The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in my country, and it is also the second largest traditional festival in my country after the Spring Festival. Also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, Reunion Festival, August Festival, etc., it is a traditional festival for the Han people and most ethnic minorities in my country. It is also popular in neighboring countries such as North Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Because among the three months of July, August, and September in autumn (referring to the lunar calendar), August is in the middle, and among the thirty days in August, fifteenth is in the middle, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. And because of this night when the moon is in the sky, many people reunite with their families on this night, so it is also called the Reunion Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the custom of autumn sacrifice and moon worship in ancient my country. "Book of Rites" contains: "The emperor faces the sun in spring, and the moon in autumn. The sun is in the morning, and the moon is in the evening." The "Xiyue" here means worshiping the moon. It took shape in the Han Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, the custom of admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival became popular and was designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Ouyang Zhan (785-about 827 AD) said in the "Preface to the Poetry of Wan Yue in Chang'an": "The eighth month is in autumn. The season begins and ends in Meng; the fifteenth is in the night, and the moon is in the clouds. According to the way of heaven, the cold and heat will be equal, and the On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is bright and clear. The ancients regarded the full moon as a symbol of reunion, so the fifteenth day of August is also called the "Reunion Festival". Throughout the ages, people have often used the terms "full moon" and "waning moon" to describe "joys and sorrows", and wanderers living in foreign lands use the moon to express their deep feelings. Poet Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty wrote "Looking up at the bright moon, bowing his head thinking about his hometown", Du Fu's "The dew is white tonight, the moon is bright in my hometown", Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty wrote "The spring breeze is green again on the south bank of the river, when will the bright moon shine on me again" and other poems, They are all eternal songs. The Mid-Autumn Festival, the Lantern Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival are also known as the three traditional festivals in my country. The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is closely related to myths and legends such as "Chang'e flying to the moon", "Wu Gang conquering Gui", and "Jade Rabbit pounding medicine". Therefore, the folk customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival are mostly related to the moon. Appreciating the moon, worshiping the moon, eating reunion moon cakes, etc. all originate from this. In ancient times, emperors had a social system of worshiping the sun in spring and the moon in autumn, and people also had the custom of worshiping the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Later, admiring the moon became more important than worshiping the moon, and serious sacrifices turned into relaxed joy. The custom of appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival peaked in the Tang Dynasty. Many poets included poems praising the moon in their famous works. In the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, the activities of worshiping and appreciating the moon among the court and the people became more extensive. There are many ancient monuments such as "Moon Worship Altar", "Moon Worship Pavilion" and "Moon Watching Tower" remaining in various parts of our country. The "Altar of the Moon" in Beijing was built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty for the royal family to worship the moon. Whenever the moon rises during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a table is set up in the open air, and moon cakes, pomegranates, dates and other fruits are offered on the table. After worshiping the moon, the whole family sits around the table, eats and talks, and enjoys the bright moon. Nowadays, the activities of worshiping and worshiping the moon have been replaced by large-scale and colorful mass moon-viewing recreational activities. Eating mooncakes is another custom during the festival, as mooncakes symbolize reunion. The production of mooncakes has become more and more sophisticated since the Tang Dynasty. Su Dongpo wrote in a poem: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispness and sweetness in the middle." Yang Guangfu of the Qing Dynasty wrote: "Moon cakes are filled with peach and meat fillings, and ice cream is sweet with cane sugar frosting." It seems that the mooncakes at that time are quite similar to those now. Many people say that the Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the story of Chang'e flying to the moon. According to historical records: "In the past, Chang'e took the medicine of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West, and then flew to the moon and became the moon spirit." The price paid by Chang'e for this move was to be punished with hard labor and she would not be able to return to the world for the rest of her life. Li Bai was quite sad about this, and wrote a poem: "The white rabbit makes medicine, autumn returns to spring, who will the female Chang'e live alone next to?" Although Chang'e herself felt that the moon palace was good, she could not bear the loneliness. When the moon is full and the night is clear, they return to the human world to reunite with their husbands, but they must return to the moon palace before dawn. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people in later generations not only want to go to the moon to reunite with Chang'e, but also hope that Chang'e will come down to earth and see her beautiful face. Therefore, when many people burn incense and worship the moon, they pray that "men may wish to go to the Toad Palace early and climb up to the fairy laurel...women may look like Chang'e and be as round as the bright moon." Year after year, people celebrate this day as a festival. Some people believe that the Mid-Autumn Festival started when Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty admired the moon. The Tang Dynasty's "Kaiyuan Legacy" records: On the Mid-Autumn Night, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty and his concubine Yang Guifei were playing in the lower reaches of the moon. When they swam to a happy place, they went to the Moon Palace. The Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty also learned half of "The Song of Colorful Clothes and Feathers" in the Moon Palace. Later, Supplement it completely and become a masterpiece handed down from generation to generation. Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty never forgot his trip to the Moon Palace. At this time every year, he must admire the moon. The common people also followed suit and gathered together during the full moon to enjoy the beauty of the world. Over time, it became a tradition that was passed down. Some people have suggested that the Mid-Autumn Festival was originally the anniversary of an uprising that overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the common people could not bear the government's rule. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, notes saying "Kill the Tatars and destroy the Yuan Dynasty; every family will do it on August 15th" were hidden in chrome round cakes and passed to each other. On the evening of August 15th, every household took action and overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in one fell swoop. Later, moon cakes were eaten every Mid-Autumn Festival to commemorate this historic victory. Others have suggested that the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is related to agricultural production. Autumn is the harvest season. The meaning of the word "Autumn" is: "Autumn is when the crops are mature." During the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, crops and various fruits mature one after another. In order to celebrate the harvest and express their joy, farmers use the "Mid-Autumn Festival" as a festival. "Mid-Autumn Festival" means the middle of autumn. The eighth month of the lunar calendar is the middle month of autumn, and the 15th is the day in the middle of the month. The word Mid-Autumn Festival appears in "Zhou Li", but it does not refer to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but to the second month of autumn. There was an "Autumn Festival" in the Han Dynasty, and it was on the day of the Beginning of Autumn, not August 15th. There were records of the twelve festivals at four o'clock in the Tang Dynasty, and there was no Mid-Autumn Festival, but the "Mid-Autumn Festival" appeared in Tang poetry. ".
"The moon is full in the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, and I send you off to the Mulan Boat" (Wei Zhuang's "Send Off Li Xiucai Returns to Jingxi"). The first person who made a clear record of the Mid-Autumn Festival was Wu Zishou of the Southern Song Dynasty. He said in the book "Meng Liang Lu": "The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on August 15th. This day is half-way through the third autumn, so it is called the 'Mid-Autumn Festival'. '. The moonlight was twice as bright as usual on this night, and it was also called 'Yuexi'." The book also describes the grand occasion of enjoying the moon and visiting the night market in Lin'an (now Hangzhou), the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty.