1, eat moon cakes? Eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival is a necessary custom in all parts of China. As the saying goes, "Moon cakes are sweet and fragrant when they are full on August 15th". The word moon cake originated from Liang Lumeng written by Wu in the Southern Song Dynasty, when it was just a snack. Later, people gradually associated moon viewing with moon cakes, symbolizing family reunion and bearing their thoughts. At the same time, moon cakes are also an important gift for friends to contact their feelings during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Today, eating moon cakes has become an essential custom of Mid-Autumn Festival in northern and southern China. On this day, people eat moon cakes to show "reunion".
2. The custom of enjoying the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon, and serious sacrifices have become relaxed enjoyment. The early moon sacrifice was held in autumn, when people's attention was focused on the moon, and they could fully appreciate the beauty of the moon that was usually ignored. At this time, the upper class's understanding of the moon began to be rational, no longer a simple worship, and they gradually appreciated the full moon as a beautiful natural scene. This is the so-called "its moments of beauty" mentality.
Folk Mid-Autumn Festival began in Wei and Jin Dynasties, but it did not become a habit. In the Tang Dynasty, it was quite popular to enjoy and play with the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Many poets wrote poems about the moon in their masterpieces. In the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival centered on appreciating the moon was formed and officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival.
3. Vertical Mid-Autumn Festival In some places in Guangdong, there is an interesting traditional custom called "Tree Mid-Autumn Festival". The tree is also vertical, which means that the lamp stands high, so it is also called "vertical Mid-Autumn Festival". With the help of parents, children make rabbit lanterns, carambola lanterns or square lanterns out of bamboo paper, hang them horizontally on short poles, and then stand on high poles, shining with colorful lights, adding another scene to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Children often compete with each other to see who stands tall, much taller and has the most exquisite lighting. At night, the lights in the city are like stars, competing with the bright moon in the sky to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Eating grapefruit in Mid-Autumn Festival is inseparable from the profoundness of China culture. In traditional culture, people are keen on taking sounds and meaning the same/similar. Grapefruit is homophonic with wanderers, and eating grapefruit represents the beautiful meaning of wandering home and reunion in Mid-Autumn Festival. Grapefruit is homophonic, as the saying goes: "Eat grapefruit on holidays, and eat more and more in the coming year", so grapefruit has also been given the auspicious meaning of abundant financial resources. Therefore, grapefruit stands out and becomes a popular fruit in Mid-Autumn Festival.
5, eat water chestnut Mid-Autumn Festival to eat water chestnut, it is said that children can grow smart and profitable. Moreover, water chestnut has a certain anti-cancer effect, which can prevent and treat diseases such as esophageal cancer, gastric cancer and uterine cancer. Children eat water chestnut, which can prevent and treat dermatoses, and can be used for adjuvant treatment of children's head sores, head and face yellow sores, etc. In Compendium of Materia Medica, it is recorded that water chestnut has the functions of calming the middle energizer and nourishing the five internal organs, and it is also recorded that water chestnut has the functions of nourishing the spleen and stomach, strengthening tendons and benefiting qi. Most ways to eat water chestnut in Mid-Autumn Festival are to boil water chestnut (or salt water) and then peel it as a snack. You can also cook shelled water chestnut and rice together to make salty rice congee. After eating sweet and greasy moon cakes and drinking a bowl of water chestnut porridge, the greasy stomach was removed on the spot.
I know so much about the important customs of Mid-Autumn Festival. What are the customs in your hometown on this day?