Stories and legends of Mid-Autumn Festival

The stories and legends of Mid-Autumn Festival include: offering sacrifices to the moon and the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon.

1, sacrifice to the moon

This festival originated from the worship of astronomical phenomena. Because the ancients were superstitious, they had a primitive worship of everything in nature. When they see the moon in the sky, they think it may be a sign of heaven. As early as ancient times, the custom of offering sacrifices to the moon has appeared, and autumn offering sacrifices to the moon is a relatively grand ritual activity. At first, the "Mid-Autumn Festival" was set on the day of the autumnal equinox, and later it was changed to the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month.

2. the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon

One year ten suns suddenly appeared in the sky. Houyi shot nine. Later, I happened to meet the Queen Mother and asked her for a pack of elixirs. But Hou Yi couldn't bear to leave his wife, so he temporarily gave the medicine to Chang 'e for safekeeping. Every time Meng threatened Chang 'e with a sword to hand over the fairy medicine. In desperation, Chang 'e took out the medicine and swallowed it. Immediately fly to the sky, after hearing the news that Chang 'e became an immortal, people put an incense table under the moon to pray for Chang 'e's good luck and peace. Since then, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival in Yue Bai has spread among the people.

The tradition of Mid-Autumn Festival

1, enjoy the moon

The custom of enjoying the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon, and serious sacrifices have become relaxed pleasures. It is said that this night the moon is closest to the earth, and the moon is the largest, roundest and brightest, so there has been a custom of drinking and enjoying the moon since ancient times; The daughter-in-law who goes back to her parents' house will go back and forth to express her happiness and good luck. Written records of folk Mid-Autumn Festival activities appeared in Wei and Jin Dynasties, but they 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.

Step 2 chase the moon

The so-called "chasing the moon" means that after the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the excitement is still endless, so the next night, many people invite relatives and friends to continue to enjoy the moon, which is called "chasing the moon". According to the preface of A Qing Chen Zihou's Lingnan Miscellaneous Notes: "Good people in central Guangdong gather in Izayoi in August, waiting for wine and food to enjoy the moon, which is called chasing the moon."

Step 3 observe the tides

In ancient times, Zhejiang Mid-Autumn Festival was another Mid-Autumn Festival activity besides watching the moon. The custom of watching tide in Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, which is described in detail in Mei Cheng's Seven Mao Fu in Han Dynasty. After the Han Dynasty, Mid-Autumn tide watching became more popular. There are also records of watching the tide in Zhu Tinghuan's Ming Bu Wulin Past and Zi Mu's Meng Lianglu.