What are the different customs in different regions for the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Mid-Autumn Festival folk customs are different in different regions.

1, walk the moon (Nanjing area)

Mid-Autumn Festival night there is a big feature of the moon viewing activities called "walking the moon". Under the bright moonlight, people dressed in fine clothes, three or five companions, or touring the city, or lack of boat Qinhuai River, or climbed to watch the moonlight, talk and laugh. Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, built in the moon tower, play the moon bridge, the Qing Dynasty, under the Lion Rock, there is a moon building, are travelers "walk the moon" when the moon watching resort.

Built after the liberation of Mochou Lake Park, the holding of the moon building, has become a new attraction for the public to enjoy the moon. In the old days, the Nanjing people "walk the moon" there is a special prayer: all married women who did not give birth to a son, to go to the temple, and then cross a bridge, rumor has it that you can have a "dream bear's happiness" (meaning a boy).

There is a "Jianzi Bridge" at the pier on Yowan Street outside the China Gate, and on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the man of the family who has not yet given birth to a child comes here to drop a tile jar under the bridge, which is said to make his wife pregnant. Over time, this bridge is also called "see son bridge".

2, sacrificing the moon (Zhuang)

The Zhuang in western Guangxi, "sacrificing the moon to invite the god" activities are more typical, every year in the middle of the eighth month of the summer calendar, some on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the people in the village at the end of the village in the open air, set up a table for offerings and incense burners, the right side of the table, a tree tree branches about a foot high, or a bamboo branch, to symbolize the community tree, but also for the moon god to come down to earth and heaven. It also serves as a ladder for the moon god to descend to earth and heaven, preserving the ancient elements of the moon myth.

The whole event is divided into four stages: inviting the moon god to descend to the earth, with one or two women acting as spokespersons for the moon god; singing songs between the god and the people; fortune-telling by the moon god; and the singers singing songs of incantations to send the god back to heaven.

3. "The Rabbit (Beijing)

Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the city's ingenious people roll up the image of a toad and a rabbit in yellow clay to sell it, which is called the Rabbit." In the old days, there were stalls in the area of Dongsi Pailou in Beijing, specializing in the sale of rabbits for the Mid-Autumn Festival moon festival. In addition, the southern paper store, incense and candles are also sold. This rabbit master, after the bold creation of folk artists, has been personified. It is a rabbit head with a jade pestle.

Some people later modeled on opera characters, the rabbit carved into a gold helmet and gold armor warriors, some riding lions, beasts, some riding a peacock, cranes and other birds of prey. Especially the rabbit riding a tiger, although strange, but is the bold creation of folk artists. There is also an elbow and lower jaw can move the rabbit, commonly known as "scraping scraping scraping mouth", more pleasing to the eye. Although it is a moon worship offerings, but it is really a wonderful toy for children.

4, tree Mid-Autumn Festival (Guangzhou, Hong Kong)

In Guangzhou, Hong Kong and other places, Mid-Autumn Festival night to tree Mid-Autumn Festival activities, the tree is also vertical, that is, the lamps and lanterns high up the meaning. Children in the parents with the assistance of bamboo paper tied into a rabbit lamp, Yang Peach lamp or square lamps, hung horizontally in the short pole, and then erected on a high pole, high technology up, colorful light shining, for the Mid-Autumn Festival to add a scene.

The children compete with each other to see who can put up high, put up more, the most exquisite lanterns. In addition, there are sky lanterns, that is, the Kongming lanterns, with paper tied into a large-shaped lamp, candle burning under the lamp, hot air upward, so that the lamps flying in the air, attracting laughter and chasing. In addition, there are children's hand-held lanterns in the moonlight play and enjoy.

5, lanterns (Guangxi, Guangdong, many southern regions)

In Nanning, Guangxi area, in addition to the paper and bamboo zhang all kinds of lanterns for children to play, there are very simple pomelo lamps, pumpkin lamps, tangerine lamps. The so-called pomelo lamp, is the pomelo hollowed out, carved out a simple pattern, put on the rope, inside the candle into, light elegant. Pumpkin lamps and orange lamps are also made by hollowing out the flesh.

Guangxi has a simple household autumn lamp, is to six bamboo gabion circles tied into the lamp, outside the paste white gauze paper, inside the candle that is made. It is hung on the moon festival table for the moon festival, and can also be played with by children.

Nowadays, many areas in Guangxi and Guangdong, in the Mid-Autumn Festival night set up lanterns, tied with electric lights illuminated by large-scale modern lanterns, as well as made of plastic with a variety of new lanterns for children to play, but there is less of a pure and simple beauty of the old lamps and lanterns.

Additionally the game of burning wazi lamps is also widely circulated in the south, in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places. At dusk under the bright moon in a tower of firewood burned. Once the tile burns red, and then splashed with kerosene, oil on fire, all of a sudden the four fields red, shining as day. Until the end of the night, no one to watch, and then splash rest, is the name of the burning tile lamp".

6, fire dragon dance (Hong Kong)

Hong Kong Mid-Autumn Festival is the most traditional custom. From the night of the 14th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar every year, a grand fire dragon dance is held for three nights in a row in the Tai Hang area of Causeway Bay. This fire dragon is more than 70 meters long, with pearl grass tied into 32 sections of the dragon body, inserted with longevity incense. On the night of the festival, the streets and alleys of this district are bustling with a winding and undulating fire dragon dancing joyfully under lights and dragon drum music.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Mid-Autumn Festival Folklore