Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "the right month". In the Tang Dynasty, Mid-Autumn Festival was also called "the first month". The prevalence of Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Song Dynasty, and the Ming and Qing Dynasties were as famous as New Year's Day. In Song Dynasty, it was as famous as New Year's Day in Ming and Qing Dynasties and became one of the major festivals in China.
The classic customs of Mid-Autumn Festival include: offering sacrifices to the moon, enjoying the moon, Yue Bai, burning lanterns, guessing riddles, watching tides, eating moon cakes, enjoying osmanthus, drinking osmanthus wine, playing with lanterns and so on. I think there are six customs worth mentioning in Mid-Autumn Festival. Let's take a look:
? One of the classic customs of Mid-Autumn Festival: Yue Bai?
Yue Bai is a very old custom in China, which actually originated from the worship of "Moon God" by ancient people in some places in China. Mid-Autumn Festival is a relic of Yue Bai's ancient custom of worshipping celestial phenomena. As one of the important ceremonies of Mid-Autumn Festival, Yue Bai has continued from ancient times and gradually evolved into a folk activity to appreciate and praise the moon. At the same time, it has become the main form of modern people's longing for reunion and their desire for a better life.
According to legend, there were ten suns in the ancient sky, which appeared in turn, illuminating and bringing warmth to the earth. But one day, ten suns appeared together, the crops on the earth were burnt, and people's lives were very difficult. Later, a sharpshooter named Hou Yi shot nine suns with a bow at the top of Kunlun Mountain, which eliminated the disaster for all people.
Later, Hou Yi went to Kunlun Mountain to seek Taoism, and on his way back, he met the Queen Mother of the West who came to visit friends. The Queen Mother of the West knew that Hou Yi had always wanted to cultivate immortality. In recognition of his contribution to the people of the world, the Queen Mother of the West gave him an elixir of life. Hou Yi wanted another one for his wife, but the Queen Mother of the West refused. After returning home, Hou Yi told his wife Chang 'e about it and promised not to leave Chang 'e alone. To show his determination, he gave the elixir of life to Chang 'e for safekeeping. Unexpectedly, these things were heard by Meng Peng, an apprentice of Hou Yi, and he could not refuse the temptation of becoming an immortal.
When Hou Yi led his disciples out hunting, Meng Peng made an excuse to stay. After Houyi left, he immediately came to Houyi's home. Forced Chang 'e to hand over the elixir of life, Chang 'e herself was forced to swallow the elixir of life and soared to the Moon Palace to become immortal. When Meng Peng saw Chang 'e soar and live forever, he knew that his master would never let himself go and ran away.
When Hou Yi came back, he knew what had happened. He misses his wife and can't sleep at night. He saw his wife's shadow on the moon, and quickly ordered someone to take her favorite snacks to visit Chang 'e. Later, ordinary women began to go to Yue Bai every Mid-Autumn Festival. Over time, the customs of Yue Bai spread.
? The second classic custom of Mid-Autumn Festival: solve riddles on the lanterns?
Mid-Autumn Festival solve riddles on the lanterns is a traditional custom and activity of Mid-Autumn Festival. The origin of lantern riddles has a long history in China, with a history of more than 3,000 years. "argot" appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and was the embryonic form of lantern riddles. In the Han Dynasty, "argot" began to divide into two directions. A mystery of things characterized by descriptive characteristics; Another literary mystery mainly focuses on the form and meaning of words. In Wei Dynasty, it was called a riddle.
With the prosperity of poetry in Sui and Tang Dynasties, poetry puzzles appeared in large numbers and became the mainstream. Since the Song Dynasty, some literati have often posted riddles on various lanterns on the night of the Lantern Festival to attract pedestrians to guess and shoot. This is the origin of "lantern riddle". After the middle of Qing dynasty, enigma prevailed and many enigmas appeared. After the Revolution of 1911, lantern riddles formed two styles: "Southern School" and "Northern School". In the old society, because most riddlers were literati, some literati pretended to be lofty, unilaterally emphasized elegance and rejected folk lantern riddles.
After liberation, under the guidance of the party's literary policy of "letting a hundred flowers blossom", riddles have developed more vigorously, and they have become more and more perfect and rich, making great contributions to building socialist spiritual civilization and invigorating the cultural life of the masses. At present, Chinese and overseas Chinese all over the world have lantern riddle activities and lantern riddle academic exchanges.
? The third classic custom of Mid-Autumn Festival: eating moon cakes?
Moon cakes, also known as moon cakes, harvest cakes and reunion cakes, are one of the traditional delicacies of Han nationality in China. ? Moon cakes were originally used as offerings to worship the moon god and have a long history. The word "moon cake" was first seen in Liang Lumeng by Wu in the Southern Song Dynasty. Watching the moon and eating moon cakes is an essential custom in Mid-Autumn Festival in all parts of China. As the saying goes, "Moon cakes are sweet and fragrant when they are full on August 15th". ?
In the Ming Dynasty, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival became more common. Ming Shenbang's "Wan Bu Miscellaneous Notes" contains: "The furniture of ordinary people's homes is a kind of moon cake with different sizes, which is called moon cake." "Proceedings" said: "In August, Haitang and Hosta flowers were enjoyed in the palace. From the first day of the first lunar month, mooncakes have been sold, and by the fifteenth, every household has provided mooncakes and melons. If there are still moon cakes left, they should be stored in a dry and cool place and used separately at the end of the year, called reunion cakes. "
There have been many records about moon cakes since the Ming Dynasty. At this time, the moon cakes are round and only eaten in the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is the main offering of the popular Mid-Autumn Festival in the Ming Dynasty. "A Brief View of the Imperial Capital" says: "On August 15th, the moon is sacrificed, and the fruit cakes are round." "Home moonlight is located on the moon, worshiping the moon, then burning moonlight paper and withdrawing the supply, and the scattered family is over. Moon cakes bear fruit, and relatives feed them back. The cake is two feet in diameter. 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. ?
? The fourth classic custom of Mid-Autumn Festival: enjoying osmanthus?
August of the lunar calendar, called Gui Yue in ancient times, is the best time to enjoy Guangxi. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, laurel trees are in full bloom, and Suzhou and Hangzhou, which are as beautiful as nature, are immersed in the fragrance of osmanthus. On a clear full moon night, the family tasted wine, and the fragrance of agarwood was refreshing. ? Osmanthus fragrans in China and the bright moon in Mid-Autumn Festival have been linked with the cultural life of our people since ancient times. Many poets write poems and lyrics to describe it, praise it and even deify it. In a series of moon palace myths such as the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon and WU GANG, it is osmanthus that links them together. ?
Han Zicang's poem in the Song Dynasty: "There are guests planting flowers in the moon, and there are no flowers in the world that dare to compete for fragrance", saying that osmanthus trees are "the first among flowers". In modern times, after public selection, osmanthus trees have jumped to the throne of 10 famous flowers. ? Osmanthus fragrans has many names, which are called "Gui" because of its vein shape, "Wood" because of its dense texture and rhinoceros texture, "Rock Osmanthus fragrans" because of its natural distribution among clustered rock ridges, and "Li Qi Xiang" and "Murraya" because of its fragrance when it blooms. ?
Osmanthus fragrans has been closely related to the moon since ancient times, which means auspiciousness. It is said that there is a osmanthus tree on the moon, which is 500 feet high. In the Han Dynasty, there was a man from Hexi, WU GANG, who was punished for cutting laurels in the middle of the month because he didn't obey the rules when learning immortals. However, this tree cannot be cut down. Thousands of years have passed, although WU GANG is hard to cut down trees every day, every Mid-Autumn Festival, osmanthus trees are still full of vitality and fragrance. Only in the Mid-Autumn Festival will Wu Can and his party rest under the tree and reunite with the world. On the Mid-Autumn Festival full moon night, enjoying the moon with osmanthus fragrance under the osmanthus tree has a special taste, because osmanthus is sweet for people's pursuit and praise of life.
? The fifth classic custom of Mid-Autumn Festival: Drink osmanthus wine?
China has had the custom of drinking "osmanthus wine" on Mid-Autumn Festival since ancient times. In the memory of the older generation, a traditional Mid-Autumn Festival night is indispensable to three elements, that is, the bright moon, moon cakes and osmanthus wine.
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people look up at the sweet-scented osmanthus in the middle of the month, smell the bursts of Gui Xiang, drink a glass of sweet-scented osmanthus wine, celebrate the sweetness of the whole family and get together, which has become a wonderful enjoyment of the festival. Osmanthus fragrans is not only ornamental, but also edible. In Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs", there is a poem about "helping Ma Zhang to drink cinnamon pulp" and "drinking cinnamon wine and pepper pulp". It can be seen that China has been drinking osmanthus wine for quite a long time.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone's first choice is to eat moon cakes, because moon cakes have a sweet and greasy feeling, and if you eat too much, you will feel very tired. So elders like to drink osmanthus wine or osmanthus tea to relieve boredom. Osmanthus fragrans, which has always been called "Murraya", can also be made into many foods. It's fragrant and delicious, and other foods taste good. For example, Osmanthus Jelly and osmanthus tea, which we often hear about, are both finished products of osmanthus. After autumn, osmanthus flowers are in full bloom, and when the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, flowers begin to fall. People will pick osmanthus and brew osmanthus wine. Osmanthus fragrans wine brewed with Osmanthus fragrans is mellow, sweet and sour. After drinking, the lingering fragrance will last for a long time. Eating moon cakes and drinking osmanthus wine can relieve boredom, and osmanthus wine helps sleep.
Besides, drinking osmanthus wine on Mid-Autumn Festival is actually meaningful. Osmanthus fragrans is a symbol of wealth and good luck. "Gui" and "Gui" are homophonic, which is a symbol of wealth. So osmanthus wine is very popular with people. There is a legend about osmanthus wine, which is about WU GANG. Everyone knows WU GANG. He is a fairy who lives on the moon. He was punished by the Emperor of Heaven and cut down the osmanthus tree in the Moon Palace. It is said that once, he almost froze to death in front of Miss Brewmaster, and Miss Brewmaster saved him. So he repaid Ms. Brewmaster with cinnamon. After planting cinnamon, it grows into a osmanthus tree and blooms in Gui Xiang. People celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. A full moon hangs in the sky. People eat moon cakes and drink osmanthus wine in the yard. This is probably what Mid-Autumn Festival looks like. The reason why people drink osmanthus wine in the Mid-Autumn Festival is because of the above. Osmanthus fragrans has the reputation of "Nine Fragrants", and the custom of enjoying Osmanthus fragrans in Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history.
? The sixth classic custom of Mid-Autumn Festival: Watching the Tide?
In Zhejiang, the Mid-Autumn Festival still has the custom of watching the tide. Watching the tide is a major event in the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is recorded in the history books of the Han Dynasty. Now Mid-Autumn Festival has been designated as a national holiday. Not only China attaches importance to Mid-Autumn Festival, but also some overseas Chinese celebrate it.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival night on August 15th, the moon is round and big. If you can stand on the shore overlooking a bright moon, you can not only set off the festive atmosphere, but also embody the Mid-Autumn Festival culture to the fullest. The custom of watching tide in Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, which is described in detail in Mei Cheng's Seven Mao Fu in Han Dynasty. After the Han Dynasty, Mid-Autumn tide watching became more popular. There are also records of watching the tide in Zhu Tinghuan's Ming Bu Wulin Past and Zi Mu's Meng Lianglu.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, the tide watching was more prosperous. Zhou Mi once wrote the word "watching the tide": "The tide in Zhejiang is a great sight in the world. From hope to 18, it is the most prosperous. Fang Qi is far away from Haimen, just like a silver line. At the beginning, Yucheng Xueling came from the international day, and the sound was like thunder, shocking and lashing, swallowing the sky and swallowing the sun, and it was full of pride. " Su Shi once wrote in his poem: "The August 18th tide was spectacular." .
Watching the tide is a popular Mid-Autumn Festival custom in Hangzhou, Zhejiang and Jiaxing. Every year on the 18th day of the eighth lunar month, there will be a big tide in Qiantang River. At high tide, the waves are huge and spectacular, and they are known as "the first tide in the world".
Mid-Autumn Festival is a very old festival in China. From the north to the south, the customs of Mid-Autumn Festival are different, but one thing is basically the same. These festivals also bring a lot of endless fun to people who get together at home.