Reading guide: Today's Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15 is also the "fierce day" in the eyes of the ancients, the old people around me remind, no matter how busy everyone is, you must keep in mind: 1 to hide, 2 not to eat, 3 not to do, what is it worth? If you want to understand the old traditions, come and learn about the customs and taboos of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Today, September 17th, we officially ushered in the "main festival" of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and today is also the last day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
What is "Mid-Autumn Festival"?
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a very important festival in the traditional culture of the mainland, and it is one of the four traditional festivals in China along with the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival and Dragon Boat Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Reunion Festival, the August Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Moon Festival, the Moon Festival, etc., is not fixed in the annual Gregorian calendar, but the lunar calendar time is fixed on August 15 every year, which coincides with the half of the three autumns, so it is called the "Mid-Autumn Festival".
The relationship between the Mid-Autumn Festival and the autumn equinox
Originally, the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the "setting moon", was a kind of moon worship ritual in ancient times, which was recorded in the "Qing Historical Manuscript": "There are two out of ten in the middle of the ritual: the spring equinox and the sun; Autumn Equinox and Sunset", in ancient times, the festival time of the Mid-Autumn Festival was on the same day as the autumn equinox, in short, the day of the autumn equinox, the Mid-Autumn Festival was on which day. However, the ancients found that the lunar time of the autumn equinox was not fixed, resulting in the Mid-Autumn Festival not being a full moon every year, so that the ritual sense of moon worship was lost.
According to this, the ancients also summed up based on their own experience that "before the evening moon and autumn equinox, it must be a disaster year; After the evening moon and autumn equinox, the grain is piled up", which means that if the Mid-Autumn Festival is before the autumn equinox, then according to the experience of the ancients, there will be more stormy days after the foreshadowing, which is not conducive to the growth and harvesting of crops, and the grain yield will be reduced, so it is called a "disaster year"; If the Mid-Autumn Festival falls after the autumn equinox, it indicates that the following weather will be mainly sunny, which is conducive to the harvesting, drying and storage of grain.
Of course, this statement is only the experience of the ancients, we can use it as a reference for the weather, and we do not need to believe it 100%.
What are the traditional customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival?
There are many traditional customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival, such as admiring the moon, eating moon cakes, carrying lanterns, lighting lanterns, worshiping the moon, dancing the fire dragon, walking the moon, watching the tide, etc., among which moon viewing is a major characteristic custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is evolved from the ancient moon worship ceremony.
It is understood that this year's "super full moon" will appear at 10:34 a.m. on September 18, which is already the morning of the second day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon has already sunk in the west, but on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, we can observe the "super moon" with a larger apparent diameter of the moon, the specific time is 0:01 on September 18, that is, after 12 o'clock in the morning of the Mid-Autumn Festival to the next day, therefore, if you want to see the highest and brightest moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, you have to stay up all night.
What is the saying of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival?
Today's Mid-Autumn Festival, according to the Ganzhi year, today is the year of Jiachen, the month of Jiayou, the day of Jiashen, it is worth mentioning that according to the old calendar 12 construction in addition to the auspicious calculation, today coincides with the "closed day", and today is still the day, this is the "fierce day" in the eyes of the ancients, therefore, this day should be cautious, to learn to restrain themselves, the old tradition to understand, no matter how busy, remember: 1 to hide, 2 do not eat, 3 do not do, hurry up to understand it, it is better than because of "ignorance" and touched the mold.
Today's Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a traditional festival in the mainland, but also a day that symbolizes reunion, so there are many customs and taboos on this day, let's learn about it.
Mid-Autumn Festival "1 to hide": hide from the moon
Hiding the moon is a special custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival, similar to the "hiding autumn" of the beginning of autumn and the "hiding spring" of the beginning of spring, all of which are about the custom of "hiding", and there are two ways to "hide", one is based on folk culture, and the other is based on common sense of life.
First of all, let's analyze from the perspective of folk culture. "Hiding the moon" is often said to be "hiding Tai Sui", on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon tends to be perfect, at this time the magnetic field on the earth will be more chaotic, some specific zodiac signs are easy to "commit Tai Sui", a peaceful and auspicious, these zodiac signs will "hide the moon", although there is no scientific basis for this statement, but this is the ancients' pursuit and yearning for a better life.
Who wants to hide from the moon? This year is the year of Jiachen (Dragon), so people who belong to the dragon need to hide from the moon, in addition, there are 4 zodiac signs to avoid the moon, namely the zodiac ox, the zodiac rabbit, the zodiac sheep, and the zodiac dog.
How to hide? "Hide" has the meaning of hiding, that is, when the moon rises on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, try to avoid going out, the so-called "Mid-Autumn Festival to hide, it is better to lie in bed", at this time you can chat with your family, enjoy the moon, and then lie in bed and rest early, this is because to avoid going out and conflict with others, and this year's Mid-Autumn Festival is the last day of the holiday, rest early, you can raise your spirit to face the work and study after the holiday.
Secondly, from the perspective of life, the Mid-Autumn Festival is in the middle of the three autumns, when the yin and yang are declining, and the weather will be further cold, therefore, we must also pay attention to avoiding the "autumn cold", pay attention to adding clothes in time to keep warm, so as to avoid cold, which is also for the sake of our own health.
Mid-Autumn Festival "2 don't eat": don't eat strange-shaped moon cakes and don't eat pears
Don't eat strange-shaped mooncakes
Moon cake is one of the iconic food customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival, since ancient times there are many flavors of moon cakes, such as Cantonese moon cakes, Suzhou-style moon cakes, Yunnan moon cakes and tide moon cakes, etc., with the development of the times, the current moon cakes are not limited to taste, the shape is also diverse, such as square, diamond-shaped, crescent-shaped, etc., in short, strange, this strange shape of moon cakes is best not to eat.
It is recorded in the "Chronicles of the Year": "The full moon is round people, and the cake circle also symbolizes reunion", the original round design of moon cakes is not accidental, but deeply reflects the Mid-Autumn Festival, the ancients' beautiful pursuit of reunion and harmony. Therefore, choosing traditional round mooncakes is not only a respect for cultural traditions, but also a kind of sustenance for family feelings.
Don't eat pears
After entering the autumn, with the beginning of the cooling, the air humidity also began to decline, and the autumn dryness was born, therefore, from ancient times to the present, there is a saying of "eating pears in autumn", eating more pears in the dry autumn can moisten the throat and moisten the lungs, and it is good for alleviating autumn dryness, but on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the ancients will avoid eating pears, because "pears" and "leave" have the same sound, with the meaning of parting, which is contrary to the theme of the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, therefore, the picture is auspicious, and the Mid-Autumn Festival does not eat pears on this day.
Mid-Autumn Festival "3 don'ts": do not refer to the moon, do not go to sparsely populated places, and do not quarrel with family members
Not the moon
In the "Book of Rites· Qu Li": "do not refer to the moon, do not refer to the stars", in the eyes of the ancients, it is an irreverent practice to point to the moon and stars, because there is a custom of "sacrificing the moon" in ancient times, which is a kind of worship of the moon by the ancients, if you point to the moon, it will bring you ominous.
Although there is no basis for this claim, this act can make people lose sight of the true meaning of moon viewing. Moon appreciation is intended to quietly taste the tranquility and beauty of the moonlight, and feel the harmony and unity of nature and humanity. If you blindly use your fingers to compare and point, it will undoubtedly destroy the atmosphere of moon viewing.
Today's Mid-Autumn Festival, when you are admiring the moon at night, please set an example and don't commit this taboo.
Don't go to sparsely populated places
The Mid-Autumn Festival has the custom of admiring the moon and walking the moon, and some people may prefer to go to some quiet places to admire the moon.
But in the eyes of the ancients, try to avoid going to sparsely populated places, which is also a kind of responsibility for their own safety, whether it is walking the moon or admiring the moon, it is a way for the ancients to pray for blessings, therefore, in the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, many people should travel together, so as not to lose the atmosphere of festive joy.
In addition, there are special customs such as watching lanterns and guessing lantern riddles on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and we can go to the places where events are held in various places and participate in these activities, so that we can better feel the charm of traditional festivals!
Don't argue with your family
The full moon is a reunion of people, and every family will have a reunion dinner on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival to celebrate the reunion of the family, but remind everyone that at this time we should avoid quarreling with our families, and don't get angry because of some trivial things, which will destroy this rare harmonious atmosphere.
Summary: Today's Mid-Autumn Festival, no matter how busy you are, keep in mind: 1 to hide, 2 not to eat, 3 not to do, the old tradition to understand! Do you know everything about the traditions of this day?
The customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival are shared here, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, I hope you will spend a happy day! Here, I wish friends who have read the article, liked, commented, forwarded, and favorited, and the Mid-Autumn Festival people are blessed with good fortune and good things about health and longevity!