokyo and Kyoto (now Kaifeng, Henan Province), on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people went upstairs to climb mountains, and when the moon rose, Yue Bai began. The offerings used include moon cakes, melons and fruits, cockscomb flowers, etc., but moon cakes are the main ones. Su Dongpo, a poet in the Song Dynasty, said: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, crisp and full." The moon cakes at that time were very similar to those of today.