What is the significance of the Mid-Autumn Moon Cake case?

According to legend, in ancient China, the emperor had a system of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. In the folk, every Mid-Autumn Festival in August, there is also a custom about Yue Bai or offering sacrifices to the moon. The famous proverb "The moon is full on August 15th, and the Mid-Autumn moon cake is sweet and fragrant" tells the custom of urban and rural people to eat moon cakes on Mid-Autumn night. At first, moon cakes were used to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion, and mooncakes gradually became holiday gifts.

Moon cakes originally originated from Zhu Jie food in the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Tang Gaozu, General Li Jing conquered the Huns and returned home in triumph on August 15.

Turpan people who were doing business at that time presented cakes to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Gao Zu Li Yuan took the gorgeous cake box, took out the round cake, smiled at the bright moon in the sky and said, "Please invite toad with Hu cake." After that, share the cake with the ministers.

The word "moon cake" has been used in Wu's Dream of the Liang Lu in the Southern Song Dynasty, but the description of enjoying the moon and eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival is recorded in the West Lake Travel Agency in the Ming Dynasty: "August 15th is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people use moon cakes to get together". In the Qing Dynasty, there were more records about moon cakes, and the production became more and more elaborate.

With the development of moon cakes today, there are more varieties and different tastes. Among them, Beijing-style, Soviet-style, Cantonese-style and Chaozhou-style moon cakes are deeply loved by people all over the country.

Moon cakes symbolize reunion and are a must-eat food for the Mid-Autumn Festival. On holiday nights, people also like to eat some reunion fruits, such as watermelons and fruits, and wish their families a happy, sweet and safe life.

The 15th day of the eighth lunar month is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in China and the second largest traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival. August 15th is in the middle of autumn, so it is called Mid-Autumn Festival. The ancient calendar in China called August in the middle of autumn "Mid-Autumn Festival", so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Mid-Autumn Festival".

On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the moonlight is bright. The ancients regarded the full moon as a symbol of reunion, so August 15 was also called "Reunion Festival". Throughout the ages, people often describe "joys and sorrows" as "the moon is full and the moon is absent", and the wanderers living in other places rely on the moon to express their deep affection. Li Bai, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote poems such as "Looking up, it's moonlight, then leaning back, suddenly thinking about hometown", "Knowing that the dew is frost tonight, the moonlight at home is bright!" Du Fu's "Spring Breeze is Green in Jiang Nanan" and Wang Anshi's "When Will the Moon Shine on Me" in the Song Dynasty are all timeless masterpieces.

Mid-Autumn Festival is an ancient festival, and it is an important custom to offer sacrifices and enjoy the moon. Ancient emperors had a social system of offering sacrifices to the moon in spring, and folks also had the custom of offering sacrifices to the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Later, it was more important to enjoy the moon than to sacrifice it, and serious sacrifice turned into light entertainment. The custom of enjoying the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival prevailed in the Tang Dynasty, and many poets wrote poems about the moon in their masterpieces. In the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Yue Bai's court and folk activities to enjoy the moon were even larger. So far, there are many historical sites in China, such as Yue Bai Altar, Moon Pavilion and Moon Tower.

The "Moon Altar" in Beijing was built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, and was used for royal sacrifice to the moon. Whenever the moon rises in the Mid-Autumn Festival, a box is set up in the open air, with moon cakes, pomegranates, dates and other fruits on the console table. After Yue Bai, the family sat around the dining table, chatting while eating and enjoying the bright moon. Now, the activities of offering sacrifices to the moon in Yue Bai have been replaced by large-scale and colorful activities of enjoying the moon by the masses.

Eating moon cakes is another custom of festivals, symbolizing reunion. Since the Tang Dynasty, the making of moon cakes has become more and more exquisite. Su Dongpo wrote in a poem: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, and there is pulp in the cake", and Yang Guang copied in Qing Dynasty: "Moon cakes are filled with peach meat and ice cream is sugar paste". It seems that the moon cakes at that time were quite similar to those now.

Eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional folk custom in China, just like eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival and glutinous rice balls on Lantern Festival. Throughout the ages, people regard moon cakes as a symbol of good luck and reunion. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, when the bright moon is in the sky, the whole family will get together, enjoy cakes and the moon, talk about everything and enjoy family happiness.

Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, cookies, moon cakes, reunion cakes, etc. It is an offering to worship the moon god in the ancient Mid-Autumn Festival, and the custom of eating moon cakes has been formed since it was handed down.

Moon cakes have a long history in China. According to historical records, as early as the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, there was a kind of "Taishi cake" to commemorate Taishi Wenzhong, the "ancestor" of China moon cakes. Zhang Qian introduced sesame seeds and walnuts to the Western Regions in Han Dynasty, which added auxiliary materials for making moon cakes. At this time, a round cake filled with walnuts appeared, which was called "Hu cake".

In the Tang Dynasty, people had bakers engaged in production, and pastry shops began to appear in Chang 'an, the capital. It is said that one Mid-Autumn Festival night, Emperor Taizong and Yang Guifei enjoyed the moon and ate Hu Bing. Emperor Taizong felt that the name Hu Bing was not pleasant to listen to. Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon, and her emotions surged. She casually came up with "moon cakes". Since then, the name of "moon cake" has gradually spread among the people.

The royal family in the Northern Song Dynasty likes to eat a kind of "palace cake" in the Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as "small cake" and "moon group". Su Dongpo has a poem: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, crisp and pleasing."

The screenwriter of the Song Dynasty was thorough. The name "moon cake" was first mentioned in Old Wulin, which described what Lin 'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, saw.

In the Ming Dynasty, eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival gradually spread among the people. At that time, ingenious bakers printed the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon's fairy tales on moon cakes as food art drawings, making moon cakes a necessary food for Mid-Autumn Festival.