The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Eve, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, August Festival, August Meeting, Moon Chasing Festival, Moon Playing Festival, Moon Worshiping Festival, Daughter's Day or Reunion Festival, is popular in The traditional cultural festival of many ethnic groups in China and East Asian countries falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. It is named because it happens to be in the middle of the third autumn. In some places, the Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 16th day of the eighth month. The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the early Tang Dynasty and became popular in the Song Dynasty. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become as famous as New Year's Day and became one of the major festivals in China. Influenced by Han culture, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival in some countries in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, especially for overseas Chinese living there. Since 2008, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national statutory holiday. The country attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20, 2006, the festival was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.
Mid-Autumn Festival Customs
1. Mid-Autumn Festival to worship the moon
It is a very ancient custom in our country. According to historical records, as early as the Zhou Dynasty, ancient emperors had the custom of worshiping the sun at the spring equinox, the earth at the summer solstice, the moon at the autumnal equinox, and the sky at the winter solstice. The places where they worship are called the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Earth, the Temple of the Moon, and the Temple of Heaven. It is divided into four directions: southeast, northwest and northwest. The Moon Altar in Beijing is where emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties worshiped the moon. "Book of Rites" records: "The Emperor rises to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. When the sun rises to the sky, he falls to the moon on the eve." The eclipse of the eclipse moon here refers to the worship of the moon at night. This custom was not only pursued by the court and upper-class nobles, but also gradually affected the people with the development of society.
2. Literati appreciate the moon
The custom of appreciating the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon, and serious sacrifices have turned into relaxed entertainment. Folk activities of appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival began around the Wei and Jin Dynasties, but have not yet become a custom. In the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular, and many poets included poems praising the moon in their famous works. By the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival folk festival centered on moon appreciation activities had been formed, and it was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Festival.
3. Folk worshiping the moon
After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the relationship of the times, the practical utilitarian factors in social life became more prominent, and the secular interest in festivals became increasingly strong every year, with " The lyrical and mythological literati tradition centered on "appreciating the moon" has weakened, and utilitarian worship, prayer and secular emotions and wishes constitute the main form of the Mid-Autumn Festival customs of ordinary people. Therefore, "folk worshiping the moon" has become a symbol of people's desire for reunion, happiness and happiness; they use the moon to express their feelings.
4. Moonlight Horse
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the image of the Moon God underwent important changes. From the early purely Taoist moon palace scene featuring Chang'e, it evolved into the moonlight blending Buddhism and Taoism. A secular image of a Bodhisattva and a Jade Rabbit. During this period, people worshiped moonlight paper with the Moonlight Bodhisattva painted on it, also called "Moonlight Horse". Fucha Dunchong's "Yanjing Years' Notes" (1906). Records: "The moonlight horse is made of paper, with the lunar star king like a Bodhisattva on the top, and the moon palace and a medicine-making rabbit on the bottom. The figure is standing and holding a pestle. The algae color is exquisite and resplendent. It is sold in many shops. The long one is seven or eight feet long, and the short one is two or three feet long. There are two flags on the top, which are made of red, green, or yellow colors. They burn incense and offer sacrifices to the moon. After the sacrifice, they are burned together with thousands of pieces of gold ingots. "< /p>
5. Rabbit Master
The origin of Rabbit Master is around the end of Ming Dynasty. Ji Kun of the Ming Dynasty (who lived around 1636) wrote in "The Remaining Manuscript of Kao Pavilion": "On the Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing, people often wear rabbits in the shape of mud, with clothes and hats sitting like human figures, and children worship them." By the Qing Dynasty. , the function of Lord Rabbit has been transformed from offering sacrifices to the moon to being a Mid-Autumn Festival toy for children. The production is also becoming more and more sophisticated. Some are dressed as military commanders wearing armor and robes, some have paper flags or umbrellas on their backs, and some are sitting or standing. Sitting there are unicorns, tigers, leopards and so on. There are also vendors dressed as rabbit-headed people, or masters of barbering, or sewing shoes, selling wontons, tea soup, and so on.
6. Playing with lanterns
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are many game activities, the first of which is playing with lanterns. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three major lantern festivals in my country, and people play with lanterns during the festival. Of course, there is no large-scale lantern festival like the Lantern Festival during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Playing with lanterns is mainly done among families and children.
7. Fire dragon dance
Fire dragon dance is the most traditional custom of Hong Kong Mid-Autumn Festival. Starting from the 14th night of the eighth lunar month every year, a grand fire dragon dance event is held in the Tai Hang area of ??Causeway Bay for three consecutive nights. This fire dragon is more than 70 meters long, with a 32-section dragon body made of pearl grass and filled with longevity incense. On the night of the grand event, the streets and alleys of this district were filled with undulating fire dragons dancing joyfully under the lights and dragon drum music, making it very lively.
8. The custom of worshiping and worshiping the moon is also popular among ethnic minorities. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Dai people of Yunnan have a popular custom of "moon worship". According to the legend of the Dai people, the moon was transformed by Yan Jian, the third son of the emperor. Yanjian is a brave and strong young man. He once led the Dai people to defeat the enemy and won the love of the Dai folks. Later, after his unfortunate death, he turned into the moon and rose into the sky, continuing to emit soft moonlight and bring light to the Dai people in the darkness. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, young men take their gunpowder guns and go up to the mountains to shoot finches and pheasants early in the morning to hunt for festive game. Girls and wives are busy catching fish in lakes and ponds. They were all busy preparing the festive dinner.
The old lady was busy pounding glutinous rice and making food of different sizes. She placed a round glutinous rice cake on each of the four table corners, and put a stick of cold incense on each cake. As soon as the moon rises over the mountains and forests, cold incense is lit, and the whole family begins to "worship the moon." Then, gunpowder guns are fired into the sky to show respect for the hero Yanjian. Finally, the whole family sat happily around the small square table, tasting food, talking and laughing, admiring the moon, and then left happily.
Meaning
On August 15th, people celebrate the "Autumn Society" with festivals such as offering sacrifices to the moon, worshiping the moon, appreciating the moon, watching tides, admiring osmanthus, and feeding moon cakes. It integrates traditional activities with traditional Chinese culture and gradually gives this festival new meanings such as reunion.