The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the early years of the Tang Dynasty and prevailed in the Song Dynasty. Now it has become one of the traditional festivals in China, which is equally famous as the Spring Festival. It is a traditional cultural festival popular in many ethnic groups and countries in the Chinese character cultural circle in China, which falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. 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 is also called "Correcting the Moon", and the record of "Reunion Festival" was first seen in the Ming Dynasty literature. In "Notes on the Tour of the West Lake", it said: "August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send moon cakes to each other as a sign of reunion." "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital" also said: "On August 15th, when the moon is sacrificed, the cakes will be round, the melons will be misshapen, and the petals will be carved like lotus flowers. Those who have a wife who returns to Ning will return to their husband's house on the day, which is also called the Reunion Festival."
Festival development
The Mid-Autumn Festival is popular in the Han Dynasty, which is a period of economic and cultural exchanges and integration between the north and the south of China. Cultural exchanges between different places spread in a mixed way. According to records, in the Han Dynasty, there were activities of respecting the elderly, providing for the elderly and giving them coarse cakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival or beginning of autumn's day, and there were written records of Mid-Autumn Festival appreciating the moon in Jin Dynasty, but it was not very common. Before Jin Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not popular in northern China.
Up to now, eating moon cakes has become a necessary custom for Mid-Autumn Festival in northern and southern parts of China. Moon cakes symbolize a happy reunion. People regard them as holiday food, and use them to worship the moon and give gifts to relatives and friends. Besides moon cakes, all kinds of seasonal fresh fruits and dried fruits are also delicious food on Mid-Autumn Festival. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are few clouds and fog, and the moonlight is bright and bright. People enjoy the moon, sacrifice the moon, eat sweet potatoes, carry lanterns, dance grass dragons and tree the Mid-Autumn Festival.