The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. It is said that the moon is closest to the earth on this night, and the moon is the largest, roundest and brightest. Therefore, there has been a custom of feasting and admiring the moon since ancient times. Below is what I have compiled for you about the meaning and origin of moon appreciation during the Mid-Autumn Festival. You are welcome to read it.

The meaning of appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival

Appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival means reunion and feelings. The sky is blue and the moon is full. When people enjoy the full moon, they can't help but miss their relatives who are traveling far away and living in foreign lands. Many ancient poems express people's longing at this time. A crescent moon can be associated with budding things, and a full moon can be associated with a beautiful life of reunion.

The origin of the custom of appreciating the moon

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, our country has had the custom of appreciating the moon since ancient times. The "Book of Rites" records that "autumn twilight and evening moon" means worshiping the moon. Luna. By the Zhou Dynasty, every Mid-Autumn Festival night would be held to welcome the cold and worship the moon. Set up a large incense table and place mooncakes, watermelons, apples, plums, grapes and other seasonal fruits. Mooncakes and watermelons are absolutely indispensable. The watermelon should also be cut into lotus shapes.

In the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular. In the Song Dynasty, the custom of enjoying the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival became even more popular. According to "Tokyo Menghua Lu", "On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, noble families decorated their terraces and pavilions, and people competed in restaurants to enjoy the moon." On this day, all shops and restaurants in the capital have to redecorate their facades. The archways are tied with silk and colorful, and fresh fruits and refined foods are sold. The night market is bustling with people, and many people go to the balcony. Appreciate the moon in the pavilion, place food or arrange a family banquet, reunite the children, and talk to each other while admiring the moon.

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the custom of appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival remained unchanged. In many places, special customs such as burning incense sticks, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting tower lanterns, releasing sky lanterns, walking on the moon, and dancing fire dragons were formed.

What is the meaning of eating crabs during the Mid-Autumn Festival?

1. In ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet customs of the Han people were the most elegant in the palace. For example, it was popular in the Ming Dynasty to eat crabs. After the crabs are steamed with cattail bags, everyone sits around and tastes them, served with wine and vinegar. After eating, drink Su Ye Decoction and wash your hands with it. During the banquet area, flowers, large pomegranates and other fresh food were placed, and mythological dramas of the Mid-Autumn Festival were performed.

2. Speaking of "A Dream of Red Mansions", whether it is an old version of the TV series that has become a classic or a new version that has recently been released, the banquet is always an indispensable part. In the book, the scene in which Shi Xiangyun holds a crab feast at the "Lotus Champs" is very interesting, from holding crabs to appreciate the flowers, to competing poems and drinking banquets with the titles of "Chrysanthemum" and "Crab", to wiping crab roe on his face, from " "The hair is full of beauty and written in the frost, stuttering with fragrance and chanting to the moon", to "the road in front of you has no longitude and latitude, and the spring and autumn sky in the skin is black and yellow". Although there is not much ink, it can be seen that crab-eating was also a big deal for wealthy families at that time. The joyful atmosphere of Mid-Autumn Festival reunion is vividly displayed. In fact, the scene of crab-eating has a profound meaning of reunion in the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.

4. Hairy crab: This crab is produced in Yangcheng Lake in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. It is a famous Chinese product well-known at home and abroad. The Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs are large and fat. Three crabs generally weigh 500 grams. The largest one only weighs more than 250 grams, and the largest one can reach 500 grams. They have a green back, white belly, golden claws and yellow hair, strong limbs, plump crab meat and rich nutrition. Since ancient times, Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs have fascinated countless diners.

5. In ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet customs of the Han people were the most elegant in the palace. For example, it was popular in the Ming Dynasty to eat crabs. After the crabs are steamed with cattail bags, everyone sits around and tastes them, served with wine and vinegar. After eating, drink Su Ye Decoction and wash your hands with it. During the banquet area, flowers, large pomegranates and other fresh food were placed, and mythological dramas of the Mid-Autumn Festival were performed.

6. Because chrysanthemum and yellow crabs are in full bloom in autumn, the ninth month of the lunar calendar has entered the cool autumn breeze, and plump hairy crabs have already "run rampant" in Shenzhen. As the saying goes, "the navel in the ninth month is the peak in the tenth month", which means that female crabs are the best in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, and male crabs are dominant in the tenth month of the lunar calendar. At this time, the female crab paste is fragrant and the meat is tender. The fragrant and oily crab roe and the white, tender and sweet crab meat make consumers salivate and move their index fingers. I don’t eat crabs because of the Mid-Autumn Festival, but because crabs are the most delicious at this time.

7. "Crab" and "Xie" have the same pronunciation, and the so-called "Mid-Autumn Moon is round and people are round", the Mid-Autumn Festival happens to be a festival full of deep friendship among traditional Chinese festivals. Returning from a vacation, visiting relatives and friends, getting together with friends, expressing your feelings... This word "thank you" is perfect. But how to say "thank you" to express your hand? As a homophonic word, "crab" is perfect. .

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