What are the folk activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Mid-Autumn Festival folk activities are as follows:

One, moon sacrifice, enjoy the moon, moon worship

1, "Rituals" early recorded "Autumn sunset moon," meaning worship of the moon god, when this time to be held to welcome the cold and the moon sacrifice, set incense. To the Zhou Dynasty, every mid-autumn night to be held to welcome the cold and moon festival. Set up a large incense burner, put moon cakes, watermelon, apples, jujubes, plums, grapes and other offerings, of which moon cakes and watermelon is absolutely not missing, watermelon should also be cut into lotus shape.

Under the moon, the statue of the moon god is placed in that direction of the moon, red candles are lit high, and the whole family pays homage to the moon in turn, and then the housewife of the family cuts the mooncakes for reunion. Among ethnic minorities, the custom of moon worship is also prevalent.

2. According to legend, an ugly woman from the ancient state of Qi, Wushan, used to worship the moon when she was young, and when she grew up, she entered the palace with a superb character, but she was not favored. One year, on the 15th day of the 8th month to enjoy the moon, the son of heaven saw her under the moonlight, felt that she was beautiful and outstanding, and then set her up as the queen, the mid-autumn festival to worship the moon thus came to be. Chang'e in the moon, known for her beauty, so the young girl to worship the moon, may "look like Chang'e, face like the white moon". And Yunnan Dai in the Mid-Autumn Festival night, the same prevalence of "moon worship" custom.

3, Mid-Autumn Moon Festival custom is very popular in the Tang Dynasty, many poets have famous poems of the moon. To the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival wind more prevalent, every day, "the noble family decorative platforms and pavilions, the folk fight to occupy the restaurant to play the moon". The Ming and Qing court and folk moon worship and appreciation activities on a larger scale, until today, the family sat together to enjoy the beauty of the moon in the sky is still one of the essential activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Second, the tide

In ancient times, Zhejiang, in addition to the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, the tide can be said to be another Mid-Autumn event. Mid-autumn tide custom has a long history, as early as the Han Dynasty, Mei multiplied the "seven hair" in the fugue has a fairly detailed account. After the Han Dynasty, the custom of watching the tide in mid-autumn was even more prevalent. Ming Zhu Tinghuan "Additions to the old story of Wulin" and Song Wu Zimu "dream sorghum record" also have tide watching records.

Three, burning lamps

1, Mid-Autumn night, there are burning lamps to help the custom of the moon. In recent times, the custom of burning lamps on the Mid-Autumn Festival has become more prevalent. Today, Zhou Yunjin, He Xiangfei, "Idle thoughts to try to say the seasonal affairs" article said: "Guangdong, the most prevalent lights, each family in the festival ten days before the use of bamboo strips to tie lanterns. Fruit, birds, animals, fish and insects, and 'Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival' and other words, on the paste color paper painted in various colors.

2, Mid-Autumn Lanterns burning candles with a rope tied to a bamboo pole, high in the tile eaves or terrace, or with small lamps built into characters or all kinds of shapes, hanging high in the house, commonly known as 'tree Mid-Autumn' or 'vertical Mid-Autumn'.

The rich and noble families hanging lights, can be several feet high, the family gathered under the lights to drink for fun, the ordinary people are erected a flagpole, two lanterns, but also to take their own fun. City full of lights is like a glazed world." It seems that from ancient times to the Mid-Autumn Festival lighting custom of its scale seems to be second only to the Lantern Festival.

Four, riddles

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival night in the public **** place hanging many lanterns, people are gathered together, guessing the riddles written on the lanterns, because most of the young men and women's favorite activities, at the same time in these activities on the love story, so Mid-Autumn riddles are also derived from a form of men and women fall in love with each other.

Fifth, eat moon cakes

Mid-Autumn Festival moon watching and eating moon cakes is a necessary custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival across China, as the saying goes:

"The moon is full on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and Mid-Autumn Moon Cakes are fragrant and sweet". The word "mooncake" originated from Wu Zimu's "Mengliang Records" in the Southern Song Dynasty, and it was only a kind of snack food at that time. Later on, people gradually combined moonlight appreciation with mooncakes to symbolize family reunion and to send their thoughts. At the same time, mooncakes are also an important gift for friends to contact each other during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Six, play lanterns

Mid-Autumn Festival is not as large as the Lantern Festival lanterns, play lanterns are mainly only in the family, between children. As early as in the Northern Song Dynasty, "Wulin Old Story", recorded in the Mid-Autumn Festival, there will be 'a little red' lights into the river to drift and play activities. Mid-autumn play lanterns, mostly concentrated in the south. Such as Foshan Autumn Colors, there are all kinds of colorful lanterns:

Sesame seed lamps, egg shell lamps, flower lamps, straw lamps, fish scale lamps, grain shell lamps, melon seed lamps and birds and animals, flowers and trees lamps and so on