Some write handwritten newspapers for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival is the second largest traditional festival in China after Spring Festival. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which coincides with half of Sanqiu, hence the name "Mid-Autumn Festival", also known as "Mid-Autumn Festival". Because this festival is in autumn and August, it is also called "Autumn Festival", "August Festival" and "August Festival". There is also the belief in praying for reunion and related holiday activities, so it is also called "Reunion Festival" and "Daughter's Day". Because the main activities of Mid-Autumn Festival are around the moon, it is also commonly known as Moon Festival, Moon Festival, Moon Festival, Moon Festival and Moon Festival. In the Tang Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was also called "correcting the moon". About the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival, there are roughly three kinds: it originated from the worship of the moon in ancient times, and the custom of singing and dancing under the moon to find a spouse is the legacy of paying homage to the land god in ancient autumn.

Mid-Autumn Festival has been a national legal holiday since 2008. The state attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20th, 2006, this folk custom was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

The origin of the Mid-Autumn festival

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The word "Mid-Autumn Festival" first appeared in Zhou Li. According to the ancient calendar of China, the 15th day of the eighth lunar month is in the middle of August in autumn, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. There are four seasons in a year, and each season is divided into three parts: Bangladesh, China and Kyrgyzstan. In Sanqiu, the second month is called Mid-Autumn Festival, so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Mid-Autumn Festival". In the Wei and Jin dynasties, there was a record of "telling Shangshu Town about the cow's confusion, crossing the river in mid-autumn, and traveling incognito around". It was not until the early years of the Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. The Book of Emperor Taizong recorded the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15. The prevalence of Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Song Dynasty, and it became one of the major festivals in China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This is also the second largest traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival.

With the continuous development of society, the ancients endowed the moon with many legends, from the toad on the moon to the jade rabbit, from WU GANG to the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, and the rich imagination painted a colorful and beautiful scene for the moon palace world. From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, Mohist poets chanted about the moon and its events, and the full moon on August 15 became an excellent moment for them to express their feelings. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, August 15 was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival, which was originally intended to be in the middle of Sanqiu, and the whole people would celebrate it then. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the bright moon is in the sky, and the light is scattered all over the earth. People regard the full moon as a symbol of reunion, and August 15 is the day for family reunion. Therefore, Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Reunion Festival".

Mid-Autumn Festival has become an important festival in a year, which has a very subtle relationship with the imperial examination. In China's feudal society, it has always been a major event that rulers attach great importance to. The triennial autumn competition has just been scheduled for August. When scenery and passion are combined, people will regard the person who took the senior three exam as the person who won the laurel in the middle of the month. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, we should celebrate it ceremoniously, which has become an important custom of the whole society. From generation to generation, Mid-Autumn Festival has gradually become one of the three major festivals in China (Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival).

Mid-autumn legend

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The Goddess Chang's fly to the moon

According to legend, there were ten suns in the sky one year in ancient times, which made the earth smoke and the sea dry up, and the people could no longer live.

This incident alarmed a hero named Hou Yi. He climbed to the top of Kunlun Mountain, drew his bow and shot down nine redundant suns in one breath.

Hou Yi has made great achievements in the world and is respected and loved by the people. Many people with lofty ideals come here to study and be teachers. The treacherous and cunning Meng Peng also mixed in.

Soon, Hou Yi married a beautiful and kind wife named Chang 'e. Besides hunting, Hou Yi spends all his time with his wife, and people envy this beautiful and loving couple.

One day, Hou Yi went to Kunlun Mountain to visit friends and seek truth. He happened to meet the Queen Mother passing by and asked her for a bag of elixir. It is said that taking this medicine can instantly ascend to heaven and become immortal.

However, Hou Yi was reluctant to leave his wife, so he had to temporarily give the elixir to Chang 'e. Chang 'e hid the medicine in the dresser's treasure chest, but Meng Peng saw it.

Three days later, Hou Yi led his entourage out hunting, while Meng Peng with ulterior motives pretended to be ill.

Shortly after Hou Yi led the crowd to leave, Meng Peng broke into the backyard of the back room with a sword in his hand, threatening Chang 'e to hand over the elixir.

Chang 'e knew that she was no match for Meng Peng. In times of crisis, she made a decisive decision, turned around and opened the treasure chest, took out the elixir and swallowed it in one gulp.

Chang 'e swallowed the medicine and immediately floated off the ground, rushed out of the window and flew into the sky. Because Chang 'e was worried about her husband, she flew to the nearest moon and became a fairy.

In the evening, when Hou Yi came home, the maids cried and told what happened during the day. Hou Yi was surprised and angry, and drew his sword to kill the villain. Meng Peng has escaped. I was so angry that Hou Yi beat his chest and shouted. The grief-stricken Hou Yi looked up at the night sky and called the name of his beloved wife. At this time, he was surprised to find that today's moon is particularly bright and bright, with a swaying figure resembling Chang 'e.

Hou Yi hurriedly sent someone to Chang 'e's favorite back garden, set up a table sweetmeats, put on her favorite honey-eating fresh fruit, and offered a memorial service to Chang 'e at the Moon Palace.

After hearing the news that the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon became an immortal, people set up an incense table under the moon and prayed for good luck and peace to the kind Chang 'e. Since then, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival in Yue Bai has spread among the people.

This story of the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon eulogized Chang 'e's bright posture and brilliant colors. Compared with the records of Chang 'e in ancient literature, we can see that people have done a lot of processing and modification to the story of the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, which makes the image of Chang 'e as beautiful as the moon and accords with people's pursuit of beauty. Contrary to the goddess the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, which was widely circulated in modern times, all the ancient Chinese character series Lingxian in China recorded the story of "Chang 'e became a toad": "Chang 'e married his wife, stole the elixir from the Queen Mother and took it to the moon. Will go, occupy the grave. Zhi said, "Ji, you go back to your sister, and you go west alone." . You won't be surprised or afraid when it's dark, but you will prosper in the future.' Chang 'e entrusted herself to the moon for toad. "After Chang 'e became a toad, she was punished in the moon palace all day and lived a lonely and miserable life. Li Shangyin once lamented Chang 'e in a poem: "Chang 'e should regret stealing the elixir and stay awake at night. "

Wugang cut laurel

Looking up at the bright moon, you can see some dark shadows. In our country, it is said that this is Wu Gang's felling of Guangxi. In the Tang Dynasty, the myth of Wu Gang cutting Guangxi was deduced. It is said that in the middle of the month, laurel trees are as high as 500 feet. This laurel tree is not only tall, but also has magical self-healing function. There was a Xihe man named Wu Minggang who turned out to be a woodcutter. He is obsessed with fairy tales, but he refuses to concentrate on his studies all the time. So the Emperor of Heaven was furious and stayed in the Moon Palace, ordering him to cut down the osmanthus tree in the Moon Palace, saying, "You cut down the osmanthus tree and you get a fairy tale." But every time WU GANG cut an axe, the tree wound healed immediately. Day after day, WU GANG's desire to cut laurel still hasn't come true. So WU GANG cut osmanthus trees in the Moon Palace all the year round, but he couldn't cut them down, so he kept cutting them.

Jade rabbit enters the moon palace

According to legend, three immortals turned into three poor old people and begged food from foxes, monkeys and rabbits. Both the fox and the monkey have food to help, but the rabbit can't. Later, the rabbit said, "You can eat my meat!" " He jumped into the fire and cooked himself. The fairy was so moved that she sent the rabbit to the Moon Palace and turned it into a jade rabbit.

Yu Tu Daoyao

Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a pair of rabbits who practiced for thousands of years and became immortals. They have four lovely daughters, all pure white and well-behaved.

One day, the Jade Emperor summoned the male rabbit to the Heavenly Palace. He reluctantly left his wife and children and went through the clouds to the Heavenly Palace. Just as it came to the worse heaven, it saw the Taibai Venus leading the heavenly soldiers to walk away with Chang 'e. The Rabbit Fairy didn't know what had happened, so she asked a nearby god who guarded the worse heaven. When Rabbit Fairy heard about her experience, she felt that Chang 'e had suffered innocently and sympathized with her. But my strength is meager. What can I do to help? Think of how lonely and sad Chang 'e is alone in the moon palace. If only there were company, suddenly she remembered her four daughters, so she flew home at once.

Rabbit fairy told the mother rabbit about Chang 'e and said that she would send a child to accompany Chang 'e. Although the mother rabbit deeply sympathizes with Chang 'e, she is reluctant to part with her precious daughter, which is equivalent to cutting off the meat in her heart! Several daughters are reluctant to leave their parents, and they are all in tears. The male rabbit said seriously, "If I am locked up alone, will you accompany me?" Chang 'e was tied up to save the people. Can we not sympathize with her? Son, we can't just think about ourselves! "

The children understood their father's heart and expressed their willingness to go. The male rabbit and the female rabbit laughed with tears in their eyes. They decided to let their youngest daughter leave.

Xiaoyu Rabbit bid farewell to her parents and sisters and went to the Moon Palace to live with Chang 'e!

Xuanzong roamed the Moon Palace.

In the Tang Dynasty, the most legendary is the legend of the Night Palace. According to legend, Tang Xuanzong, Shen and Hongdu Taoist priests enjoyed the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Xuanzong suddenly wanted to visit the Moon Palace, so Shi Tian went. As soon as they set out, the three of them went to Qingyun and wandered around the Moon Palace, but the Moon Palace was heavily guarded and could not enter, so they could only overlook the imperial city of Chang 'an from the outside. At this time, they suddenly heard a fairy-like voice, beautiful and wonderful, moving! Tang Xuanzong was always familiar with melody, so he memorized it. This is precisely "this song should only be in the sky, what is the news on earth!" Later, Xuanzong recalled Xian 'e's music and singing in the Moon Palace and composed and choreographed his own music. This is the famous "colorful feather" in history.

Legend of moon cakes around the world

Moon cakes symbolize reunion, and they are necessary sacrifices for Mid-Autumn Festival and worship of the land gods. The custom of eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival was handed down from the end of Yuan Dynasty.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Han people planned to rise up against the Mongolian rule, but they could not deliver the message. Later, Liu Bowen came up with a plan and spread rumors everywhere, saying that there was a winter plague epidemic, which could be avoided unless every household bought moon cakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival. People bought moon cakes and went home, only to find that there was a note hidden inside, which read: "Kill Tartars on Mid-Autumn Festival night and welcome the rebels!" " "So many people rebelled against the rulers, so the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival stayed.

People in Wuxi usually eat braised rose sugar taro on the morning of Mid-Autumn Festival, which is said to be related to this. According to legend, after Mongolia destroyed the Song Dynasty, the ethnic oppression was deep, and the Han people always wanted to resist. One year, everyone agreed to work together on Mid-Autumn Festival night. In order to get tired of winning, people want to eat braised taro, which symbolizes that the head of "Tatar" fell to the ground. This is the origin of eating sugar taro in Mid-Autumn Festival.

This legend changed in Chaoshan: at that time, the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty stipulated that every trendy family should live in a Mongolian soldier, with the support of the Han people, to monitor the actions of the Han people, and only three families were allowed to use a kitchen knife. The people hated this, so they took advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival to eat moon cakes and stuffed the letter of appointment into the stuffing of moon cakes. Chaozhou people's taro is homophonic with "tiger head" and looks like a human head, so every Mid-Autumn Festival, it is passed down from generation to generation, and it still exists today.

There is a custom of eating taro in Mid-Autumn Festival all over Guangdong, which is said to commemorate the historical story of Tartars being killed at the end of Yuan Dynasty. After killing the Tatars in the Mid-Autumn Festival, they gave their heads to the moon, and later they were replaced by taro. Until now, when Cantonese peel taro, it is also called "peeling ghost skin".

Mid-autumn festival custom

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The Mid-Autumn Festival is a very old custom in China. According to historical records, as early as the Zhou Dynasty, ancient emperors had the custom of offering sacrifices to the sun at the vernal equinox, to the earth at the summer solstice, to the moon at the autumnal equinox, and to heaven at the winter solstice. Its places of worship are called Ritan, Ditan, Yuetan and Tiantan. It is located in four directions: southeast and northwest. The Moon Altar in Beijing is the place where emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties offered sacrifices to the moon. The Book of Rites says: "The son of heaven is sunny in spring and autumn is in the evening. The DPRK, the evening of the moon. " The moon here refers to offering sacrifices to the moon at night. This custom is not only pursued by the imperial court and the upper nobility, but also gradually affects the people with the development of society.

Scholars admire the moon

The custom of enjoying the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon, and serious sacrifices have become relaxed pleasures. Folk Mid-Autumn Festival began in Wei and Jin Dynasties, but it did not become a habit. In the Tang Dynasty, it was quite popular to enjoy and play with the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Many poets wrote poems about the moon in their masterpieces. In the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival centered on appreciating the moon was formed and officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Different from the Tang people, the Song people appreciate the moon more because they feel hurt by things, and often use the lack of rain or shine as a metaphor for human affairs. Even on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the bright moon can't hide the sadness of Song people. But for the Song people, there is another form of Mid-Autumn Festival, which is a secular and joyful festival: "Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, shops sold new wine, and you decorated pavilions, and people competed for restaurants to play with the moon, listening to songs for thousands of miles, and playing until dawn" (Tokyo Dream China). The Mid-Autumn Festival in the Song Dynasty was a sleepless night. The night market is open all night, and there are endless tourists playing with the moon.

Folk Yue Bai

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the relationship of the times, the practical utilitarian factors in social life were prominent, and the secular flavor of Japan and China was rich. The lyrical and mythical literati tradition centered on "enjoying the moon" has weakened, and utilitarian worship, prayer and secular feelings and wishes constitute the main forms of Mid-Autumn Festival customs for ordinary people. Therefore, "folk Yue Bai" has become people's yearning for reunion, entertainment and happiness; Send love by the month.

Moonlight horse

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the image of Luna changed greatly, from the Taoist Moon Palace with Chang 'e as the main image in the early days to the secular image of Moonlight Bodhisattva and Jade Rabbit. During this period, people presented moonlight paper painted with a moonlight bodhisattva, also called "moonlight horse". Yanjing Time by Fu Cha Deng Chong (1906). Records: "Riding a horse in the moonlight, with paper as its object, is painted on the Taiyin Star King, such as the Buddha statue, painted on the Moon Palace, and rabbits use medicine. People stand up and hold the pestle, the algae are exquisite and resplendent, and they sell much in the market. Seven or eight feet old and two or three feet short, with two flags on the top, red, green, basket and yellow, all dedicated to the moon. Burn incense and salute, and burn thousands of ingots. "

Rabbit-headed clay figurine

Male prostitutes originated in the late Ming Dynasty. Amin Jikun (born around 1636) wrote in "The Legacy of Kaoting": "The Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing is mostly in the shape of a mud rabbit, posing as a human being, and is worshipped by children." By the Qing dynasty, the function of male prostitutes had changed from offering sacrifices to the moon to children's Mid-Autumn Festival toys. It is becoming more and more exquisite, some dressed as military commanders in armor robes, some with paper flags or umbrellas on their backs, or sitting or standing. Sit down, there are Kirin, tiger leopard and so on. There are also vendors dressed as rabbit heads, or shaving masters, or sewing shoes, selling wonton and tea soup.

"Every Mid-Autumn Festival, smart people in the city make a toad and rabbit statue out of loess to sell, called a prostitute." In the old society, there were often male prostitutes' stalls around Dongsipailou, selling male prostitutes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition, Nanzhi Store and incense sticks are also available for sale. This male prostitute has been personalized through the bold creation of folk artists. That's a rabbit's head with a jade pestle. Later, some people shaped male prostitutes into warriors wearing golden helmets and shining armor, some riding animals such as lions and elephants, and some riding birds such as peacocks and cranes. It is a strange thing for male prostitutes to ride a tiger, but it is a bold creation of folk artists. There is also a male prostitute whose elbow joint and mandible can move, commonly known as "big mouth", which is more pleasing. Although it is provided by Yue Bai, it is really a wonderful toy for children.

On the streets of Beijing decades ago, old Beijing, who was over 60 years old, can still remember it. After July 15, the stall of male prostitutes was put out. There are male prostitute stalls everywhere, big and small, high and low, and they are very lively.

Play with lanterns

There are many games in Mid-Autumn Festival, the first is playing lanterns. Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three major Lantern Festival in China, so we should play with lanterns in festivals. Of course, the Mid-Autumn Festival does not have such a large lantern festival, and playing with lanterns is mainly between families and children.

As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, it was recorded in Old Wulin that the Mid-Autumn Festival was a custom, and there was an activity of "putting a small red light into the river to drift and play". Lantern playing in Mid-Autumn Festival is mostly concentrated in the south. For example, the autumn festival in Foshan mentioned earlier has all kinds of colorful lights: sesame lights, eggshell lights, wood shavings lights, straw lights, fish scales lights, chaff lights, melon seeds lights, birds, animals, flowers and trees lights, which are amazing.

In Guangzhou, Hong Kong and other places, Mid-Autumn Festival activities will be held on Mid-Autumn Festival night, and trees will be erected, which means that lanterns will be erected high. With the help of their parents, children make rabbit lanterns, carambola lanterns or square lanterns out of bamboo paper, hang them horizontally on short poles and then stand on high poles. They are high-tech and colorful, adding another scenery to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Children often compete with each other to see who stands tall, much taller and has the most exquisite lighting. In addition, there are sky lanterns, that is, Kongming lanterns, which are made of paper and tied into large lanterns. Light a candle under the lamp, the heat rises, let the light fly in the air, and attract people to laugh and chase. In addition, there are children carrying all kinds of lanterns to enjoy in the lower reaches of the moon.

In Nanning, Guangxi, in addition to all kinds of lanterns tied with paper and bamboo for children to play with, there are also simple lanterns, pumpkin lanterns and orange lanterns. The so-called grapefruit lamp is to hollow out the grapefruit into a simple pattern, put a rope on it, and light a candle inside, with elegant light. Pumpkin lanterns and orange lanterns are also made by removing pulp. Although simple, it is easy to make and very popular. Some children also put oil lanterns into the pool to play games.

There is a simple autumn lantern in Guangxi, which is made of six bamboo sticks, pasted with white gauze paper and inserted with candles. Hanging on the platform for offering sacrifices to the moon or for children to play with.

Now, in many areas of Guangxi and Guangdong, the Lantern Festival is arranged on the Mid-Autumn Festival night, large modern lanterns illuminated by electric lights are made, and new lanterns made of various plastics are used for children to play, but the simplicity of the old lanterns is gone.

In addition, the game of burning tile lamp (or burning flower tower, burning tile tower and burning fan tower) is widely circulated in the south, and it is circulated in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places. For example, Volume 5 of China Folk Customs: "On the Mid-Autumn Festival night in Jiangxi, children usually pick up tiles in the wild and pile them into round towers with holes. At dusk, it is burned in the firewood tower under the bright moon. As soon as the tiles burned red, kerosene was poured on the fire, and suddenly the fields were red and bright as day. It was not until late at night, when no one was watching, that it began to pour interest. This is the famous tile-burning lamp. " The tile-burning tower in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province is also a hollow tower made of bricks, which is filled with branches and burned to ashes. At the same time, it also burns smoke piles, that is, piles of grass and firewood burned after the end of Yue Bai. The fan-burning pagoda in the border area of Guangxi is similar to this kind of activity, but the folklore is to commemorate the heroic battle of Liu Yongfu, a famous anti-French fighter in Qing Dynasty, and burn the ghost (French invader) who escaped into the pagoda to death, which is quite patriotic. There is also a "tower burning boy" activity in Jinjiang, Fujian.

Legend has it that this custom is related to the righteous act of resisting the Yuan soldiers. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the Han people were subjected to bloody rule, so the Han people made unyielding resistance, held meetings in various places to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and lit trumpets on the top floor of the pagoda. Similar to the fire on the platform at the top of the mountain, although this resistance was suppressed, the custom of burning pagodas remained. This legend is similar to the legend of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival.

dragon dance

Dragon dancing is the most traditional custom of Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong. From the evening of the 14th August of the lunar calendar every year, a grand dragon dance has been held in the Tai Hang area of Causeway Bay for three consecutive nights. This fire dragon is more than 70 meters long, and it is tied into 32 dragon bodies with pearl grass, which is full of longevity incense. On the night of the grand event, the streets and alleys in this area, a series of winding and undulating fire dragons danced happily under the light and dragon and drum music, which was very lively.

There is also a legend about the origin of Hong Kong Mid-Autumn Festival dancing dragon: a long time ago, after the typhoon hit Tai Hang District, a python appeared and did evil everywhere. The villagers searched everywhere and finally killed it. Unexpectedly, the python disappeared the next day. A few days later, a plague broke out in the pit. At this time, the elders in the village suddenly got a dream from Bodhisattva, saying that as long as they jumped the fire dragon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, they could drive away the plague. Coincidentally, it did work. Since then, the dragon dance has been passed down to this day.

No matter how superstitious this legend is, China is the hometown of dragons, and it has been 100 years since the Mid-Autumn Festival in Taihang Mountain, which is worth cherishing. At present, the dragon dance activities in Dakeng District are quite large, including head coach, coach, general commander and conductor, security team and so on. More than 30,000 people take turns dancing dragons.

The custom of offering sacrifices to the moon by some ethnic minorities in Yue Bai.