Moon cakes, also known as moon cakes, harvest cakes and reunion cakes, are one of the traditional delicacies of Han nationality in China. Moon cakes were originally used as sacrifices to worship the moon god.
Offering sacrifices to the moon is a very old custom in China, which is actually the worship of the "Moon God" by the ancients. Eating moon cakes and enjoying the moon in Mid-Autumn Festival is an indispensable custom in northern and southern China. Mooncakes symbolize a happy reunion. People regard them as holiday food, and use them to come to Yue Bai and give them to relatives and friends.
As an offering to worship the moon god, moon cakes have a long history.
The word "moon cake" first appeared in Liang Lumeng written by Wu, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty. Moon cakes are combined with local food customs, forming styles such as Guangdong, Shanxi, Beijing, Jiangsu, Chaozhou and Yunnan, which are deeply loved by people all over the country.
Cultural practices
Moon cakes are a very old custom in China. Moon cakes are offerings to worship the moon god in ancient Mid-Autumn Festival, and they are also seasonal food for Mid-Autumn Festival.
In ancient times, the moon was sacrificed every Mid-Autumn Festival night. Set up a big incense table and place sacrifices such as moon cakes and fruits. Under the moon, put the moon statue in the direction of the moon, and the red candle burns high. The whole family takes turns in Yue Bai, and then the housewife cuts the reunion moon cakes.
As an offering to worship the moon god, moon cakes have a long history. The word "moon cake" first appeared in Wu's Dream Record in the Southern Song Dynasty. Watching the moon and eating moon cakes are the necessary customs of Mid-Autumn Festival in all parts of China. As the saying goes: "The moon cake is sweet and fragrant when it is full on August 15th".
Moon cakes-the eating custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Su Dongpo, a great poet in the Song Dynasty, once praised moon cakes with a poem: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, crisp and stuffed", from which we can see that moon cakes in the Song Dynasty have been filled with ghee and sugar. In the Ming Dynasty, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival became more common.
Ming Shen-bang's "Miscellaneous Notes of Ten Thousand Parts" states: "The furniture of ordinary people's homes is a kind of moon cakes with different sizes, which are called moon cakes." In August, Haitang and Hosta flowers were enjoyed in the palace. From the first day of the first month, mooncakes have been sold. On 15, every household provided mooncakes and melons. If there are leftover moon cakes, they should be collected in a dry and cool place and used separately at the end of the year. This is the so-called reunion cake.
After the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the custom of eating and giving mooncakes at Mid-Autumn Festival became increasingly popular, and mooncakes had the symbolic meaning of "reunion".
From Qing Dynasty to modern times, new progress has been made in the quality and variety of moon cakes. Different raw materials, production methods and shapes make moon cakes more colorful, forming varieties with different characteristics, such as Beijing flavor, Suzhou flavor and Guangdong flavor.
Moon cakes are not only unique holiday food, but also exquisite cakes all year round, which are deeply loved by people. The word moon cake was first seen in the Southern Song Dynasty poet Wu's Dream, when it was just a snack. Later, people gradually associated moon viewing with moon cakes, symbolizing family reunion and pinning their thoughts.
At the same time, moon cakes are also important gifts for friends to contact their feelings during the Mid-Autumn Festival. At that time, moon cakes were diamond-shaped, coexisting with chrysanthemum cakes, plum cakes and five-kernel cakes, and "available at any time, call if you want, and don't miss customers." It can be seen that moon cakes at this time are not only eaten in the Mid-Autumn Festival.
As for the origin of the word moon cake, there is no textual research. However, Su Dongpo, a famous scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, left a poem that "a small cake is like chewing the moon, and there is fullness in it", which may be the basis for the origin and practice of the name of moon cakes.
There have been many records about moon cakes since the Ming Dynasty. At this time, moon cakes are round and can only be eaten in the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is the main sacrifice of the popular Mid-Autumn Festival in Ming Dynasty. "A Brief View of the Imperial Capital" says: "On August 15th, when the moon is sacrificed, the fruit cake is round."
Moonlight is located on the moon. If you worship the moon, you will burn moonlight paper and withdraw the offerings, and scattered families will pass it. As a result of moon cakes, relatives feed back, and the cake diameter is two feet. Mooncakes symbolize reunion, and there should be written records since the Ming Dynasty.
If we look at the information about moon cakes and Mid-Autumn Festival folk customs in Ming Dynasty, we should be able to see the historical track of moon cake reunion:
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family sat together to eat moon cakes and fruits (offerings of the moon). Because moon cakes are also round and shared by families, the implication that moon cakes represent family reunion has gradually formed. In some parts of Guangdong, Yue Bai has the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival, mainly for women and children. There is a saying that men are dissatisfied with the moon and women don't sacrifice stoves.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the folk customs in Jiangnan are also varied. In addition to eating moon cakes, Nanjing people must eat osmanthus duck, a famous dish of Dragon Dance Jinling. In addition to eating moon cakes, people in Sichuan Province also eat Ciba, kill ducks, sesame cakes and honey cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival.