Eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional folk custom in my country, just like eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival and glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival. Throughout the ages, people have regarded mooncakes as a symbol of good luck and reunion. In addition to offering moon cakes to worship the moon, moon cakes are also given as gifts to relatives and friends. Mooncakes have become a symbol of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, when the bright moon is in the sky, families gather together, enjoy cakes, admire the moon, chat and enjoy family happiness. Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, small cakes, moon cakes, reunion cakes, etc., are offerings to worship the moon god during the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times. Passed down, the custom of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival has been formed. Mooncakes have a long history in our country. According to historical records, as early as the Yin and Zhou dynasties, there was a kind of "Taishi cake" with thin edges and thick heart in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas to commemorate Taishi Wenzhong. This is the "ancestor" of Chinese mooncakes. When Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty was on his mission to the Western Regions, he introduced sesame seeds and walnuts to add auxiliary ingredients to the production of moon cakes. At this time, round cakes filled with walnut kernels appeared, called "Hu cakes". In the Tang Dynasty, there were already private bakers engaged in production, and bakery shops began to appear in Chang'an, the capital. It is said that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival one year, when Emperor Taizong and Concubine Yang were enjoying the moon and eating Hu cakes, Emperor Taizong thought the name "Hu cakes" was not nice. Concubine Yang looked up at the bright moon, her heart was surging, and casually said "Moon cakes". The name "Mooncake" gradually spread among the people. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the royal family of the Northern Song Dynasty liked to eat a kind of "palace cake", which is commonly known as "small cake" and "moon cake" among the people. Su Dongpo has a poem that goes: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispness and joy in the middle." Zhou Mi, a writer in the Song Dynasty, mentioned the name "moon cakes" for the first time in "Old Wulin Stories", which described what he saw in Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival gradually became popular among the people. At that time, the ingenious bakers printed the mythical story of Chang'e flying to the moon as a food art pattern on moon cakes, making moon cakes a must-have food for the Mid-Autumn Festival that is more popular among the people. Tian Rucheng of the Ming Dynasty said in his "West Lake Tour": "August 15th is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send mooncakes to each other to express the meaning of reunion." In the Qing Dynasty, the production technology of mooncakes has been greatly improved, and the varieties have also continued to increase. Moon cakes are available everywhere. Yuan Jinglan, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, has a long "Poetry of Ode to Mooncakes", which includes: "Entering the kitchen, the light catches the frost, and the steaming cauldron air flows. Rub the dust into fine powder, and dot it with traces of rouge. Qi and Li give each other gifts, and there is no room for neglect... "…Children sit together for a reunion, cups and plates are scattered," and other sentences, describing everything from the making of mooncakes, giving mooncakes to each other among relatives and friends, to setting up family banquets and admiring the moon. There are no precise records in historical records about the formation of the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. But many folk legends tell the origin of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Among the many legends, the most widely circulated one is that "moon cakes convey messages". According to legend, in the late Yuan Dynasty, the ruler's brutal rule aroused widespread hatred among the people, and uprisings and resistance were brewing everywhere. In order to maintain their rule and prevent people from rebelling, the rulers stipulated that private possession of iron weapons was not allowed, and only ten families were allowed to share one kitchen knife. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhang Shicheng, the leader of the peasant uprising, wrote the time of the Mid-Autumn Uprising on slips of paper, put them in mooncakes and gave them to every household. When people broke open the mooncakes and saw the note, they picked up their kitchen knives one after another, gathered to revolt, and launched a rebellion against the oppression of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty. To commemorate this uprising, people eat mooncakes on August 15th every year and this has become a habit. Another legend is that Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty conquered the Turks in the north and returned to the capital in triumph on August 15th. Chang'an City was filled with joy. There was a Tulei man in Chang'an who presented round cakes to Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to celebrate his victory. Taizong was overjoyed. He took out the round cake from the ornately decorated cake box, pointed at the bright moon hanging in the sky and said with a smile: "You should invite the toad with the Hu cake." Then Taizong and all the officials ate round cakes together, and from then on the custom of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival was formed. In addition, there is also a legend that Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty ate fairy cakes made by Chang'e when he visited the Moon Palace. After returning to the palace, he could not forget the delicious food, so he ordered people to make it and eat it on August 15th. Most records of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival first appeared in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Tian Rucheng of the Ming Dynasty said in "History of Traveling to the West": "The fifteenth day of August is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. Folks use moon cakes as legacy to take the meaning of reunion." Because the ancients called the Mid-Autumn Festival the "Reunion Festival", the moon cakes are also called "Reunion Cake". ". During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular. Fucha Dunchong, a man of the Qing Dynasty, said in "Yanjing Chronicles": "In terms of Mid-Autumn mooncakes, those who go to Zhimei Zhai in the Qianmen are the first in the capital, and there is not enough food elsewhere."

Moon cakes can be found everywhere. They are as big as a foot, with the shape of a toad and a rabbit in the moon palace. Some are eaten after offering sacrifices, and some are eaten until New Year's Eve. They are called reunion cakes. In addition to being a must-have for the Mid-Autumn Festival, moon cakes are In addition to food, mooncakes are also holiday gifts for relatives and friends. As time goes by, mooncakes have gradually changed from home-made handmade products to a professional production. The varieties have continued to increase and the quality has continued to improve. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they have developed into a traditional one. Pastry form. “Modern mooncakes inherit the traditional forms of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but are more exquisitely made and have more flavors. Mooncakes from different regions have won people's favor with their unique characteristics: Cantonese-style mooncakes have thin skin, softness, sweetness and delicious fillings; Soviet-style mooncakes are crispy, crispy, sweet and salty; Chaozhou-style mooncakes use sugared winter melon as the base. Filling, moist and crunchy. In addition to the traditional round shape that symbolizes reunion, mooncakes also come in square, octagonal, triangular, rectangular and other shapes. The fillings include rock sugar, bean paste, lotus paste, five kernels, mint, date paste, ham, egg yolk, and barbecued pork. There are dozens of kinds, all kinds of varieties, everything you want. As a special food during the Mid-Autumn Festival, moon cakes have patterns related to the moon, such as "Chang'e flying to the moon", "Toad Rabbit in the Moon Palace", "Galaxy Night Moon", "Three Pools Reflecting the Moon", "Xishi Drunken Moon", etc. The exquisite patterns not only set off the peaceful atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival, but also add to the poetic and picturesque atmosphere of the festival. References: 1. Zheng Qianhui Eat Smartly and Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival 2. Georgia Newspaper 3. Full Moon and Mid-Autumn Festival