Why Eat Duck on Mid-Autumn Festival Origin of the Custom of Eating Duck on Mid-Autumn Festival

To eat duck, the Mulao folks in Yunnan Province of China buy cakes and kill ducks on August 15 to celebrate this traditional festival.

Legend has it that once upon a time, the Mulao people lived in a place where the mountains and water were good and the seasons were like spring. The villages were blessed with prosperous livestock and a good harvest every year. However, one year, there were some "ghosts" who came to the village and killed people, robbed and raped people everywhere, causing the Mulao people to have no peace and quiet day and night. A couple of sugar sellers and their three sons were determined to lead a revolt in the village.

They came up with a plan: to sell candies to the villagers, and on the night of August 15, they all joined hands to kill the Mulao. Most of them were killed and some of them jumped into the river and turned into ducks. The Mulao people took the ducks back to their village and killed them to celebrate their victory.

Since then, in order to honor the memory of the sugar seller's family, every year on the 15th of August, every family would buy biscuits and kill the ducks, so as to educate the future generations not to forget the struggle against the invasion.

Extended information:

Mid-Autumn Food Customs of Eating Ducks:

Mid-Autumn is a festival for reunion of the whole family, and it is inevitable that you enjoy the moonlight with your family members, and savor the moon cakes. However, Mid-Autumn Festival is not just about eating mooncakes, there are many other traditional food customs that have been passed down: eating fruits, eating ducks, tasting lotus roots, and so on.

Many regions have the custom of eating duck on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Autumn is the season when ducks are at their fattest, and the tasty duck meat has a high nutritional value. Duck meat is sweet and cold in nature, which is good for yin, generating fluids, nourishing the stomach, tonifying the kidneys, removing weakness, reducing swelling, relieving cough and resolving phlegm.

And in the custom of eating duck in various places, crispy and delicious roast duck, refreshing and tasty brine duck, thick oil sauce duck, eight treasures duck and so on, is the most common varieties.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Mid-Autumn Food Culture

People's Daily Online - Mid-Autumn Food Customs: Old Beijing to Eat Fruits, South Koreans to Eat Desserts