What is the origin of moon cakes?

Origin: Moon cakes, also known as moon cakes, harvest cakes and reunion cakes, are one of the traditional delicacies of Han nationality in China.

Moon cakes were originally used as offerings to worship the moon god.

Offering sacrifices to the moon is a very old custom in China, which is actually the worship of the "Moon God" by the ancients.

Eating moon cakes and enjoying the moon in Mid-Autumn Festival is an indispensable custom in northern and southern China. Mooncakes symbolize a happy reunion. People regard them as holiday food, use them to worship the moon and give them to relatives and friends. As an offering to worship the moon god, moon cakes have a long history. The word moon cake was first included in Liang Lumeng written by Wu in the Southern Song Dynasty. The combination of moon cakes and local food customs has developed Cantonese cuisine, Jin cuisine, Beijing cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine and Yunnan cuisine, which are deeply loved by people all over the country.

There is a saying that moon cakes were originally called Hu cakes, which were introduced to the Central Plains from the Western Regions and brought back by Zhang Qian in the Han Dynasty. The local people make a round cake with walnuts, which is called Hu cake. Another way of saying this is that during the reign of Tang Gaozu, Li Jing led the army to conquer the Turks and returned home in triumph, so Tang Gaozu held a banquet to celebrate on August 15. A Turpan businessman presented the emperor with a special product of their hometown: round cakes with stuffing in the middle. Tang Gaozu felt a bit like the bright moon in the sky, so he said, "Please treat toad with Hu cake." He also shared the cake with ministers, saying it was delicious. Since then, Hu cakes have spread. On August 15th every year, people will enjoy the moon and eat moon cakes.

The word "moon cake" has been used in Wu's book Dream in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, moon cakes were diamond-shaped, coexisting with chrysanthemum cakes, plum cakes and five-kernel cakes, and they were "available at any time, ready to eat, and never let go of customers". It can be seen that the moon cakes at that time were not only eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was said that people took advantage of the opportunity of giving moon cakes to carry a note in them, and agreed to take action to drive away Mongolian "Tatars" on the evening of August 15. The description of enjoying the moon and eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival is recorded in Travel Notes of West Lake in Ming Dynasty: "August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people get together with moon cakes as their legacy". The custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival gradually spread among the people.