Mid-Autumn National Day holiday in 2023: from September 29th to1October 6th, the holiday will be suspended for ***8 days. 1Saturday, October 7th,1Sunday, October 8th.
The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in ancient times, popularized in the Han Dynasty, shaped in the early years of the Tang Dynasty and prevailed after the Song Dynasty. Mid-Autumn Festival is a synthesis of seasonal customs in autumn, and most of the festival customs contained in it have ancient origins. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a colorful and precious cultural heritage, with the full moon as a sign of people's reunion, as the sustenance of missing their hometown and their loved ones, and hoping for a bumper harvest and happiness.
There are many nicknames for the Mid-Autumn Festival: in ancient times, there was an activity of the autumn equinox setting off the moon (Yue Bai), so it was called "Moon Festival" or "Festival of Sacrificing the Moon". Because the festival falls on August 15th, it is called "August Festival" and "August Half". Because the main activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival are carried out around the "moon", it is also commonly known as the "moon festival"; The full moon in Mid-Autumn Festival symbolizes reunion, so it is also called "Reunion Festival".
social customs and habits
1, sacrifice to the moon
Offering sacrifices to the moon is a very old custom in China, 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.
2. 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.
In ancient times, there were different customs in the north and south, and there were different customs in different places. The written records of Mid-Autumn Festival activities appeared in the 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.
3. Chasing the Moon
The so-called "chasing the moon" means that after the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the excitement is still unfinished, so the next night, many people invited relatives and friends to continue to enjoy the moon, which is called "chasing the moon". According to the preface of Lingnan Miscellaneous Notes by Chen Zihou, a Qing dynasty, "Good people in central Guangdong gather in Izayoi in August to treat wine and dishes and enjoy the moon, which is called chasing the moon."