The second largest traditional festival after the Chinese New Year

The second largest traditional festival after the Spring Festival is the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the "Moon Festival", "Autumn Festival", The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the "Moon Festival", the "Autumn Festival", the "August Festival", the "August Meeting", and the "Moon Chasing Festival", "Moon Festival", "Moon Worshipping Festival", "Daughter's Festival", "Reunion Festival", are traditional cultural festivals popular among many ethnic groups in the country. It is a traditional cultural festival popular among many ethnic groups in China. It is named so because it falls on the half of the three autumns.

The moon is said to be the fullest and brightest on this night. From ancient times to the present day, people have the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival night feast to enjoy the moon, back to the mother's home of the daughter-in-law is the day must return to her husband's home, in order to symbolize the perfect, auspicious meaning. Its origin in ancient times, popularized in the Han Dynasty, stereotyped in the early Tang Dynasty, prevalent in the Song Dynasty later, and the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and known as China's four traditional festivals.

Second, the festival customs

To date, eating moon cakes has been a necessary custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival in China's northern and southern regions. Mooncakes symbolize reunion, and people treat them as festival food, offering them to the moon and giving them to friends and relatives. In addition to mooncakes, various kinds of seasonal fresh and dried fruits are also the delicacies of Mid-Autumn Night. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the clouds are sparse and the moonlight is bright and clear, there are activities such as enjoying the moon, sacrificing to the moon, eating mooncakes, carrying lanterns and building pagodas.

Myths:

1, Chang'e Runs to the Moon

"Chang'e Runs to the Moon" myth originated from the ancient people's worship of stars, Chang'e Runs to the Moon story first appeared in the "Return to Tibet". Later on, the story was further played out in folklore, and was developed into several versions of the tale. According to the Western Han Dynasty's Huainanzi, Chang'e ascended to the Moon Palace because she stole the immortality pill that her husband Hou Yi had asked for from the Queen Mother of the West, and flew into the Moon Palace and became a toad pounding medicine.

2, Wu Gang fell the laurel

Wu Gang ascended to the Moon Palace to fold the laurel, according to the Tang Dynasty novel "Youyang Miscellany Chopper," said, because the West He people Wu Gang cultivation of immortality made a mistake, so he was punished to cut the laurel tree in the moon. This laurel tree grows as it is cut down, and it can never be cut down. Li Bai wrote in his poem "Gift to Cui Situ Wen Kunji", "I want to cut down the laurel in the moon, and hold it as a salary for those who are cold."

3, the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine

Rabbits on the moon palace pounding medicine, first seen in the Qu Yuan's "Heavenly Questions" "Turk Liwei He, and Gu, Cuscuta in the abdomen?". . Meaning, Gu, Cu in the moon's stomach, what good is it to the moon? And how did the rabbit get to the moon palace? Gu is the toad and Cusu is the white rabbit. Fu Xuan's "Proposed Heavenly Questions" of the Jin Dynasty also says, "What is there in the moon, the white rabbit pounding medicine."