The origin of the Mid-Autumn festival

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 origin of the Mid-Autumn festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena, evolved from the worship of the autumn moon in ancient times, and is a legacy of ancient Yue Bai customs. In the past twenty-four solar terms, the autumnal equinox season is an ancient "Festival of Sacrificing the Moon", while the Mid-Autumn Festival comes from the traditional "Festival of Sacrificing the Moon at the autumnal equinox". Sacrificing the moon is a very old custom in China, and it is a kind of worship activity of the ancients in some ancient places in China. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in ancient times, popularized in the Han Dynasty, shaped in the early Tang Dynasty and prevailed after the Song Dynasty.

Lin Guangchao, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote: "Moonlight is the brightest night in a year, and people from thousands of miles are enjoying this time." August15th of agricultural month has become a unique Mid-Autumn Festival and Reunion Festival in China. China people's activities under the moon, such as offering sacrifices to the moon, Yue Bai, enjoying the moon, playing with the moon, walking on the moon and jumping on the moon, fully reflect people's worship of the moon.

Legend of Mid-Autumn Festival

Legend has it that Chang 'e was originally the wife of Hou Yi. After Houyi shot nine suns, the Queen Mother of the West gave her the elixir of life, but Houyi refused to take it, so she gave it to Chang 'e for safekeeping. Hou Yi's disciples coveted the elixir of life and forced Chang 'e to hand it over. Chang 'e swallowed it in despair and flew into the sky. It was August 15th, and the moon was big and bright. Because of giving up Houyi, Chang 'e stopped on the moon closest to the earth and lived in Guanghan Palace for a long time. After returning home, Hou Yi was heartbroken, so he hosted a banquet on August 15th every year to meet Chang 'e.

The custom of Mid-Autumn festival

1, Yue Bai, enjoy the moon.

China has had the custom of appreciating the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival since ancient times. People put moon cakes, watermelons, apples, plums, grapes and other seasonal fruits on the big incense table, and when the moon hangs in the air, they begin to worship. People enjoy the moon in their pavilions or doorways, arrange food or family dinners, reunite with their children and talk with them.

Step 2 eat moon cakes

The Mid-Autumn Festival is crisp in autumn, the moon is the roundest, and the whole family is reunited. "Man and the moon are * * * round". It is this desire for reunion that forms the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. People give moon cakes to each other, taking the meaning of "reunion" as a symbol of good luck and reunion. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, when the bright moon is in the sky, families get together, enjoy cakes and the moon, and enjoy family happiness. This is a must-eat food for Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that there was a custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Tang Dynasty, but as a food name, moon cakes were associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Song Dynasty.

Step 3 enjoy the light

Southerners will definitely play with lanterns on Mid-Autumn Festival. Lanterns include lights of various colors, such as shavings, straw, fish scales, chaff, melon seeds and flowers and trees. In Nanning, Guangxi, there are simple cypress lanterns, pumpkin lanterns and orange lanterns besides various lanterns tied with bamboo paper for JL children to play with. The so-called sleeve lamp is to hollow out the sleeve, draw a pattern, put on a rope and light a candle inside. Pumpkin lanterns and orange lanterns are also made from pulp. These lamps are very popular because of their simple appearance and simple manufacture. Children in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, with the help of their parents, made rabbit lanterns, carambola lanterns or square lanterns out of bamboo paper, hung horizontally on short poles, and then hung high on high poles, shining with colorful lights, adding beauty to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Drink osmanthus wine

On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, looking up at osmanthus in the middle of the month, smelling the bursts of Gui Xiang and drinking a glass of osmanthus wine to celebrate the sweetness of the family has become one of the beautiful enjoyment of the festival. Osmanthus fragrans not only can be seen, but also can be eaten. In Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs", there are some poems, such as "supporting the horse and fighting, drinking cinnamon pulp" and "drinking cinnamon pulp". It can be seen that China has been drinking osmanthus wine for quite a long time.

Eating lotus root box

Eating lotus root in Mid-Autumn Festival is also a sign of reunion, especially eating "lotus root box". Most people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang slice the lotus root, connect the lower ends of each two pieces together, put stuffing made of meat and clams in the middle, and fry the noodles until golden. This is also called lotus root cake, which has the same effect as moon cakes. At present, there are two main varieties of lotus root on the market, seven-hole lotus root and nine-hole lotus root. Seven-hole lotus root is widely cultivated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. This variety has excellent texture and tender, crisp, sweet and white meat.

Mid-Autumn Festival symbolizes reunion. People hold people together with a full moon. Su Shi's poem "People have joys and sorrows, the moon is full of ups and downs, and the ancient difficulties are all described" can be described as a masterpiece in the world, and the next sentence "I wish people a long life, thousands of miles away" is also the same wish of people.