What is the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival?

Introduction of the Mid-Autumn festival

The 15th day of the eighth lunar month is a traditional festival in China. Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day are also called the four traditional festivals of the Han nationality in China. According to historical records, the ancient emperors had the ritual of offering sacrifices to the sun and the moon in spring, and the festival of offering sacrifices to the moon fell on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which coincided with half of Sanqiu, hence the name "Mid-Autumn Festival". Because this festival is in August in autumn, it is also called Autumn Festival, August Festival, August Festival and Mid-Autumn 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 all around the moon, it is also commonly known as "Moon Festival", "Moon Festival" and "Moon Worship 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, the custom of singing and dancing under the moon to find a spouse, and the custom 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, the festival 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

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. Because the second month of autumn is called Mid-Autumn Festival, it 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.

According to legend, the ugly women in ancient Qi had no salt. When she was a child, she was very devout to Yue Bai. When she grew up, she entered the palace with good conduct, but she was not loved. Seeing the moon on August 15th, the son of heaven saw her in the moonlight and thought she was beautiful and outstanding. Later, he made her queen, and Yue Bai came from the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the middle of the moon, Chang 'e is famous for its beauty, so Yue Bai, a young girl, wants to be "like Chang 'e and have a bright moon".

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 scene for the moon palace world. From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, poets and poets praised the moon and its events, and the full moon on August 15 became an excellent moment 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. It has become an important custom of the whole society to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. From generation to generation, Mid-Autumn Festival has gradually become one of the four major festivals in China (Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival).

Mid-autumn legend

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 ordinary people could not live any longer.

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 made great contributions and was 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 immediately ascend to heaven.

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. Easily fooled Hou Yi.

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. There is a swaying figure resembling Chang 'e who goes to the moon every day and looks at your wife.

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 praises and eulogizes Chang 'e with a clear gesture and gorgeous 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 the sake of 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. Finally, the tree was not cut down.

Yu Tu Daoyao

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. Accompany Chang 'e and make elixir of life.

Jade rabbit enters the moon palace

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.

Xiaoyutu bid farewell to her parents and sisters and flew 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's 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".