Customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival: August 15th is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in my country, and everything revolves around the theme of the moon. (abbreviation: 20 characters)
The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in ancient times, became popular in the Han Dynasty, was finalized in the early Tang Dynasty, and became popular after the Song Dynasty. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional cultural festival popular in China and Chinese regions around the world. Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, Moonlight Festival, Moon Eve, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Worship Festival, Moon Mother Festival, Moon Festival, Reunion Festival, etc., is a traditional Chinese folk festival. The customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival include: worshiping the moon, admiring the moon, eating moon cakes, playing lanterns, guessing riddles, appreciating osmanthus, drinking osmanthus wine, etc. I think among the many customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are 4 that are most worth mentioning. Let’s take a look with me:
? One of the customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival: worshiping the moon?
Moon worship is a very ancient custom in our country. It is actually an activity of worship of the "Moon God" by the ancients. In ancient times, there was the custom of "autumn twilight and evening moon". On the eve of the moon, worship the moon god. Since ancient times, people in some areas of Guangdong have had the custom of worshiping the moon god on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
During the autumnal equinox, it is the ancient "Moon Sacrifice Festival". The Mid-Autumn Festival comes from the traditional "moon sacrifice". The Mid-Autumn Festival was popularized in the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty was a period of economic and cultural exchanges and integration between the north and south of my country. The cultural exchanges between various places led to the integration and spread of festivals and customs. The Mid-Autumn Festival became popular in northern my country after the Tang Dynasty. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival had become a common folk festival, and the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Mid-Autumn Moon Sacrifice Ceremony is an ancient sacrificial ritual that expresses people’s beautiful wish to pray for the moon god to bless the world. The word "Mid-Autumn Festival" was first recorded in the literature of the Han Dynasty. It was written in the "Li" of Zhou between the two Han Dynasties (it is said to be written by Zhou Gongdan, actually written between the two Han Dynasties). ”, “Mid-Autumn Festival Offering Good Fur”, and “Autumnal Equinox Eve (moon worship)” activities. As one of the important sacrifices of the Mid-Autumn Festival, moon worship has continued from ancient times and gradually evolved into folk activities of appreciating and singing the moon. Under the moon, the "Moon God" tablet is placed in the direction of the moon, with red candles burning high, and the whole family worships the moon in turn and prays for blessings.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a synthesis of autumn seasonal customs, and most of the festival elements it contains have ancient origins. The Mid-Autumn Festival was popularized in the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty was a period of economic and cultural exchanges and integration between the north and the south. The cultural exchanges between various places led to the integration and spread of festivals and customs. According to written records, in the Han Dynasty, there was an activity in the Central Plains area to respect and support the elderly and give them thick cakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Beginning of Autumn. There are also written records of the Mid-Autumn Moon Appreciation in the Jin Dynasty, but it is not very common. During the Jin Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not very popular in the central plains of northern my country. The Mid-Autumn Festival became an officially recognized national festival around the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, Mid-Autumn Festival customs became popular in northern my country. "Book of Tang·Taizong Ji" records the "Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th". During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival had become a common folk festival, and the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival.
?The second custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival: appreciating the moon?
The custom of appreciating the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon. Serious worship has turned into relaxed entertainment. Appreciating the moon is the Mid-Autumn Festival. important customs of the festival. It also refers to watching the full moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th. It is said that the moon is closest to the earth on this night, and the moon is the largest, roundest and brightest. Therefore, there has been a custom of feasting and admiring the moon since ancient times. In the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular, and many poets included poems praising the moon in their famous works. Existing written records of moon appreciation indicate that folk moon appreciation activities during the Mid-Autumn Festival began around the Wei and Jin Dynasties and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. Many poets have poems praising the moon in their famous works. In the Song and Ming dynasties, court and folk moon-appreciating activities became more extensive. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is usually full.
"The moon is the brightest moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival", and the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival is the brightest. The three months of July, August, and September in the fall of the lunar calendar fall in August. The full moon on August 15 is called the "Mid-Autumn Moon", which is also the "Mid-Autumn Festival" in China. The Mid-Autumn Festival is usually the harvest season. Spring and autumn are the inherent laws of nature. The ancients believed that harvest was the result of a gift from heaven with good weather and good weather. After a good harvest, they would worship the heaven and earth to show their gratitude. In ancient times, it became a custom to worship the moon god to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is usually full. This also gave rise to the custom of admiring the moon.
For people in the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival has another form, that is, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival of secular joy: "Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, all shops sell new wine, noble families decorate their terraces and pavilions, and private households compete with each other. Occupying a restaurant and playing in the moonlight, the music and music are heard thousands of miles away, and we sit and play until dawn." ("Tokyo Menghua Lu"). The Mid-Autumn Festival in the Song Dynasty was a sleepless night. Night markets were open all night and there were endless tourists enjoying the moonlight. There is a bright moon all year round, so why should we enjoy it in the Mid-Autumn Festival? Ouyang Zhan tried to explain this problem in the preface to the poem "Wanying in the Moon": "The moon is for playing, in winter it is full of frost and too cold, in summer it is too hot and steaming clouds, the clouds cover the moon, and the frost invades people, both covering and invading harm Wan." "Autumn follows the season, followed by summer and preceded by winter, August begins and ends with Meng, and the fifteenth comes at night. According to the way of the sky, the cold and heat are both equal." According to the weather, " This explanation is reasonable from today's scientific point of view. In mid-autumn, the dry and cold airflow from the north forces the warm and humid air that has been swirling over most parts of our country in summer to retreat southward. The water vapor in the air decreases, and the sky There are fewer clouds and fog, so the weather is crisp and clear in autumn, and the night sky is clear, so the moon looks extra bright, giving people the feeling of being extra bright during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In addition to natural reasons, there are also historical reasons why people choose to enjoy the moon around the Mid-Autumn Festival of the year. Early moon sacrifices were chosen to be held in the autumn, when people focused their attention on the moon and could Fully appreciate the beauty of the moon that you usually don’t notice. At that time, the upper class began to have a more rational understanding of the moon. Instead of simply worshiping it, they gradually began to appreciate the full moon as a beautiful natural scene. This is the so-called "good time and beautiful scenery" mentality. We can clearly see the traces of ancient myths in the moon-appreciating poems of the past dynasties. The osmanthus tree, white rabbit, and Chang'e are common images, which also proves the strong influence of ancient moon myths on the custom of moon-appreciating.
? The third custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival: Eating moon cakes?
Moon cakes are also called moon cakes, harvest cakes, palace cakes, reunion cakes, etc. They are offerings to worship the moon god during the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times. . Mooncakes were originally used as sacrifices to the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded appreciating the moon and tasting mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion.
Moon cakes have a long history as offerings to worship the moon god. The word "mooncake" was first included in the extant literature in "Meng Liang Lu" written by Wu Zimu in the Southern Song Dynasty. Appreciating the moon and eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival are essential customs for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in various parts of China. As the saying goes: "August and fifteenth are full, and the Mid-Autumn mooncakes are fragrant and sweet." ?
The dietary customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month of the Han people. Su Dongpo, a great poet of the Song Dynasty, praised moon cakes in a poem: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispy and sweet fillings in them." From this, we can see that moon cakes in the Song Dynasty were filled with butter and sugar.
In the Ming Dynasty, the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival became more common. "Miscellaneous Notes of Wanshu" written by Shen Bang of the Ming Dynasty records: "The furniture of the common people and the common people are made of mooncakes made of moon cakes, ranging in size, and they are called moon cakes." "Zhuizhongzhi" says: "In August, begonias and hostas are appreciated in the palace. Flowers. From the first day of the Lunar New Year, there are moon cake sellers. On the fifteenth day, every family offers moon cakes and fruits. If there are any leftover moon cakes, they are collected in a dry and cool place and distributed at the end of the year. They are called reunion cakes. Also."
After the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the custom of eating mooncakes and giving mooncakes as gifts during the Mid-Autumn Festival became increasingly popular, and mooncakes had the symbolic meaning of "reunion". From the Qing Dynasty to modern times, mooncakes have experienced new developments in quality and variety. Differences in raw materials, preparation methods, shapes, etc. make mooncakes more colorful, forming distinctive varieties such as Beijing style, Soviet style, and Cantonese style. Mooncakes are not only a unique holiday food, but also a popular pastry for all seasons.
The word mooncake was first seen in "Meng Liang Lu" by Wu Zimu in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, it was just a snack food. Later, people gradually combined moon appreciation with moon cakes, which symbolized family reunion and expressed their longing for each other. At the same time, mooncakes are also an important gift used to connect friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The mooncakes at that time were rhombus-shaped, existing at the same time as chrysanthemum cakes, plum blossom cakes, five-nut cakes, etc., and they were "available at all times, and can be requested at any time without missing a customer." It can be seen that mooncakes at this time are not only eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As for the origin of the term mooncake, there is no way to verify it. However, Su Dongpo, a famous scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, left a poem that said, "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp and glutinous rice in them." Perhaps this is the origin of the name of moon cakes and the basis for the making of moon cakes. ?
?The fourth custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival: playing with lanterns?
There are many games and activities during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the first of which is playing with lanterns. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three major lantern festivals in my country, and people play with lanterns during the festival. Of course, there is no large-scale lantern festival like the Lantern Festival during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Playing with lanterns is mainly done among families and children.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are many games and activities, the first of which is playing with lanterns. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three major lantern festivals in China, and you have to play with lanterns during the festival. Of course, there is no large-scale lantern festival like the Lantern Festival during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Playing with lanterns is mainly done among families and children. As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, "Old Wulin Stories" recorded the Mid-Autumn Festival customs of putting "a little red" lantern into the river for floating and playing. People who play with lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival are mostly concentrated in the south. For example, at the Foshan Autumn Color Fair, there are various kinds of lanterns: sesame lanterns, eggshell lanterns, wood shaving lanterns, straw lanterns, fish scale lanterns, chaff lanterns, melon seed lanterns, bird and animal flower tree lanterns, etc., which are amazing. .
In Nanning, Guangxi, in addition to various lanterns tied with paper and bamboo for children to play with, there are also very simple grapefruit lanterns, pumpkin lanterns, and orange lanterns. The so-called grapefruit lamp is made by hollowing out the grapefruit, carving a simple pattern, putting it on a rope, and lighting a candle inside. The light is elegant. Pumpkin lanterns and orange lanterns are also made by removing the flesh. Although simple, it is easy to make and very popular. Some children even float grapefruit lanterns into the pond and river as a game. There is a simple household autumn lantern in Guangxi, which is made of six circles of bamboo strips tied into a lantern, with white gauze paper on the outside and candles inserted inside. It can be hung next to the moon festival table to worship the moon, and can also be played by children. Nowadays, many areas in Guangdong and Guangxi arrange lantern festivals on the Mid-Autumn Festival night. Large modern lanterns illuminated by electric lights are made, as well as various new lanterns made of plastic for children to play with. However, the simple beauty of the old lanterns is missing.