Customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the traditional Chinese festivals, is very popular. Below is a list of the customs of this favorite "reunion festival".

1, walk the moon in

Autumn Festival night there is a big feature of the moon activities called "walk the moon". Under the bright moonlight, people dressed in beautiful, three or five companions, or touring the city, or lack of boat Qinhuai River, or climbed to watch the moonlight, talk and laugh. In the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing had the Moon Tower and the Moon Bridge, and in the Qing Dynasty, there was the Moon Tower under the Lion's Hill, which were all moonlight-viewing resorts for tourists to "walk the moon". Mid-autumn night out to enjoy the moon, Shanghai people called "walk the moon".

2, moon festival

Moon festival, in China is a very ancient custom, in fact, the ancient people of the "moon god" a worship activity. In ancient times, there is "autumn and evening moon" custom. The moon is set on the eve of the moon, i.e., to worship the moon god. In ancient times, in some areas of Guangdong, people had the custom of worshipping the moon god in the evening of Mid-Autumn Festival. To pay homage to the moon god, a large incense burner is set up and offerings such as mooncakes, watermelons, apples, jujubes, plums, grapes, etc. are placed on the table. Under the moon, the "moon god" tablet is placed in the direction of the moon, red candles are lit, and the whole family worships the moon in turn to pray for blessings. This is a way of expressing people's good wishes by offering sacrifices to the moon and reminiscing about the moon.

3. Moon Festival

The custom of moon festival originated from the moon festival, which is a serious festival turned into a light-hearted entertainment. It is said that this night the moon is the closest to the earth, the moon is round and brightest, so from ancient times to the present day there is the custom of drinking feasts to enjoy the moon; back to the mother's daughter-in-law is the day must return to her husband's home, in order to symbolize the perfect, auspicious meaning. Textual records of folk activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival about the beginning of the Wei and Jin dynasties, but did not become customary. To the Tang Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, play the moon is quite popular, many poets in the famous poems have moon poems.

4, Begging for the moon

Old Dongguan, some women believe that "the old man as a matchmaker", where there are adult men and women at home and no one, to facilitate the Mid-Autumn Festival night at three o'clock in the moon, burning incense and candles, begging for the moon to be a match for the old man. Legend has it that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moonlight can make women pregnant. In some areas, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Moon, some women who have been married for a long time and are infertile will go out of their homes and bathe in the moonlight in the hope of giving birth to a child, which is called "shining the moon".

5, tide

The custom of watching the tide at Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history. The Jade Rabbit is very round, and the frosty winds have made it cold in September. I'd like to say that the key to the door is not on, the night tide to the moon to see." This is a poem written by Su Shi, a great poet of the Song Dynasty, "Watching the Tide on August 15th". In ancient times, in addition to the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, tide watching was another Mid-Autumn event in Zhejiang.

6, eat moon cakes

Eating moon cakes has been a necessary custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival across China, the Mid-Autumn Festival day people have to eat moon cakes to show "reunion". Mooncakes, also known as moon balls, harvest cakes, palace cakes, reunion cakes, etc., are ancient Mid-Autumn Festival offerings to worship the moon god. Mooncakes were initially used as offerings to worship the moon god, but later people gradually took the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Moon Festival and mooncakes as a symbol of family reunion. Mooncakes symbolize reunion, and people treat them as festive food, offering them to the moon and giving them to friends and relatives.

7, burning incense

Jiangsu Mid-Autumn Festival night to burn incense. The incense burner is surrounded by gauze and silk, painted with a view of the Moon Palace. There are also incense bucket to line incense woven, above the insertion of the paper star and colorful flags. Shanghai folk custom of burning incense bucket.

Burning lamps: burning lamps to help the moon. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, candles are burned inside the lamps, which are tied to bamboo poles, tile eaves, terraces and other high places, commonly known as "tree in the Mid-Autumn Festival" or "vertical Mid-Autumn Festival".

8, riddles

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival night in the public **** place to hang many lanterns, people are gathered together, guessing the riddles written on the lanterns, because most of the young men and women favorite activities.

9, play the rabbit master

Play the rabbit master's origins about the end of the Ming Dynasty, popular in the Beijing area. Ming Jikun (around 1636) of the Flower King Pavilion Remaining Drafts: "Beijing Mid-Autumn Festival more than mud tuan rabbit-shaped, dressed and seated as a person, children worship and worship." In the Qing Dynasty, the function of the Rabbit Master was changed from a moon festival to a Mid-Autumn Festival toy for children. The Rabbit Master is made of clay, rabbit head and body, wearing armor, inserted back flag, face paste gold clay, painted body, or sitting or standing, or pounding pestle and mortar or riding the beast, put up two big ears, also Zhuang and harmonious. In the Beijing area of folklore, the Mid-Autumn Festival festival sacrifice rabbit master is not enough solemnity and games have more.

10, play lanterns

Mid-Autumn Festival, there are many game activities, the first is to play lanterns. Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three major lantern festivals in China, and it is important to play with lanterns during the festival. Of course, the Mid-Autumn Festival does not have a large lantern festival like the Lantern Festival, play lanterns are mainly just in the family, between children. As early as in the Northern Song Dynasty, "Wulin Old Story", recorded in the Mid-Autumn Festival night custom, there will be 'a little red' lamp into the river to float and play activities. Mid-autumn play lanterns, mostly concentrated in the south. Such as the aforementioned Foshan Autumn Colors, there are all kinds of colored lanterns: sesame lamps, eggshell lamps, shavings lamps, straw lamps, fish scale lamps, cereal lamps, melon seed lamps, and birds and animals, flowers and trees lamps, and so on, it is marvelous.

11, listening to incense

Listening to incense is an ancient Mid-Autumn custom handed down in Taiwan. In ancient times, young girls who wanted to get a good match would first burn incense in front of the gods at home, tell their hearts, and pray to the gods to indicate the direction of listening to the incense, and then according to the direction of the instructions on the road inadvertently or overheard the first sentence, memorize it in their hearts, and then return home to throw wild rice, and then judge to interpret the fortunes and misfortunes of the things they have been divining. For example, divining a life-long event, and heard the words are to eat sweet cakes or flowers, full moon, it means good omen, happy near

12, burning pagoda lamp

Mid-Autumn Festival lamps and lanterns are not quite the same as the lanterns of the Lantern Festival. Mid-autumn night light is the pagoda lamp, and mainly popular in the South. Pagoda lamp, that is, by the village children pick up rubble built into the shape of a pagoda lamp. In the Qing Dynasty, Suzhou villagers in the wilderness with the tile stacked into a seven-stage pagoda, the center for the King of Tibet, surrounded by lamps, known as the "Tower Lights". Guangzhou children burning "Panta lamp", with broken tiles; and pomelo skin lamps, with red pomelo skin carving a variety of characters, flowers and plants, placed in the center of a glazed marble, red light. In addition, the south is also widely circulated burn tile lamp (or burn flower tower, burn tile tower, burn tower) of the game, in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places have been circulated.

13, threw a hand in marriage

In some areas of China's Fujian, the Mid-Autumn Festival night, "thrown a hand in marriage," the custom. Generally in the square in a colorful platform, set up as a moon palace scene, set the jade rabbit, laurel tree, etc.. Some unmarried girls dressed as Chang'e, will be embroidered with some of the different colors of the handkerchiefs to the stage to throw, such as someone received the handkerchiefs and "Chang'e" in the hands of the same color, can be on stage to receive the prize. Some unmarried guys in the handkerchiefs, if the "Chang'e" like, can make friends, the love of the people will be able to tie the knot.

14, stealing vegetables to seek Lang

Lore has it that if an unmarried girl in the Mid-Autumn Festival night to steal vegetables or onions in the beds of other families, it means that she will meet a future husband. In Taiwan, on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a custom for unmarried women to "steal vegetables to seek a husband". A beautifully made-up woman steals green onions and vegetables from other people's vegetable gardens in the moonlight, and when she does so, it is a sign that she will meet her husband of her choice. This is why there is a proverb in Taiwan that says, "If you steal onions, you will marry a good husband; if you steal vegetables, you will marry a good son-in-law.

15, osmanthus

Every Mid-Autumn Festival night, people look up at the laurel in the moon, smell the fragrance of osmanthus, drink a cup of osmanthus honey wine, celebrating the sweet family, get together, has become a festival of beauty.

In short, no matter how many customs, the Mid-Autumn Festival should most tell the children, or the meaning of reunion, no need to return home, no need to return home, as long as the family together, is the best happiness!