? There are many names for the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition to being called "Mid-Autumn Festival" and "August Half", it is also called Moon Eve, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, August Festival, August Meeting, and Moon Chasing Festival. , Moon Playing Festival, Moon Worshiping Festival, Daughter's Day, Reunion Festival, etc. ?
1. The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival
? There are two main theories about the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
? First, it originated from the sacrificial activities of ancient emperors. According to the "Book of Rites", "The emperor faces the sun in spring and the moon in autumn." This sentence means that the emperor worships the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. The so-called Xiyue means worshiping the moon. This shows that as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, emperors had begun to worship and worship the moon. Later, nobles, bureaucrats and literati followed suit, and gradually spread to the people.
? Second, the Mid-Autumn Festival originates from agricultural production. Autumn is the harvest season, and the word "autumn" means "crops are ripe." During the Mid-Autumn Festival in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, crops and various fruits have matured one after another. In order to celebrate the harvest and express their joy, farmers set a day in the middle of the three months of autumn, which is the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, as a festival. .
? The Mid-Autumn Festival originated earlier, but it was not officially recognized as a festival until the early Tang Dynasty. It became popular in the Song Dynasty. one.
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. Since 2008, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national statutory holiday. 2. Alias ??of the Mid-Autumn Festival
? The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival with wide scope, great influence and many customs in my country. It is also a festival with many names.
? First, it is named according to time:
According to the ancient Chinese calendar, the 15th day of August in the lunar calendar is the middle day of autumn, so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival". ".
There are four seasons in a year, and each season is divided into three parts: Meng, Zhong and Ji. August is the second month of autumn and it is in autumn, so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival".
? And because this festival falls in August in autumn, it is also called the "Autumn Festival", "August Festival" and "August Meeting".
? The second is to name it according to the beautiful meaning of the festival:
? The Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival for family reunion. The moon on this day is exceptionally bright, full and round, symbolizing reunion. On nights like this, when people look up at the full moon, they naturally look forward to being reunited with their families. Wanderers who are far away from home also use the moon to express their longing for their hometown and relatives. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the "Reunion Festival", which means family reunion.
? The third is to name it according to the "month":
? Because the main activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival are carried out around the "month", it is also commonly known as "Moon Festival" and "Moon Eve". "Moon Chasing Festival", "Moon Playing Festival" and "Moon Worshiping Festival"; in the Tang Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was also called the "Duanzheng Month".
In ancient times, worshiping the moon was an important activity during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Many women hope to pray for "looking like Chang'e and having a face like the bright moon" by worshiping the moon. Generally speaking, women preside over the moon worship ceremony. There is a folk saying that "men do not worship the moon, and women do not worship the stove." Because only women can worship the moon, it is also called "Girls' Day". It is recorded in "Ciyuan" that "Mid-Autumn Festival is also called Women's Day".
? The ancients regarded February 15th in February as the "Flower Dynasty". Correspondingly, they also called August 15th as "Yuexi". Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Yuexi" . 3. Mid-Autumn Festival Customs
From the various nicknames mentioned above, we can also see the customs related to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Let’s summarize it here and explain the origin of eating mooncakes.
?There are many customs during the Mid-Autumn Festival, mainly national customs such as worshiping the moon, appreciating the moon, worshiping the moon, and eating moon cakes. In addition, there are also some unique customs in various places. For example, in Zhejiang, in addition to enjoying the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, watching the tide is also a grand event. The Jiangnan area has the custom of making light boats, while the Huguang area has the custom of lighting lanterns.
? The biggest custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival is probably eating moon cakes.
Do you know the origin of eating mooncakes?
? The custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is said to have been handed down from the Yuan Dynasty. According to legend, the lives of the vast number of people in the Central Plains were very painful under the cruel rule of the Yuan people. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to unite the resistance forces to stage an uprising. However, the officers and soldiers searched closely and the news could not be conveyed.
His adviser Liu Bowen came up with a plan. He asked people to make a kind of cake, hide the note of "August 15th Uprising" in the cake, and then let people spread it to the rebel armies in various places. Here, they were informed of the uprising on the night of August 15th.
After the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown, in order to commemorate this achievement, people ate mooncakes on August 15th, and this custom was passed down.