1. Sacrifice to the Moon (Yue Bai).
It is a very old custom in our country, and it is actually a worship activity of the ancients to the "Moon God". In ancient times, there was a custom of "autumn dusk and evening moon". Evening moon, that is, worship the moon god. Since ancient times, in some parts of Guangdong, people have the custom of worshipping the Moon God (Moon Mother and Moonlight) on the Mid-Autumn Festival night. In Yue Bai, a big incense table was set up, offering sacrifices such as moon cakes, watermelons, apples, red dates, plums and grapes. Under the moon, the "Moon God" tablet is placed in the direction of the moon, and the red candle burns high. The whole family worships the moon in turn and prays for blessings. Sacrificing the moon to admire it and remembering it expressed people's good wishes. As one of the important ceremonies of Mid-Autumn Festival, offering sacrifices to the moon has continued from ancient times to the present, and gradually evolved into a folk activity of appreciating and praising the moon. At the same time, it has become the main form of modern people's longing for reunion and pinning their good wishes for life.
2. Mid-Autumn Night with Lights on
There is a custom of burning lamps to help the moonlight. Nowadays, there is still the custom of burning lamps on the tower with tiles stacked on it in Huguang area. There is a custom of making lantern boats in the south of the Yangtze River. The custom of burning lanterns in modern Mid-Autumn Festival is more prosperous. Modern people Zhou Yunjin and He Xiangfei said in their article "Talking about Seasons in Leisure": "Guangdong has the most prosperous lanterns, and families tie lanterns with bamboo sticks ten days before the festival. Make fruit, birds, animals, fish and insects and' celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival', and paint various colors on paste paper. The internal combustion candle of Mid-Autumn Night Lantern is tied to a bamboo pole with a rope, which is high on the tile eaves or terrace, or it is built into a glyph or various shapes with small lights and hung at the height of the house, commonly known as' Mid-Autumn Festival on a tree' or' Mid-Autumn Festival vertically'. The lamp hung by a wealthy family can be as high as tens of feet. Family members gather under the lamp to enjoy drinking, while ordinary people erect a flagpole and two lanterns to enjoy themselves. "The city is full of lights, like a glass world." The custom of burning lanterns in Mid-Autumn Festival seems to be second only to Lantern Festival in scale.
Step 3 enjoy the moon
The custom of enjoying the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon, and serious sacrifices have become relaxed pleasures. It is said that the moon is closest to the earth this night, and the moon is the largest, roundest and brightest, so there is a custom of drinking and enjoying the moon since ancient times; The daughter-in-law who goes back to her mother's house will return to her husband's house in the future, in order to express her happiness and good luck. The written records of folk Mid-Autumn Festival activities appeared in Wei and Jin Dynasties, but they did not become a habit. In the Tang Dynasty, it was quite popular to enjoy and play with the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, and many poets wrote poems about the moon in their masterpieces.
4. Chasing the Moon The so-called "Chasing the Moon"
Even after the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the excitement was still unfinished, so the next night, many people invited relatives and friends to continue to enjoy the moon, called "chasing the moon." According to Chen Zihou's preface to Lingnan Miscellaneous Notes in the Qing Dynasty, "A busybody in central Guangdong, in Izayoi in August, gathered relatives and friends to treat wine and dishes and enjoy the moon, which is called chasing the moon.
"5. Watch the tide
In ancient times, in addition to enjoying the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival in Zhejiang, tide watching was another Mid-Autumn Festival event. The custom of watching tide in Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, which was described in detail in Mei Cheng's Fu of Seven Hair in Han Dynasty. After the Han Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival tide watching became more popular. There are also records of watching the tide in Zhu Tinghuan's Supplementing the Past Events of Wulin in Ming Dynasty and Meng Liang Lu by Zi Mu in Song and Wu Dynasties.
Step 6 guess a riddle
On the Mid-Autumn Festival full moon night, there are many lanterns hanging in public places. People gather together to guess the riddles written on the lanterns. Because they are the favorite activities of most young men and women, love stories are also heard at these activities, so solve riddles on the lanterns in the Mid-Autumn Festival has also been derived as a form of love between men and women.
7. Eat moon cakes
Moon cakes, also called moon group, harvest cake, palace cake and reunion cake, are offerings to worship the moon god in ancient Mid-Autumn Festival. Moon cakes were originally used as sacrifices to the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded the Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion. Moon cakes symbolize a happy reunion. People regard them as holiday food, and use them to worship the moon and give them to relatives and friends. Up to now, eating moon cakes has become a necessary custom for Mid-Autumn Festival in northern and southern parts of China. On this day, people eat moon cakes to show "reunion".
8. Enjoy osmanthus and drink osmanthus wine
People often eat moon cakes and enjoy osmanthus in the Mid-Autumn Festival, and eat all kinds of foods made of osmanthus, among which cakes and sweets are the most common. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, looking up at the osmanthus in the middle of the month, smelling the Gui Xiang, drinking a cup of osmanthus wine and celebrating the sweetness of the family have become a beautiful enjoyment of the festival. In modern times, people mostly take red wine instead.
9. Vertical Mid-Autumn Festival
In some places in Guangdong, the Mid-Autumn Festival has an interesting traditional custom called "Tree Mid-Autumn Festival". Trees are also vertical, which means that the lights are erected high, so it is also called "vertical Mid-Autumn Festival". With the help of parents, children make rabbit lanterns, carambola lanterns or square lanterns out of bamboo paper, hang them horizontally in short poles, and then erect them on high poles, holding them high and shining with colorful lights, adding another scene to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Children often compete with each other to see who stands tall and much taller, and the lights are the most exquisite. At night, the lights in the city, such as stars, compete with the bright moon in the sky to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.