Knowledge about Mid-Autumn Festival
I. The origin of the name
Mid-Autumn Festival is the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the second month of autumn, its symbol is the full moon in May, which is in the middle of Sanqiu, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. This night, the moonlight is brighter than usual, also called "moonlight". Because Mid-Autumn Festival is in autumn and August, it is also called "Autumn Festival" and "August Festival". It is also called "Moon Festival" and "Moon Festival" because the moon and Yue Bai are sacrifices.
Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Reunion Festival" and "Daughter's Day" because families get together and married daughters go home for reunion. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, all kinds of melons and fruits are mature and listed, which is called the "Fruit Festival". Dong people call it "Pumpkin Festival" and Mulao people call it "Afterlife Festival". On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people get together to enjoy the moon, offer sacrifices and celebrate the harvest.
Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "correcting the moon". The record of "Reunion Festival" was first seen in the literary works of the Ming Dynasty. Travel Notes on the West Lake says: "August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send moon cakes to show their reunion."
"Brief Introduction to the Scenery of Dijing" also said: "On August 15th, the moon was sacrificed, cakes were round, melons were deformed, and lotus flowers were carved in petals. ..... Those who have a wife who returns to Ning will return to her husband's family one day, also known as the Reunion Festival. "
At first, the festival of "Sacrificing the Moon" was held on the "Autumn Equinox" of the twenty-four solar terms in the Ganzhi calendar, and later it was moved to August 15th in the summer calendar (lunar calendar). According to China's calendar, August in the lunar calendar is in the middle of autumn, that is, the second month of autumn, which is called "Mid-Autumn Festival", and August 15th is among them, so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival".
Second, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival
1. Eat moon cakes
Moon cakes, also known as moon group, harvest cake, palace cake and reunion cake, are tributes to the moon god in ancient Mid-Autumn Festival. Moon cakes were originally used as offerings to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion.
Mooncakes symbolize a happy reunion. People regard them as holiday food, use them to worship the moon and give them to relatives and friends. Today, eating moon cakes has become an essential custom of Mid-Autumn Festival in northern and southern China. On this day, people eat moon cakes to show "reunion".
2. Enjoy osmanthus and drink osmanthus wine
People often eat moon cakes, enjoy osmanthus flowers and eat all kinds of foods made of osmanthus flowers, among which cakes and sweets are the most common. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, looking up at osmanthus, smelling osmanthus fragrance and drinking a glass of osmanthus wine in the middle of the month to celebrate the sweetness of the family has become a wonderful enjoyment of the festival. In modern times, people mostly use red wine instead.