When it comes to Mid-Autumn Festival diet, the most eye-catching thing is the moon cake. Some people will ask: when was the moon cake invented? And who invented it? Today, I will discuss it with friends.
We know that Chinese food culture has a long history. In order to eat well, carry easily, and look beautiful, the ancients made grain into round cakes. Of course, the inspiration still comes from the bright moon on the heavenly dome. However, not all cakes are round and can be called moon cakes.
Tracing back to Chinese food culture, the magical story of the Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake, we start with "Taishi Cake". What is a "Taishi"? It is a kind of title for the relatives and subjects of the ancient emperors, and even Taishi has become the exclusive pronoun of the teachers of the ancient emperors.
The Taishi that I want to talk about here, everyone may know, he is a generation of ministers during the ancient Yin Shang period, called Wen Zhong. Those who have read "Fengshen Yanyi" or have watched the film and television drama "Fengshen List" should be familiar with it.
Wen Zhong was Emperor Yi's chancellor. Before his death, Emperor Yi entrusted a prince who was later the King of Sui to Wen Zhong. Wen Zhong supported King Huan as emperor. Wen Zhong also became a heavy vassal of the King of Shang. King Huan made Wen Zhong a Taishi.déjà ì. Legend has it that Wen Zhong has miraculous powers, stepping off the mount is an ink unicorn, Wen Zhong has a third eye through the heavenly eye, and the hand makes the male and female whip.
Wen Zhongshi was surprised. His master was the Master of the Tongtian Sect. The master of the Tongtian Sect is named Shangqing Yu Tianling Bao Tianzun, and there are eight disciples under his disciples, namely: Duobao Daoist, Golden Spirit Virgin, Wudang Virgin, Gui ling virgin, Zhao Gongming, Yunxiao Niangniang, Bixiao Niangniang, and Qiongxiao Niangniang. The Golden Spirit Virgin is Wen Zhong's master. Wen Zhong's army attacked Xiqi, fought against Jiang Ziya, was defeated, and died in Yun Zhongzi's Fengzhi Heavenly Fire God Gun, and his soul returned to Longling. At that time, in order to commemorate Wen Zhong in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, some people made a kind of round cake with a thin heart, and on the fifteenth day of August in the Mid-Autumn Festival, Wen Zhong was sacrificed, which was the earliest invention of the moon cake, and people at that time called it "Taishi Cake".
But that's not really what mooncakes are called.
In the Han Dynasty, according to the "Book of Han" and "Book of Later Han", Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions and brought back sesame seeds, walnuts and other things from the Western Regions for the Han Dynasty as an accessory for making round cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, so there were round cakes filled with walnut kernels and sesame seeds, which were called "Hu Cakes" by the Han Dynasty.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Royal Mid-Autumn Festival liked to eat a kind of round cake, and there was a new method, adding sugar or honey, or even osmanthus or pollen, making a small and exquisite small cake, which the imperial palace called "palace cake", and the people called it "small cake". Su Dongpo, a great literary hero, praised: "Small cakes are like chewing moons, and there are crisps and dumplings." ”
But that's still not the true naming of mooncakes.
The real name is also about a person, who is a household name! A song "Noble Concubine Drunk" is famous all over the world. Do you know who it is?
By the Tang Dynasty, there were already cake makers engaged in production, and the bustling capital city of Chang'an, which is today's Xi'an, had a cake shop. According to historical records, one year when Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei, who had a romantic affair, were enjoying the moon and eating Hu Cake during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Tang Xuanzong felt that the name "Hu Cake" was not good, and Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon and was full of excitement, and casually smiled: "Moon cake! ”
Since then, the name of "mooncake" has gradually spread among the people. In the Song Dynasty, there was a literary scholar named Zhou Mi, who first mentioned the name of "mooncake" in the "Past Events of Wulin", which described what he saw in Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. Since then, the official naming of mooncakes has entered the annals of official history.
With the continuous love of mooncakes by the Chinese people, eating mooncakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival of the Ming Dynasty formed a custom in the folk. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were many skillful bakers, and stories such as the myth of Chang'e Running Moon were printed on the moon cakes as food art patterns, making moon cakes a more popular must-have food for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
"Twelve degrees of circles are beautiful, of which the round pole is the Mid-Autumn Festival." The "Mid-Autumn Festival" here refers to the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15.
Mid-Autumn Festival moon appreciation eating mooncakes, Haoyue when empty, family reunion, talking about the world, laughing and talking, its joy and harmony, overflowing with auspiciousness, reunion and happiness!
Wow I Am China!
Wonderful Chinese full moon cake!
The sun and the moon should be bright
Yu Xishi's hometown .
September 10, 2021.