Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - The 24 Solar Terms - The Origin of Mid-Autumn Festival (Brief Introduction)

The Origin of Mid-Autumn Festival (Brief Introduction)

Because this day is half of autumn, it is called Mid-Autumn Festival, which is commonly known as August Festival among the people. This is the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival. August 15th of the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival in China.

Mid-Autumn Festival has existed since the Han Dynasty in China. But not on August 15th, but on that day in beginning of autumn. On this day, princes and nobles went out hunting and brought their prey to the ancestral temple; In the Tang Dynasty, there were no records of Mid-Autumn Festival stories in various books. In the Song Dynasty, there were more records about the Mid-Autumn Festival. Since then, the Mid-Autumn Festival has become the second largest festival in China after the Spring Festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional folk festival of Han nationality. In addition to the Han nationality, there are also ethnic groups such as Hui, Su, Zhuang, Buyi and North Korea who also celebrate the Lantern Festival.

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Myths and legends

1, WU GANG won the championship.

According to legend, there was a man named WU GANG in the Moon Palace, who was from Xihe, Han Dynasty. He once followed the gods to heaven, but he made a mistake. The immortal banished him to the Moon Palace and cut off the laurel trees in front of the Moon Palace every day as punishment. This osmanthus tree is flourishing, more than 500 feet high. Every time it is cut, the cut place will be closed immediately.

2. Jade rabbit is smashing medicine

There is a jade rabbit beside Chang 'e. It is said that Chang 'e became lighter. When she started to take off, she picked up the white rabbit she had been feeding in fear. The white rabbit went to the moon with her. Yutu has a pestle in the Moon Palace, and at night she pounded the elixir into the mortar. After this myth was spread to Japan, it became a jade rabbit mashed rice cake.

There are many ballads and nursery rhymes about Mid-Autumn Festival, such as "Mother Yue Bai", "menstruation Chair", "Mid-Autumn Festival Yue Bai Song", "Yue Bai E", "Family Yue Bai", "Mid-Autumn Night", "Sister Moon", "Moonlight" and "Moon Cake". Travel Notes of Mid-Autumn Festival, Homesickness on a Moonlit Night, Suffering and other Taiwanese folk songs.