The origin of eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival

Eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty, which originated from the ceremony in Yue Bai. According to legend, in ancient China, the emperor had rituals of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. People present moon cakes and fruits to the moon god. After the moon god "enjoys" the sacrifice, people cut the moon cakes and eat them in the order of young and old. It is said that they can be blessed and protected by God.

Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, Moonlight Birthday, Moon Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Festival, Moon Festival and Reunion Festival, is a traditional folk festival in China. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the worship of the autumn moon in ancient times. At first, the festival of "Sacrificing the Moon" was held on the "Autumn Equinox" of the twenty-four solar terms in the Ganzhi calendar, and later it was moved to August 15th in the summer calendar (lunar calendar). In some places, the Mid-Autumn Festival is set on August 16 in the summer calendar. Since ancient times, Mid-Autumn Festival has had folk customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, enjoying the moon, eating moon cakes, playing with lanterns, enjoying osmanthus and drinking osmanthus wine. It has been circulating for a long time.