Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional stories - The origin of moon cakes

The origin of moon cakes

The word moon cake was first seen in Liang Lumeng by Wu in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, moon cakes were diamond-shaped, coexisting with chrysanthemum cakes, plum cakes and five-kernel cakes, and they were "available at any time, on call, and did not miss customers". It can be seen that moon cakes at this time are not only eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As for the origin of the word moon cake, there is no textual research. However, Su Dongpo, a famous scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, left a poem "Little cakes are like chewing the moon, and there is fullness in the crisp", which may be the origin of the name of moon cakes and the basis of their practice.

Extended data

Moon cakes are one of the traditional cakes in China, with a long history. People eat moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Moon cakes are round and shared by the whole family, symbolizing reunion and harmony. Ancient moon cakes were eaten as sacrifices in the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It is said that the custom of eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Tang Dynasty. It was popular in the court in the Northern Song Dynasty and later spread among the people. At that time, it was commonly known as "small cake" and "moon group". In the Ming dynasty, it became a common dietary custom of the whole people. Mooncakes have been integrated into local food customs and developed into Cantonese, Beijing, Suzhou, Chaozhou and Yunnan mooncakes, which are deeply loved by people all over the country.

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