The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival 1

The Mid-Autumn Festival evolved from the ancient moon worship. The ancient calendar divided each season into three months, namely Meng month, Zhong month and Ji month. The eighth month of the lunar calendar happens to be the second month of autumn, which is called "Mid-Autumn Festival", and the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar happens to be one-half day of autumn, so it is also called "Mid-Autumn Festival". This day was originally designated as a festival for ancient emperors to worship the moon, and gradually evolved into the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival 2

The Mid-Autumn Festival evolved from the story of Chang'e flying to the moon. Hou Yi shot down the nine extra suns, and then God rewarded him with a medicine that made him an immortal. He couldn't bear to leave his wife Chang'e, so he gave the medicine to Chang'e for safekeeping.

On August 15th, Chang'e took the elixir and ran to the moon. Hou Yi missed Chang'e, so every year on this day, he would place Chang'e's favorite foods in the garden, hoping that she would come back and be reunited. After that, it happened every year and was passed down from generation to generation, and it evolved into a festival. Since this day is the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Three Origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival evolved from worshiping the God of the Earth. In agrarian societies, crops are vital to farmers, so people often offer sacrifices to the land. During the autumn harvest, farmers will offer sacrifices to the land god. The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month happens to be the harvest season, so it gradually evolved into the Mid-Autumn Festival.

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Customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival

Sacrifice the moon, appreciate the moon, worship the moon

Sacrifice the moon, appreciate the moon, Worshiping the moon has a long history. In ancient times, people would place offerings on the incense table to worship the moon god every Mid-Autumn Festival.

The practice of admiring the moon was very popular in the Tang and Song dynasties, so a large number of literati and poets wrote poems with the moon as their content, which are still popular today. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, moon worshiping and admiring activities became more extensive in various places. There are many "Moon Worshiping Altar", "Moon Worshiping Pavilion", "Moon Watching Tower" and other historic sites remaining in various parts of China.

Eating mooncakes

In ancient times, mooncakes were eaten as sacrifices during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that the custom of eating moon cakes began in the Tang Dynasty and spread to the people in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, it was not called "moon cakes" at that time, but was commonly known as "small cakes" and "moon balls".

In the Ming Dynasty, mooncakes became a seasonal food during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and this custom also spread among the people. The ingenious bakers at that time made the mythical story of Chang'e flying to the moon into patterns and printed them on the mooncakes, which made them even more popular.

There is also the custom of "divination of number one scholar" in some places in the south of the Yangtze River. To put it simply, the mooncakes are cut into three large, medium and small pieces and stacked on top of each other. The largest one is placed at the bottom, which is the "top pick"; the medium one is placed in the middle, which is the "second place"; and the smallest one is on the top, which is the "third flower". Then the whole family rolls dice, and according to the number of points, they are the "number one", "second place", and "third flower" respectively. They take the corresponding moon cakes and eat them, and have fun.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Mid-Autumn Festival