What are the customs of Mid-Autumn Festival?

The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the early years of the Tang Dynasty and prevailed in the Song Dynasty. As one of the folk festivals in China, it has formed its unique cultural characteristics after thousands of years of cultural precipitation. Besides enjoying the moon and eating moon cakes, there are many folk customs:

The custom of Mid-Autumn festival

1, sacrifice to the moon

In ancient China, there was a custom of "Autumn Evening and Twilight Moon", that is, to worship the moon god. On the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, every household will set up a fragrant table to offer sacrifices such as moon cakes, apples, peanuts, watermelons and pomegranates. Among them, all kinds of moon cakes and watermelons are absolutely indispensable. Watermelon needs to be cut into lotus shapes. Under the moon, the moon statue is placed in the direction where the moon comes out, and then red candles and high incense are lit. Under the leadership of the elders, the whole family will worship the moon god in turn, and then the housewife will cut up the reunion moon cake.

Housewives must cut moon cakes according to the number of families in advance. Those at home and those who are not at home should be counted together. When cutting, you can't cut more and less, and the size and shape should be the same. After that, the housewife will distribute it to the family present, first the elders and then the younger generation, and those who go out will keep a copy. This symbolizes family reunion and happiness.

2. Combustion tower

Burn the tower on Mid-Autumn Night. The height of the tower varies from 1-3 meters, mostly made of broken tiles. The tower is also made of bricks, accounting for about 1/4 of the tower height, and then stacked with tiles, leaving a tower mouth at the top for fuel transportation. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, it will be lit and burned. The fuel is wood, bamboo, chaff, etc. When the fire is booming, rosin powder will be poured to cheer, which is very spectacular.

There are also folk rules for burning stupas. Whoever burns the stupa to the whole house wins, and those who fail or collapse in the burning process lose. The winner will be presented with colorful flags, bonuses or prizes by the host. It is said that burning towers is also the origin of Han people's resistance to cruel rulers and Mid-Autumn Uprising at the end of Yuan Dynasty.

Modern people use "burning towers" to pray for a full meal, a prosperous home and the safety of relatives and friends. Jiangxi, Guangzhou and other places still follow this custom.

Step 3 eat moon cakes

Mooncake is one of the traditional Chinese cakes with a long history. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, every household should prepare moon cakes. The festival custom of eating moon cakes has a history of thousands of years. Moon cakes are round and shared by the whole family. After eating moon cakes, the whole family is happy, symbolizing family reunion, neighborhood harmony and everyone living in harmony.

In ancient China, mooncakes were eaten as sacrifices during the Mid-Autumn Festival. According to Luo Zhong's records, Tang Xizong ate moon cakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival and found them delicious. He ordered the chef to wrap moon cakes in HongLing and give them to the new scholars. This is the earliest historical record of moon cakes we have seen. In the Song Dynasty, it was called "Lotus Leaf", "Golden Flower" and "Hibiscus", and its production method was more exquisite. Su Dongpo, a great writer and poet, praised in his poem that "small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispy inside and stuffing outside". Crispy is crispy, the filling is sugar, and the taste is sweet, crisp, fragrant and beautiful.

Step 4 Eat Osmanthus Jelly

There are many reasons to eat Osmanthus Jelly in Mid-Autumn Festival. The first and most important reason is that the Mid-Autumn Festival is mostly in October of the lunar calendar, which is the season of sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance. At this time, osmanthus fragrance is rich, which is very suitable for brewing sweet and soft Osmanthus Jelly. Some people will also brew some osmanthus wine with unique osmanthus fragrance.

Secondly, when osmanthus is in full bloom, it is also the time of autumn harvest. At this time, people like to pick some sweet-scented osmanthus to make cakes and taste Osmanthus Jelly to express their gratitude for the autumn harvest and share the joy and beauty of the harvest. Moreover, the petals of osmanthus fragrans are very small and elegant, which symbolizes harvest and beauty, so eating Osmanthus Jelly in Mid-Autumn Festival also symbolizes the pursuit of a better life.

Generally speaking, there are two reasons for eating Osmanthus Jelly in Mid-Autumn Festival. First, at this time, osmanthus fragrance is flourishing, which makes Osmanthus Jelly taste good; Secondly, osmanthus symbolizes harvest and beauty, so people will eat Osmanthus Jelly at this time to express their pursuit.

Step 5 observe the tides

The custom of watching tide in Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history. Su Shi's "Watching the Tide on August 15th": "I know that the Jade Rabbit is very round, and it has been frosted in September. Send a message to close the door and close the key, and the night tide stays in the moon. " In ancient Zhejiang, besides enjoying the moon, tide watching was another Mid-Autumn Festival activity. Today, watching tide in Qiantang is still the most distinctive folk activity in Zhejiang Mid-Autumn Festival.

Step 6 visit the fire dragon

Children build a hollow pagoda with bricks during the Mid-Autumn Festival in Wuyuan County, Anhui Province. Curtains, plaques and other decorations are hung on the tower, and a table is placed in front of the tower, displaying various utensils to worship the "tower god". At night, lights and candles are lit inside and out. Children in Jixi Mid-Autumn Festival play Mid-Autumn firecrackers. Mid-Autumn Festival firecrackers are braided with straw, picked up and smashed stones after soaking, making a loud noise, which is a custom in Youlong. A fire dragon is a dragon made of grass with incense in it. When you visit the dragon, there are gongs and drums teams. They tour the village before being sent to the river.

7, enjoy the moon

Mid-Autumn Festival, China has the custom of enjoying the moon since ancient times. There is a record of "autumn twilight and the moon" in the Book of Rites, that is, worshipping the moon god. In the Zhou Dynasty, every Mid-Autumn Festival night, activities to welcome the cold and offer sacrifices to the moon were held. Put a big incense table with seasonal fruits such as moon cakes, watermelons, apples, plums and grapes, among which moon cakes and watermelons are absolutely indispensable. Watermelon must be cut into lotus shapes.

In the Tang Dynasty, it was quite popular to enjoy and play with the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was more popular to enjoy the moon. According to "Tokyo Dream", "On the Mid-Autumn Festival night, your family decorated the terrace, and the people competed for food and play with the moon". On this day, all shops and restaurants in Beijing have to redecorate their facades, tie silk on archways and sell fresh fruits and refined food. The night market is very lively. Many people visit The Upper Terrace, and some wealthy families enjoy the moon in their pavilions and arrange food or family dinners to reunite their children.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a beautiful day for China people to have a family reunion. On this day every year, no matter how busy a wanderer is, he should go home to get together with his parents, relatives and friends and have a good drink. This is the true meaning of Mid-Autumn Festival.