The first day of the eighth lunar month is the ancient festival of the Chinese nation - the Moon Festival.

Moon Festival, also known as "Moonlight Festival", "Yuehua Festival", "Moon Festival", "Moon Night Festival", "Mid-Autumn Festival", "August Festival", "August Meeting", "Moon Chasing Festival", "Moon Playing Festival", "Moon Worshiping Festival" or "Yue Niang Festival" are traditional cultural festivals popular among many ethnic groups in China and East Asian countries.

The activity of worshiping the moon is the fine tradition of "respecting heaven and earth" in ancient China, and it is also a symbol of the ceremonial state of the Chinese nation. There was a ritual of worshiping the moon in the Zhou Dynasty. The "Book of Rites" has "Autumn Twilight and Xiyue", and the Xiyue is to worship the moon.

In the Zhou Dynasty, the autumnal equinox was designated as the time to worship the moon. Some people also put the time of worshiping the moon on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. In ancient times, ceremonial activities for worshiping the moon were generally hosted by the royal family and the government. It was not until the Han and Wei dynasties that folk moon worship activities began.

The significance of worshiping the moon

1. Reunion

Appreciating the moon and worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival are important contents of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Among the people, it expresses people’s prayers for reunion. Yuanyuan’s good wishes. When the bright moon rises in the east, people set up a table in the courtyard to worship the moon, and the offerings are mainly moon cakes.

Melons and fruits, especially grapefruit, are indispensable. Most of the sacrifices are round, which means reunion. After the sacrifice, the family members sit together, drink osmanthus wine, eat moon cakes, admire the moon, and tell stories about the moon, such as the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, Wu Gang cutting down trees, etc.

2. Love

In some places, every moon festival is a wonderful opportunity for young men and women to pursue love and express their love. After worshiping the moon, young men and women would take advantage of the clear moonlight and go out in groups to sing antiphons in the beautiful night outdoors. They would often stay up all night without stopping. From then on, they formed a good relationship for a hundred years.

The above content needs to be combined with the actual situation and is for reference only.