Essay on Traditional Culture of Mid-Autumn Festival.

The fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar is a traditional folk festival in China - the Mid-Autumn Festival. About the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a touching story circulating in folklore. According to legend, after Hou Yi shot the sun, he took Chang'e as his wife. One day, Hou Yi went to the Kunlun Mountains to visit his friends, and coincidentally met the Queen Mother, who begged for a packet of immortality medicine. Then, Hou Yi could not leave his wife alone to become immortal, so he gave the elixir of immortality to Chang'e to treasure. Hou Yi's martial arts skills were so strong that many aspirants came to learn from him. One of them was named Peng Meng, a man with an evil heart who came in with the intention of stealing the Elixir of Immortality. He took the opportunity of Hou Yi's hunting trip to force Chang'e to hand over the elixir with a sword in his hand. At the critical moment, Chang'e took out the immortality pill and swallowed it, she floated up to the sky and flew down to the moon which is the closest to the earth and became an immortal. Hou Yi came home and learned of all this, he was devastated, looked up to the sky and called out his wife's name, there was a figure in the bright and clear moon that looked like Chang'e, but he could not catch up with the moon no matter what he did. The helpless Hou Yi every August 15, Chang'e moonrun day, are in the garden with Chang'e's favorite candied fruit, remote sacrifice to his wife. When the people heard the news that Chang'e had run to the moon and become immortal, they also set up incense under the moon to pray to the kind Chang'e for good luck and peace.

The Mid-Autumn Festival coincides with the autumnal equinox, when the sun shines almost directly on the side of the moon that faces the earth, making the moon look round and bright. "Alone in a foreign land, I miss my family twice as much at every festival." On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, those who live alone in a foreign land naturally think of the reunion with their families, so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the "Reunion Festival".

Anciently, there were a lot of folk customs in China to worship and enjoy the moon. According to the preface of the descendants of the "play the moon poem" recorded: winter cold, not suitable for outdoor moon; summer, the sky is often floating clouds, the moon's light is covered; only the autumn high and cool Mid-Autumn, is a good time to enjoy the moon. On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon is in the sky, the family will enjoy the moonlight under the clear moonlight to talk and share the gifts for the moon festival.

There is a beautiful legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival: It is said that a long time ago, a family with the surname of Yang had a child bride named Yao Liu Sister, who came to the Yang family at the age of seven, and was forced to work by her mother-in-law every day, and was not allowed to take a rest all year round. One year, on the night of August 15, her mother-in-law asked her to spin seven pounds of cotton into thread before she went to bed, citing the bright moonlight as the reason. Poor Yao six sisters and tired and sleepy, not paying attention to doze off, when she woke up, the day has been four, and the cotton is still a large part of the left, she was afraid and anxious, sadly cried to the bright moon, said: "Sister moon, please, let the night a little longer, so that I spinning thread before you go!"

Suddenly, a dragon boat drilled out of the moon, the dragon boat closer, only to see Chang'e holding the Jade Rabbit sitting in the boat, Yao Liu sister surprised and happy, Chang'e told her that every year on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, she rowed down to the boat, to give the people in need of some gold and silver. Upon hearing this, Sister Yao was overjoyed and immediately moved her spinning wheel into the house. The result, of course, needless to say, Yao's cotton became thread without spinning, her spinning wheel became a gold spinning wheel, and her mother-in-law never dared to mistreat her again. After people knew about this incident, they all hoped to see Chang'e's dragon boat on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the custom of enjoying the moon was thus formed, and every Mid-Autumn Festival night, people would enjoy the moon until the fourth night.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival to eat moon cakes legend has a long history, the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian aristocratic rulers brutally oppressed the exploitation and enslavement of the people, but also for fear of the people rose up in revolt, the people are not allowed to have metal utensils at home, and even the chopper is a few families **** a, causing people's strong dissatisfaction and resistance. At that time, the peasant leader Zhu Yuanzhang organized the peasants to rise up in revolt, in order to pass on a secret notice, in the mooncake, a note, agreed on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar for the time of the uprising. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, families broke open the mooncakes, and when they saw the leaflet, they did it together and rebelled and revolted, overthrowing the Yuan Dynasty. Since then, people have been eating mooncakes every Mid-Autumn Festival to commemorate this struggle of the people.

Mid-Autumn Festival, China's urban and rural areas and even overseas compatriots, have the custom of eating mooncakes, we Pujiang, people have always purchased before the festival on the preparation of mooncakes and other food products, each other give congratulations on the festival, is the night of the whole family, young and old, gathered around a table to eat a "reunion dinner", the wine and food, and there will be eggs, "ring head 馃", which is also a part of my family's family, I have to eat the mooncake. "This is also a customary feature of the Mid-Autumn Festival in our county. Pujiang has a folk song that says: "The moon is full on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and the mooncake is fragrant and sweet during the Mid-Autumn Festival." Every Mid-Autumn Festival, eating mooncakes at the same time can add atmosphere to the festival.