The ancient emperors had a social system of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn, and the people also had the style of offering sacrifices to the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Later, appreciating the moon was more important than offering sacrifices to the moon, and serious sacrifices turned into relaxed entertainment. The custom of enjoying the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and many poets wrote poems about the moon in their masterpieces. In the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the court and folk activities of enjoying the moon in Yue Bai were even larger.
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The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the early years of the Tang Dynasty and prevailed in the Song Dynasty. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become one of the traditional festivals in China with the same reputation as the Spring Festival. Influenced by Chinese culture, Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival for overseas Chinese in some countries in East and Southeast Asia, especially local Chinese.
Since ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival has had customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, enjoying the moon, eating Yue Bai, enjoying osmanthus flowers and drinking osmanthus wine, which have spread to this day and lasted for a long time. 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.
People's Daily Online-About the origin and legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival: Why do you eat the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival?