The moon on the fifteenth day is round and round. The answer to the lantern riddle is moon cakes.

Moon cakes, also known as moon cakes, harvest cakes, reunion cakes, etc., are one of the traditional Han Chinese delicacies in China. Moon cakes were originally used as offerings to worship the moon god. Sacrifice to the moon is a very ancient custom in China. It is actually an activity of worship of the "Moon God" by the ancients.

Eating moon cakes and admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival are indispensable customs in the Mid-Autumn Festival in northern and southern China. Moon cakes symbolize reunion, and people regard them as festive food, using them to worship the moon and give them to relatives and friends. Moon cakes have a long history as offerings to worship the moon god.

The term mooncake was first included in the extant literature in "Meng Liang Lu" written by Wu Zimu in the Southern Song Dynasty. Mooncakes have been integrated with the dietary customs of various places, and have developed into Cantonese-style, Jin-style, Beijing-style, Soviet-style, Chaozhou-style, Yunnan-style mooncakes, etc., which are loved by people from all over the north and south of China.

Mooncakes symbolize reunion and should have been recorded in writing since the Ming Dynasty. If we look at the information about moon cakes and Mid-Autumn Festival folk customs from the Ming Dynasty, we should be able to see the historical trajectory of moon cakes meaning reunion: after worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family would sit around and share moon cakes and fruits (moon offerings).

Because moon cakes are also round and shared by the whole family, moon cakes have gradually come to symbolize family reunion. In some places in Guangdong, there is a custom of worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, mainly for women and children. There is a proverb that "men do not worship the full moon, women do not worship the stove". Folk customs during the Mid-Autumn Festival in areas south of the Yangtze River are also diverse. Nanjing people love to eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and they must also eat Jinling's famous dish of osmanthus duck with dancing fire dragon.

Nutritional benefits:

Mooncake fillings mostly use plant-based seeds, such as walnut kernels, almonds, sesame seeds, melon seeds, hawthorn, lotus paste, red beans, jujube paste, etc., which are good for The human body has certain health effects. Plant seeds are high in unsaturated fatty acids, mostly oleic acid and linoleic acid, which are good for softening blood vessels and preventing arteriosclerosis; they also contain minerals, which are good for improving immunity and preventing zinc deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in children.

Lotus seeds, red beans, and sesame seeds are very high in potassium, which can replace intracellular sodium salts, nourish the heart muscle, and regulate blood pressure. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, some raw materials are mostly mild in nature, strengthening the heart, calming, and calming the nerves. Some seeds are rich in vitamin E, which is anti-aging and nourishes the skin and hair. Mooncakes can soften blood vessels, prevent arteriosclerosis, and improve immunity.