The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival in China, which is commonly known as July 30 and ancestor worship festival among the people, and called the Bonin Festival in Buddhism. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 14th or 15th day of the seventh lunar month every year. It is a festival for ancestor worship in ancient times. The main festivals and customs include ancestor worship, setting off river lanterns, offering sacrifices to the dead, burning paper ingots, offering sacrifices to the land and praying for a bumper harvest.

What festival is the Mid-Autumn Festival?

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival in China. In ancient times, July and a half was a folk festival to worship ancestors, but it was called the Mid-Autumn Festival in Taoism after the Eastern Han Dynasty. In Buddhism, July and a half were called the Orchid Festival. In essence, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival to remember ancestors, and the core culture is to respect ancestors and do filial piety.

The time of the Mid-Autumn Festival is slightly controversial. There are two sayings: July 14th and July 15th, but the time is almost the same. July is auspicious month and filial month in the minds of the ancients. People celebrate the harvest and reward the earth in July and a half, and offer sacrifices to their ancestors with new rice, and report Qiu Cheng to their ancestors.

The custom of Mid-Autumn Festival

The custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival is mainly sacrificial activities, because different regions have different methods of sacrificial activities, including ancestor worship, burning paper, burning incense and firecrackers, setting off river lanterns, dancing sky lanterns, etc., and ancestor worship activities are generally held in the evening of mid-July. At the same time, there are customs such as praying for a bumper harvest, eating ducks and offering sacrifices to the land.