Autumn equinox solar lantern

At first, the festival of "Sacrificing the Moon" was held on the "autumnal equinox" of the 24 solar terms in the Ganzhi calendar, and later it was moved to August 15 in the summer calendar (lunar calendar). In some places, the Mid-Autumn Festival is set on August 16 in the summer calendar.

Mid-Autumn Festival comes from the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. In traditional culture, the moon and the sun are the same, and these two alternate celestial bodies become the objects of ancestor worship. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the ancient people's sacrifice to the moon, which is the legacy and derivative of China people's custom of offering sacrifices to the moon. Sacrificing to the moon is a very old custom in China. In fact, it was a sacrificial activity of ancestors in some places in ancient China.

The custom of enjoying the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon, and serious sacrifices have become relaxed pleasures. It is said that this night the moon is closest to the earth, and the moon is the largest, roundest and brightest, so there has been a custom of drinking and enjoying the moon since ancient times; The daughter-in-law who goes back to her parents' house will go back and forth to express her happiness and good luck. According to written records, the folk Mid-Autumn Festival started in Wei and Jin Dynasties, but it did not become a custom. 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.

Customs of Mid-Autumn Festival:

1. Zhejiang Tide Watching: In ancient times, Zhejiang Tide Watching was another Mid-Autumn Festival activity besides enjoying the moon. The custom of watching tide in Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, which is described in detail in Mei Cheng's Seven Mao Fu in Han Dynasty. After the Han Dynasty, Mid-Autumn tide watching became more popular. There are also records of watching the tide in Zhu Tinghuan's Ming Bu Wulin Past and Zi Mu's Meng Lianglu.

2. Tree Mid-Autumn Festival in Guangdong: 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.

3. Tie lanterns: In ancient Guangdong, whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, children tied bamboo paper into rabbit lanterns, carambola lanterns or square lanterns with the help of their parents. In addition, many children will use water Pi Zha lanterns. In addition, there are papaya lamps and banana lamps. The simplest one is the "pomelo peel lamp", which is made by almost every family's children. The tied lanterns are not only used to "tree the Mid-Autumn Festival", but also couples hold lanterns to enjoy the moon.

The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Mid-Autumn Festival