Traditional culture of Mid-Autumn Festival

The traditional folk culture of Mid-Autumn Festival includes offering sacrifices to the moon, solve riddles on the lanterns and eating moon cakes.

1, sacrifice to the moon

Offering sacrifices to the moon is a very old custom in China, which is actually the worship of the "Moon God" by the ancients. In ancient times, there was a custom of "autumn and dusk". The evening moon is the God of Yue Bai. Since ancient times, in some places in Guangdong, people have the custom of worshipping the moon god (mother moon and moonlight) on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival.

2, guessing riddles

On the Mid-Autumn Festival full moon night, there are many lanterns hanging in public places. People get together to guess the riddles written on lanterns. Because this is the favorite activity of most young men and women, love stories will also be heard in these activities, so solve riddles on the lanterns is also a form of love between men and women in the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Step 3 eat moon cakes

Moon cakes, also known as moon group, harvest cake, palace cake and reunion cake, are tributes to the moon god in ancient Mid-Autumn Festival. Moon cakes were originally used as offerings to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion. Mooncakes symbolize a happy reunion. People regard them as holiday food, use them to worship the moon and give them to relatives and friends.

The historical development of Mid-Autumn Festival is as follows:

Mid-Autumn Festival is the confluence of many customs and events, such as Mid-Autumn Festival, Autumn Festival, Moon Appreciation and Moon Palace Legend. It originated in the pre-Qin Dynasty and finally settled in the Tang Dynasty. Mid-Autumn Festival is popular in Han Dynasty, which is a period of economic and cultural exchanges and integration between the north and the south of China, and cultural exchanges between different places spread together.

During the Tang Dynasty, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival became popular in northern China. In the Tang Dynasty, Mid-Autumn Festival became an officially recognized national festival. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the 15th day of the eighth lunar month was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Sometimes food is made in literary works, such as "small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp and stuffing inside". During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the secular interests of Japan and China became more and more intense in the new year. Today, eating moon cakes has become an essential custom of Mid-Autumn Festival in northern and southern China.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Mid-Autumn Festival