The festive season is just around the corner, introducing you to interesting folklore and legends
■Qing Chen Mei "Moon Man Qing Travel Map" of Qiongtai to enjoy the moon
■ Shanxi empty shell mooncakes that exploded in the Mid-Autumn Festival this year.
The white dew has passed, the autumn is getting stronger, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner. The Mid-Autumn Festival, together with the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, is known as the four traditional festivals in China. The Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, not only with colorful folk customs and legends, but also with many exquisite cultural relics. In addition to eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, what other interesting activities did the ancients have? How many things do you know about the Mid-Autumn Festival?
Comprehensive Guangming Network on the news
How many aliases are there?
At least 10 of them, such as "Chasing the Moon Festival" and "Playing the Moon Festival".
The name of the Mid-Autumn Festival comes from the Chinese lunar calendar, in which the year is divided into four seasons, and each season is divided into three parts: Meng, Zhong and Ji, so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Mid-Autumn".
The Mid-Autumn Festival has many nicknames: because its festival is on August 15, it is called "August Festival" and "August and a half"; And because the full moon is the "heroine", it is also called "Moon Night", "Autumn Festival", "Mid-Autumn Festival", "August Meeting", "Moon Chasing Festival", "Moon Playing Festival", "Moon Worship Festival", "Reunion Festival" and so on.
How much do you know about the origins?
There is a saying that it has to do with exams
Regarding the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival, one is related to the moon and the other is related to the exam.
One theory is that the Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the ancient worship of the moon, singing and dancing under the moon and other customs. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the bright moon is in the sky, and the clear light is sprinkled all over the earth, and people regard the full moon as a symbol of reunion, and August 15 as the day of family reunion.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has become a major festival of the year, and it has an extremely delicate relationship with the imperial examination. The triennial Autumn Contest happens to be held in August, and people regard those who take the high school examination as the winners of the month. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the celebration of Chongqing has become an important custom of the people of the whole society, and it has prevailed through dynasties.
The origin of mooncakes?
Legend has it that it was given the name of Yang Guifei
According to folklore, the Mid-Autumn Festival moon cake is the name given by Yang Guifei, the original moon cake is called Hu cake, legend has it that when Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei admired the moon, Yang Guifei felt that Hu cake was delicious but not good, so it was better to call it moon cake, so Hu cake was officially renamed moon cake.
According to historical records, Yang Yuhuan liked the fragrance of osmanthus very much. During a Mid-Autumn Festival, in order to please Yang Yuhuan, Emperor Tang Ming specially prepared a bunch of fresh-cut osmanthus flowers for her. In order to thank the emperor, Yang Yuhuan personally made moon cakes for Emperor Tang Ming, and carved the words "eternal knot and one heart" on them as a reward.
How did the ancients worship the moon?
Set up an incense case and an "Moon God" tablet
Ancient folk rituals to worship the moon were relatively simple.
Generally speaking, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people set up incense tables, install "moon god" tablets, and make offerings of seasonal melons, fruits and pastries, such as watermelons, apples, pomegranates, grapes, water chestnuts, etc., and moon cakes are indispensable.
After the moon worship site is arranged, the main priest is then in place, and the moon is worshipped according to the order of "hymn", "incense" and "liquor". After the sacrifice, the whole family sat together, talked about family life, drank and enjoyed the moon.
With the development of the times, the entertainment of the moon worship has been greatly enhanced, and it has been expressed in the Song Dynasty. For example, Meng Yuanlao's "Tokyo Menghualu" contains: "Before the Mid-Autumn Festival...... Folk families compete to occupy the restaurant to play the moon, sheng songs are heard thousands of miles away, and they sit and sit until dawn", which is very lively.
Why drink osmanthus wine?
Pray for longevity
In the Song Dynasty, the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival must release Krathong, the night market is open all night, and the people also play all night, according to legend, the later you sleep that day, the longer you live. During the Song Dynasty, moon cakes could be less, but osmanthus wine could not be less.
The custom of drinking osmanthus wine during the Mid-Autumn Festival originated when and where it is still inconclusive, but it can be extrapolated from the existing ancient poems and texts to the Tang Dynasty or before, such as Yan Zhenqing wrote: "Cinnamon wine leads to poetry, and Lan Yu shines on guests", and the myth of "Wu Gang cut Gui" is also often used to explain the origin of osmanthus wine.
Osmanthus itself is also a taste of traditional Chinese medicine, commonly known as osmanthus is the length of a hundred medicines, soaked in the wine of osmanthus has the effect of appetizing and awakening, strengthening the spleen and replenishing deficiency, because of the saying "drink the longevity of a thousand years". Drinking osmanthus wine on the reunion day of the Mid-Autumn Festival not only has the effect of strengthening the body, but also has the meaning of praying to the moon god for longevity.
Ancient books describe the brewing method of osmanthus wine. One is "osmanthus soaking wine", that is, soaking fresh osmanthus in liquor; One is "osmanthus wine", that is, the picked osmanthus and steamed glutinous rice are stirred together with koji and other raw materials, and fermented in vats.
What are the tricks?
Qing Dynasty women steal onions and vegetables
In the Qing Dynasty, unmarried women celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there would be a custom of stealing onions and vegetables together. As the saying goes: steal a green onion and marry a good husband; Steal a dish and find a good son-in-law. Married women will steal melons and ask for children.
Related:
Shanxi empty shell moon cakes are the hottest in the Mid-Autumn Festival this year
Which mooncake is the hottest in this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, you must not have expected that the Shanxi empty shell mooncake that became popular because of the game "Black Myth · Wukong" became a dark horse in this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.
The game "Black Myth · Wukong" unexpectedly brought the intangible cultural heritage product of Huoshan West - empty shell moon cakes, which have a golden appearance, and are extremely crispy when you bite into them, but there is no filling inside, and they are hollow. What's even more unexpected is that consumers can fill their own fillings such as bean paste, lotus paste, and five kernels according to different tastes. This chic gameplay, in the era of the pursuit of personalization and customization, is more in line with the needs of consumers. According to the data of Jingdong Supermarket, Shanxi shell mooncakes have been selling well all over the country recently, and the sales volume has increased by 5 times compared with the same period last year.
Hollow shell moon cake, also known as hollow moon cake, is a special moon cake in Shanxi food culture, and the hollow coarse moon cake making technique of Shanxi Qingxu is a provincial intangible cultural heritage. The production process of this kind of moon cake is exquisite, and the baked moon cake crust is very thin, the taste is fragrant, sweet, crispy, crispy, and because of the lack of moisture, it can be stored for a longer time.
Why are "empty shell mooncakes" hollow? Zhang Ruiqin, a representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage project "Xiangning Empty Shell Mooncake Making Skills", said: "Most of the fillings of empty shell mooncakes are made of brown sugar, sesame, walnuts, honey and jam. Mooncakes need to be baked twice on a traditional earthen oven. For the first baking, the demolded mooncakes are baked and set. At this time, the pattern of the moon cake is more obvious and vivid, and it exudes the unique fragrance of "empty shell moon cake". Next, the baked and hardened mooncakes need to be put into the oven cavity before baking. The high temperature in the furnace chamber will allow the sugar in the filling to be fully volatilized. The gas produced when the sugar volatilizes will puff up the whole mooncake like a balloon, so as to achieve a soft and crispy effect. This is also the mystery of why the "empty shell moon cake" is hollow.
(According to Shanxi Evening News)