The Mid-Autumn Festival is on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.
Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, August Festival, Moon Chasing Festival, Moon Playing Festival, Moon Worship Festival, Daughter's Day or Reunion Festival, is a traditional cultural festival popular in many ethnic groups in China and countries in the cultural circle of Chinese characters, which falls on August 15th of the lunar calendar. Because it is just half the value of Sanqiu, hence the name, some places set the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 16th.
The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the early years of the Tang Dynasty and prevailed in the Song Dynasty. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become one of the traditional festivals in China with the same reputation as the Spring Festival. Influenced by Chinese culture, Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival for overseas Chinese in some countries in East and Southeast Asia, especially local Chinese. Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national legal holiday since 2008. On May 20th, 2006, the State Council was listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage.
Since ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival has had customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, enjoying the moon, eating Yue Bai, enjoying osmanthus flowers and drinking osmanthus wine, which have spread to this day and lasted for a long time. 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. Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Spring Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day are also called the four traditional festivals in China.
The origin of the Mid-Autumn festival
1, the legend of "the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon"
After the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, Hou Yi missed him day and night, so he asked the maid to offer a table under the moonlight hem, with all kinds of fruits that Chang 'e loved most. Neighborhood folks also put tables and fruits in their own courtyard to bless the beautiful and kind Chang 'e.
Since then, this has been the case every year and passed down from generation to generation. Every August 15th, everyone will go to the moon to worship Chang 'e. Because this day is the Mid-Autumn Festival, people set this day as the Mid-Autumn Festival.
2. Originated from the activities of offering sacrifices to the land gods in ancient autumn.
In the traditional farming society, spring sowing, summer harvest, autumn harvest and winter storage are the main labor activities. The situation of land harvest is very important for people who make a living from it. Therefore, people still have deep awe of the land. Every spring when sowing seeds, people will offer sacrifices to the land god and pray for the land god to give abundant crops. This activity is called "Spring Prayer".
In autumn, it is the harvest season, but also to sacrifice to the land god, thank God for his shelter, known as the "autumn newspaper." August 15th is the autumn harvest season, and all families should worship the land god. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival may be a custom inherited from the ancient autumn newspaper.
3. It is related to the ancient custom of offering sacrifices to the moon.
The vernal equinox worships the sun, while the autumnal equinox worships the moon. Since ancient times, the autumnal equinox has been the traditional "Festival of Sacrificing the Moon". According to historical records, as early as the Zhou Dynasty, ancient emperors had the custom of offering sacrifices to the sun at the vernal equinox, to the ground at the summer solstice, to the moon at the autumn equinox and to heaven at the winter solstice. Today's Mid-Autumn Festival evolved from the traditional Moon Festival.
According to exact historical data, the original "Moon Festival" was set on the day of "Autumn Equinox". However, because this day is different every year in August of the lunar calendar, there may not always be a full moon. It's a big bummer to sacrifice the moon without it. Therefore, the "Moon Festival" was later transferred to August 15th every year, which gave birth to the Mid-Autumn Festival.
What are the customs of Mid-Autumn Festival?
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are customs such as eating moon cakes, drinking osmanthus wine, eating Osmanthus Jelly, eating hairy crabs, eating ducks and eating taro.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has customs such as enjoying the moon, watching the tide, lighting lanterns, solve riddles on the lanterns, eating moon cakes and playing with lanterns.
In the Mid-Autumn Festival, as the temperature gradually turns cold, everything is gradually depressed with the cold. At this time, the temperature difference between morning and evening is large, which requires maintenance most. We should prevent colds in autumn, pay special attention to the supplement of water, drink more water, eat more fruits containing gum and water, avoid strenuous exercise, maintain a good mood, and eat more soft foods to nourish the kidney and moisten the lungs.