How do Chaozhou people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival?
Moon worship is to worship the moon god Taiyin Xingjun. The Chaozhou proverb "men do not worship the moon and women do not worship the stove", which shows that women are responsible for worshiping the moon. There is also a Chaozhou proverb, "You can keep a daughter for one autumn, but not for the Mid-Autumn Festival", which means that a daughter who returns to her parents' home must rush back to her husband's house before the festival because the Mid-Autumn Festival is the reunion festival. The moon is full and the family is reunited. The most important offering for worshiping the moon is mooncakes. Mooncakes symbolize reunion and good luck. Before the festival, relatives and friends often give mooncakes to each other to express deep friendship. Sacrificial offerings are also commonly made with cloud cakes, taro and various fruits. Chaozhou is the hometown of fruits, and autumn-ripe fruits such as grapefruit, tomatoes, pomegranates, and longans are all on the market. Every family buys a variety of fruits and pastes them with double happiness patterns cut out of red paper, making them a great gift for worshiping the moon. Chaozhou people also call the Mid-Autumn Festival the Fruit Festival.
“The moon is particularly bright during the Mid-Autumn Festival.” After worshiping the moon, the family enjoys the full moon. Eating mooncakes first when appreciating the moon has the same meaning as having a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. The housewife divides a large piece of moon cake into several portions according to the number of people in the family, and each person eats a small piece to celebrate the full moon and the full person. If there is a family member in other places, a portion is reserved for them. This also expresses the profound meaning of "May people live long and travel thousands of miles to visit Chanjuan". Then, the family sat together, admiring the moon, tasting fragrant tea and delicious fruits, enjoying the breeze and the bright moon, and talking about family happiness.
Chaozhou people’s customs of eating moon cakes, eating taro, and burning tile towers during the Mid-Autumn Festival are said to be related to the Anti-Yuan Uprising. In 1278 AD, Ma Fa, the pacification envoy of the Southern Song Dynasty, led Chaozhou soldiers and civilians to resist the Yuan army. The city was destroyed, and the Yuan general ordered the massacre of the city for three days. Then a cruel rule was carried out. In order to fear that the Han people would resist, every ten families were assigned one yuan of soldiers to supervise them, and every ten families shared a kitchen knife. The people of Chaozhou hated Yuan Bing extremely and wanted to rise up to resist, but it was extremely difficult to deliver the news. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the people came up with a way to send messages by giving each other moon cakes before the Mid-Autumn Festival. They wrote the word "kill" on the oil-proof paper of the moon cakes, calling on the people to rise up and kill Yuan soldiers and overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. In Chaoshan food culture, Gongfu tea is as famous as Chaozhou cuisine. Many outsiders have experienced Chaoshan Gongfu Tea on the Chaozhou food table. Whether you only taste it briefly because of a different taste, or you sip it slowly with relish, this small cup of fragrant hot tea will always leave a deep impression on you. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, families gather together to taste mooncakes and, of course, drink Gongfu tea. Burning Tile Pagoda "Burning Tile Kiln is one of the folk entertainments in Chaoshan. It is said that in the late Yuan Dynasty, every 10 households had to raise a Hu man. The people were bullied by the Hu people. In order to overthrow the barbaric rule of the Hu people, people with lofty ideals from all over the country conspired to build a barbarian on the eighth day of the lunar calendar. On the 15th day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, moon cakes are used to convey information, with the burning of tile kiln fireworks as a sign, and "book cake" (a Mid-Autumn Festival cake that is the same as moon cakes, only available during the Mid-Autumn Festival, shaped like a book, so it is called book cake) The Yuan Dynasty ruled China for more than 80 years. It is said that the main activities were in the Sangpu Mountain, Shaxi, and Caitang areas. Later generations made mooncakes every Mid-Autumn Festival. , and burn the tile kiln as a commemoration. This entertainment has been continued by the trend people. When burning the tile kiln, sprinkle some salt into the tile kiln, which is the scene of "burning the tile kiln". "It has become a traditional activity among Chaozhou people. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, children in some rural areas will build a pagoda kiln with bricks, tiles, etc. The kiln is filled with straw, and the outside of the kiln is covered with haystacks. After lighting a fire, some even Pour kerosene and throw in salt, and the tower kiln will burst into flames and crackle! The raging flames express people's wishes for happiness and a prosperous life. Chaozhou people call the moon Taiyin Niang, or Moon Niang for short. Therefore, Chaoshan has a special name. It is a custom that "men do not worship the moon, and women do not worship the stove". The protagonists of the moon festival are women and children. They put the newly bought books and stationery at the front of the confession, because after hearing the old man say that they use these to worship, the moon goddess. It can bless schoolchildren to study hard and achieve excellent results. The unmarried girl from the neighbor also lit long dragon incense and knelt on the ground to pray to the moon. A Chaoshan song sang: "On Mid-Autumn Night, the Moon Goddess." Deep greetings and reunion. A good husband and a good relationship.
The origins of worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially the official attire, are handed down from ancestors. As for why this custom is only observed on the Mid-Autumn Night, it is even more unclear. The legendary Lin Jiancheng was a native of Fujian and the prefect of Chaozhou in the Song Dynasty. After he took office in Chaozhou, he became domineering and arrogant. Every time he went out, he would be cheered and supported, and the people could not bear to be disturbed. One Mid-Autumn Festival, Liu Fang, a native of Yixi, Chaozhou, who happened to be worshiped as the Grand Bachelor of Longtuge (equivalent to the prime minister) of the current dynasty, returned to his hometown to visit his relatives. In order to kill the official spirit of Lin Jiancheng, Liu Longtu specially hung his official clothes outside the door to dry. The official boots made Lin Jincheng, who came to see him, think that he was a high official, so he couldn't kneel down and kowtow to the official uniform and boots, and finally left in anger.
Later, Lin Jiancheng became so angry that he broke Chaoshan's feng shui to avenge this incident. Chaoshan people still blame him for the fact that Chaoshan has not produced a prime minister-level official since Liu Longtu. But this story has greatly increased the aspirations of fashion people. Therefore, the official dress worn during the Mid-Autumn Festival not only means "blessings from heavenly officials", but it may also strengthen the collective memory of this ancient legend, and it is also a psychological reminder that Chaoshan has not produced a prime minister-level official in the past thousand years. To compensate, it gradually evolved into a ritual of worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival.