Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, Moonlight Birthday, Moon Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Festival, Moon Festival and Reunion Festival, is a traditional folk festival in China. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena, and evolved from the worship of the moon in autumn in ancient times. Since ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival has had folk customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, enjoying the moon cakes, watching lanterns, enjoying osmanthus flowers and drinking osmanthus wine, which have been passed down to this day and lasted for a long time.
The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in ancient times, popularized in Han Dynasty, and shaped in Tang Dynasty. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a synthesis of seasonal customs in autumn, and most of the festival customs it contains have ancient origins. As one of the important customs of folk festivals, offering sacrifices to the moon has gradually evolved into activities such as enjoying and singing the moon. 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.
Development of Mid-Autumn Festival
In the Tang Dynasty, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival was popular in northern China, and it became an officially recognized national festival in the Tang Dynasty. The Book of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty recorded the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th. The custom of appreciating the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival was very popular in Chang 'an area of the Tang Dynasty, and many poets' masterpieces contained poems chanting the moon. The Mid-Autumn Festival is combined with fairy tales such as the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang's felling of laurel, Jade Rabbit's smashing medicine, Yang Guifei's changing the moon god, and Tang Minghuang's visiting the moon palace, so that it is full of romance, and the wind of playing with the moon can only flourish.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, August 15th of the lunar calendar was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival. There are seasonal foods in literary works, such as "small cakes are like chewing the moon, and there are crisps and fillings in them". For example, Meng Yuan's "Tokyo Dream Record" said: "On the Mid-Autumn Night, your family is decorated with pavilions, and the people compete for the restaurant to play with the moon"; Moreover, "the strings are full of enthusiasm, and the residents are near, and the sound of sheng Yu is heard in the middle of the night, just like the clouds, the children in the room, and even the night wedding drama; As for the night market, as for familiarity. "