The Mid-Autumn Festival is the Mid-Autumn Festival because the 15th day of the eighth lunar month is the lunar calendar in Sanqiu. On this day, the full moon in the sky is particularly bright and special, so this day is also considered a good day for marriage.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was originally a harvest festival. In the agricultural society of China, farmers always hold grand celebrations during the harvest season. The reason why this festival became a festival is also related to the beautiful myth of "the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon".
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, besides offering sacrifices, there are moon cakes and lanterns to celebrate the festival. Of course, Chang 'e is enshrined in the sky, and some people call her Moon Mother. The old man said that children should not point at the moon, or their ears will be cut off.
Today, not many people know the original intention of the Mid-Autumn Festival. For the new generation, the most memorable Mid-Autumn Festival is moon cakes and lanterns. Of course, a festival with a full moon in the sky is a good day for people to get together.
Speaking of the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival, there are many different legends and fairy tales among the people. Among them, there are stories such as moths to the fire, Zhu Yuanzhang's moon cake uprising, and Tang's visit to the Moon Palace.
Of course, the most familiar story is the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon. Chang 'e stole her husband Hou Yi's elixir of life and ran to the Moon Palace. There are also many versions of the story. In earlier records, Chang 'e stole the fairy medicine and became a toad, known as the moon essence.
Legend has it that there were ten suns in the ancient sky, which appeared in turn to illuminate and bring warmth to the earth. But one day, ten suns appeared together, and the crops on the earth were burnt. At this time, a sharpshooter named Hou Yi shot down nine suns, which eliminated the disaster for all people. So people made him king. After Hou Yi proclaimed himself emperor, he indulged in debauchery and killed people at will and became a tyrant. He wants to live forever and go to Kunlun Mountain to steal the elixir of the Queen Mother. His wife Chang 'e was afraid that he would live forever and the people would suffer. She stole the elixir and took it, so she flew to the Moon Palace lightly.
After the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, the Moon Palace where Chang 'e lived was actually a deserted place. There is nothing but a laurel tree and a rabbit. But there is also a saying that there is a man named WU GANG in the Moon Palace.
Later, every Mid-Autumn Festival in Yue Bai, ordinary women offered sacrifices to Chang 'e in the Moon Palace.
The traditional food of Mid-Autumn Festival is moon cakes, which are round, symbolizing reunion and reflecting people's good wishes for family reunion.
It is said that eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang led the Han people to resist the tyranny of the Yuan Dynasty and agreed to an uprising on August 15th. He put a note in the mooncakes by giving them to each other to convey the news and call on everyone to revolt on time.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang finally overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and became the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Although Manchu people later moved to China, people still celebrated this festival, which symbolized the overthrow of alien rule. The custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival spread among the people.