The origin of moon cakes How did you eat moon cakes in traditional culture?

Moon cakes are one of the most famous traditional snacks in China. People eat moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Moon cakes are round and shared by the whole family, symbolizing reunion and harmony. Ancient moon cakes were eaten as sacrifices in the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that the custom of eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Tang Dynasty. It was popular in the court in the Northern Song Dynasty and later spread among the people. At that time, it was commonly known as "small cake" and "moon group". In the Ming dynasty, it became a dietary custom bought by the whole people. Mooncakes have been integrated into local food customs and developed into Cantonese, Beijing, Suzhou, Chaozhou and Yunnan mooncakes, which are deeply loved by people all over the country.

Dietary customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Su Dongpo, a great poet in the Song Dynasty, once praised moon cakes with a poem, "A small cake is like chewing the moon, with crisp inside and stuffing inside", which shows that moon cakes in the Song Dynasty already have ghee and sugar stuffing. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was said that people took advantage of the opportunity of giving mooncakes to carry a note in them, and agreed to take action at the same time to kill and drive away Mongolian "Tatars" on the evening of August 15. In the Ming Dynasty, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival became more common. Ming Shenbang's "Wan Bu Miscellaneous Notes" contains: "The furniture of ordinary people's homes is a kind of moon cake with different sizes, which is called moon cake."

The word moon cake was first seen in Liang Lumeng by Wu 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, on call, and did not miss customers". It can be seen that moon cakes at this time are not only eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As for the origin of the word moon cake, there is no textual research. However, Su Dongpo, a famous scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, left a poem "Little cakes are like chewing the moon, and there is fullness in the crisp", which may be the origin of the name of moon cakes and the basis of their practice.

"Proceedings" said: "In August, Haitang and Hosta flowers were enjoyed in the palace. From the first day of the first lunar month, mooncakes have been sold, and by the fifteenth day, every household has provided mooncakes and melons. If there are still moon cakes left, they should be stored in a dry and cool place and used separately at the end of the year, called reunion cakes. " After the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the custom of giving away mooncakes on Mid-Autumn Festival became increasingly popular, and mooncakes had the symbolic meaning of "reunion". From Qing Dynasty to modern times, new progress has been made in the quality and variety of moon cakes. Different raw materials, production methods and shapes make moon cakes more colorful, forming Beijing flavor, Suzhou flavor, Guangdong style and other unique varieties. Moon cakes are not only unique holiday food, but also exquisite cakes available in all seasons, which are deeply loved by people.

There have been many records about moon cakes since the Ming Dynasty. At this time, the moon cakes are round and only eaten in the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is the main offering of the popular Mid-Autumn Festival in the Ming Dynasty. "A Brief View of the Imperial Capital" says: "On August 15th, the moon is sacrificed, and the fruit cakes are round." "Home moonlight is located on the moon, worshiping the moon, then burning moonlight paper and withdrawing the supply, and the scattered family is over. Moon cakes bear fruit, and relatives feed them back. The cake is two feet in diameter.

Moon cakes are offerings to worship the moon god in the ancient Mid-Autumn Festival, and they have been handed down from time to time, forming the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. 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.

It is said that it originated in the Tang Dynasty. "Luo Zhong's Experience" once recorded: On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the new scholar gave a banquet in Qujiang, and Tang Xizong gave the scholar a moon cake.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, it was popular in the court, but it also spread among the people. At that time, it was commonly known as "small cake" and "moon group". Later, it evolved into a circle, symbolizing a happy reunion, reflecting people's good wishes for family reunion, and also deeply missing their relatives and friends. 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 word "moon cake" has been used in the book Liang Lumeng written by Wu 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. 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.

In the Qing Dynasty, eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival has become a common custom, and the production skills are getting higher and higher. Yuan Mei of the Qing Dynasty introduced in "Suiyuan Food List": "Crispy moon cakes are filled with pine nuts, walnuts, melon seeds, rock sugar and lard, which are not sweet or fragrant, soft or greasy, which is unusual." Moon cakes in Beijing were first made by Qianmen Zhimeizhai. Across the country, five flavor series of Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Guangzhou and Chaozhou have been formed, and many local folk customs have also appeared around the Mid-Autumn Festival in Yue Bai and during the period of enjoying the moon. For example, the "cloth champion" in Jiangnan: moon cakes are cut into three pieces, big, medium and small, stacked together, and the biggest one is placed below, which is the "champion"; The medium is placed in the middle, which is the "second place"; The smallest one is on the top, which is "flower exploration". Then the whole family rolls dice, and whoever has the most numbers is the champion, eating big pieces; Followed by the second place, exploring flowers and playing games for fun.