The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, August Festival, August Festival, Moon Chasing Festival, Playing Moon Festival, Moon Worship Festival, Daughters' Festival or Reunion Festival, is a traditional cultural festival popular in many ethnic groups and Chinese character cultural circles in China, when it is on the 15th of August in the lunar calendar; because it is exactly half of the three autumns, it is named, and some places set the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 16.
Introduction to the Mid-Autumn Festival
Every year on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, it is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. This is the middle of the autumn of the year, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the Chinese lunar calendar, 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 moon on August 15 is rounder and brighter than the full moon of other months, so it is also called "Moon Eve" and "August Festival". On this night, people look up at the bright moon in the sky like a jade plate, and naturally look forward to family reunion. Wanderers who are far away from home also use this to express their longing for their hometown and relatives. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the "Reunion Festival".
In ancient times, our people had the custom of "autumn twilight and sunset moon". The sunset moon, that is, the worship of the moon god. In the Zhou Dynasty, every Mid-Autumn Festival night, a cold greeting and a moon festival were held. Set up a large incense case, put on the moon cake, watermelon, apple, red dates, plums, grapes and other sacrifices, of which moon cakes and watermelons are absolutely indispensable. The watermelon is also cut into lotus shapes. Under the moon, the moon idol is placed in the direction of the moon, the red candle is lit, the whole family worships the moon in turn, and then the housewife cuts the reunion moon cake. The person who cuts it calculates in advance how many people there are in the whole family, those at home and in other places, they must be counted together, they cannot cut more or less, and the size should be the same.
The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, and by the Time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become one of the major Festivals in China with the same name as the Spring Festival. Influenced by Chinese culture, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival in some countries in East and Southeast Asia, especially the local Chinese and overseas Chinese. Since 2008, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national holiday. On May 20, 2006, the State Council was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.
Since ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival has had customs such as moon sacrifice, moon viewing, moon worship, eating moon cakes, viewing osmanthus flowers, drinking osmanthus wine, etc., which have been passed down to this day and have lasted for a long time. The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates the reunion of the people with the full moon, in order to miss the hometown, miss the love of relatives, pray for a good harvest and happiness, and become a colorful and precious cultural heritage. The Mid-Autumn Festival, along with the Dragon Boat Festival, the Spring Festival and the Qingming Festival, is known as the four traditional festivals in China.
The origin and legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, and like other traditional festivals, it is also slowly developed, the ancient emperors had a spring festival day, autumn festival moon ritual system, as early as the "Zhou Li" book, there has been a record of the term "Mid-Autumn Festival". Later, nobles and literati also imitated, in the Mid-Autumn Festival, to the sky and bright and round a round of Haoyue, watching the worship, sustenance, this custom was thus passed to the folk, forming a traditional activity, until the Tang Dynasty, this custom of the moon sacrifice is more important, the Mid-Autumn Festival has become a fixed festival, "Book of Tang , Taizong" records that "August 15Th Autumn Festival", this festival prevailed in the Song Dynasty, to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, has been the same as the New Year's Day, became one of the main festivals in China.
The legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival is very rich, and myths such as Chang'e Running Moon, Wu Gang Fa Gui, and Jade Rabbit Mashing Medicine are widely circulated.
One of the legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival- Chang'e Running Moon
According to legend, in ancient times, ten days in the heavens appeared at the same time, the crops dried up and died, the people did not have a good life, a hero named Houyi, the power is infinite, he sympathized with the suffering people, climbed to the top of Kunlun Mountain, transported enough divine power, pulled open the bow of the gods, shot down more than nine suns in one breath, and strictly ordered the last sun to rise and fall on time to benefit the people.
Houyi was thus respected and loved by the people, and Houyi married a beautiful and kind wife named Chang'e. In addition to passing on the art of hunting, HouYi spends all day with his wife, and people envy the loving couple who are talented and beautiful.
Many volunteers came to learn the art, and PengMeng, who had an unhealthy heart, also mixed in.
One day, Hou Yi went to Kunlun Mountain to visit friends and ask for advice, and happened to meet the Queen Mother's mother who passed by, so he asked the Queen Mother for a bag of immortal medicine. It is said that if you take this medicine, you can immediately ascend to heaven and become an immortal. However, Hou Yi was reluctant to leave his wife behind, so he had to temporarily give the immortal medicine to Chang'e to treasure. Chang'e hid the medicine in the treasure box on the dresser, but was unexpectedly seen by the villain Pengmeng, who wanted to steal the immortal medicine and become a fairy himself.
Three days later, Hou Yi led his disciples out hunting, and Pengmeng, who was pregnant with a ghost fetus, pretended to be ill and stayed. Shortly after Hou Yi led the crowd away, Peng Meng broke into the backyard of the inner mansion with a sword in hand and threatened Chang'e to hand over the Immortal Medicine. Chang'e knew that she was not Pengmeng's opponent, and when she was in danger, she immediately made a decision, turned around and opened the treasure box, took out the immortal medicine and swallowed it. Chang'e swallowed the medicine, and her body immediately drifted off the ground, rushed out of the window, and flew into the sky. Because Chang'e was worried about her husband, she flew down to the moon closest to the human world and became a fairy.
In the evening, Houyi returned home, and the maids cried about what had happened during the day. Hou Yi was both shocked and angry, drew his sword to kill the evildoers, Peng Meng had already fled, Hou Yi was so angry that he beat his chest and was grief-stricken, looking up at the night sky and calling out the name of his beloved wife, at this time he was surprised to find that today's moon was particularly bright and bright, and there was a shaking figure that resembled Chang'e. He chased the moon desperately, but he chased three steps, the moon took three steps back, he took three steps back, the moon went three steps, and no matter what, he couldn't catch up.
Hou Yi had no choice but to miss his wife, so he had to send someone to Chang'e's favorite back garden, put incense cases, put on her usual favorite honey fresh fruits, and Haruka was in love with chang'e in the moon palace. After the people heard the news that Chang'e had become an immortal in the moon, they set up incense cases under the moon and prayed to the kind Chang'e for good luck and peace.
Since then, the custom of worshipping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival has spread in the folk.
One of the legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival- the toad in the middle of the month
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, folklore has it that there are toads in the moon, because when you observe the dark part of the moon with the naked eye, you can faintly see a shadow shaped like a toad. Qu Yuan asked in the "Heavenly Question": "Luminous Ho De, death is fertile?" Julius Wei He, and Gu Suo in the abdomen? The meaning of this sentence is: What kind of virtue does the moon have, missing and round? What is the benefit of the moon, allowing the toad to live in its belly? According to the argument of later generations, "Gu Suo" is a toad, that is, a toad. In ancient times, the folk cherished the toad, "Baopuzi" cloud: "toad three thousand years old", considered it to be a long-lived spiritual creature; folk have "long live the toad" said. The people also regard it as a spiritual creature for breaking the army and getting rich, and it is also a precious medicinal material. Because people believe that there are toads in the moon, people also commonly call the moon palace "toad palace"; and because the moon is as full as a disk, it is also called "toad disk" or "toad light".
One of the legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival - jade rabbit mashing medicine
Jade rabbit mashing medicine, one of the Taoist allusions. Legend has it that there is a rabbit in the moon, which is as white as jade, so it is called "jade rabbit". This white rabbit took the jade pestle and knelt down to pound the medicine into a toad pill, and taking such pills could grow into immortals. Over time, the jade rabbit became synonymous with the moon.
Where does the jade rabbit in the middle of the moon come from? It is recorded in the "Fengshen Yanyi" that Bo Yikao, the eldest son of King Jichang of Wen, was persecuted by Daji and his three souls turned into small white rabbits. Chang'e went down to The Order of Nuwa and brought the White Rabbit to the Moon Palace to make medicine.
One of the legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival - Wu Gang Fa Gui
Folklore has it that there is a man named Wu Gang on the moon, who has been cutting down the osmanthus tree, but after cutting it, the osmanthus tree immediately grows new branches and leaves, and Wu Gang works endlessly. Why did he punish him in this way?
It turned out that Wu Gang was a great filial piety. One year, there was a plague in his hometown, and Wu Gang's mother was not spared. In order to treat his mother's illness, Wu Gang went into the mountains every day to collect medicine. His filial piety touched the mountain god, who quietly told him that there was an osmanthus tree in the Moon Palace whose flowers could cure the plague. On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, there will be a ladder leading to the Moon Palace on Mount Guibang near the village.
Wu Gang waited until August 15, climbed the ladder, and came to the Moon Palace. He found the osmanthus flower along the scent of the flowers, and thought to himself, if only the whole village could use this osmanthus flower to cure diseases. So he thought of a way: shake the osmanthus tree vigorously, so that the petals floated to the earth.
However, Wu Gang's move violated the heavenly rules and must be punished. The Jade Emperor remembered that he was eager to save his mother, and rescued Li Min Cangsheng, so he sent him down from the light and punished him to go to the Moon Palace Kan Osmanthus Tree, so there was a legend of "Wu Gang Fa Gui".
Customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival
Moon
Mid-Autumn Moon Viewing is one of the traditional projects of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Book of Rites has long recorded the "Autumn Twilight Moon", which means to worship the moon god, and at this time, it is necessary to hold a cold and moon festival, and set up an incense case. By the Tang and Song dynasties, the wind of moon appreciation was more prevalent, and poems about the Mid-Autumn Festival also emerged in an endless stream, including Xin Shuyi's "Magnolia Slow Mid-Autumn Festival" and Su Shi's "Water Tune Song Head". "Tokyo Dream Record" also records: "On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, your family knotted the stage, and the people competed to occupy the restaurant to play the moon."
Eat mooncakes
Mid-Autumn Festival moon viewing and eating mooncakes has become an essential custom for the Mid-Autumn Festival in all parts of China, as the saying goes: "August 15 is round, Mid-Autumn Mooncakes are fragrant and sweet." The term mooncake originated from Wu Zimu's "Dream Liang Record" of the Southern Song Dynasty, which was only a snack food at that time. Later, people gradually combined moon viewing with moon cakes, implying family reunion and sending thoughts. At the same time, mooncakes are also an important gift for friends to connect with each other during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In the Xiamen area of Fujian Province, there is also the custom of Bo Cake, and Bo Cake is listed as a national intangible cultural heritage project.
Enjoy the osmanthus flowers
People often eat mooncakes to admire osmanthus flowers during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and eat various foods made of osmanthus flowers, most commonly pastries and candies.
Burn the tower
Mid-Autumn Festival night burning towers in southern China in the countryside of Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places are very popular. The tower is made of broken bricks and tiles, as well as branches and hay. Round kiln shape, lower width and upper tip, hollow inside, Mid-Autumn Festival evening burning, often there will be a burning tower competition, the more red the tower is burned, the better, the more prosperous the burning, the more colorful.
Guessing
On the night of the full moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, many lanterns are hung in public places, and people gather together to guess the riddle written on the lantern, because it is the favorite activity of most young men and women, and at the same time, there are love stories on these activities, so the Mid-Autumn Festival guessing lantern riddle has also been derived from a form of male and female love.
Eat pumpkin
"Eat pumpkin in August and a half", eating pumpkin is a food custom around Jiangnan to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival. Legend has it that a long time ago, at the foot of Nanshan Mountain, there lived a poor family with a daughter named Huanghua. At that time, there were years of famine, Huang hua's parents were old and sick, coupled with lack of clothing and food, sick in bed, dying. On August 15, Huanghua found two flat-shaped wild melons in the weeds of Nanshan Mountain. She picked it up and cooked it for her parents. Fragrant and sweet, the second old man ate the appetite greatly increased, and the sick body was also better. The yellow flower girl planted the melon seeds in the ground, and the next year it took root and sprouted, and many round melons grew, because this was picked from Nanshan, which was called pumpkin. Since then, every year on August 15, every household in Jiangnan has spread the custom of eating old pumpkin roasted glutinous rice in August and a half.
Snails
The "Shunde County Chronicle" of the Qing Xianfeng period has a record: "Looking at the sun in August, there is still taro eating snails." "Folk believe that the Mid-Autumn Field Snail can be seen clearly. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the field snail is empty, there is no small snail in the abdomen, so the meat is particularly fat. Nowadays in Guangzhou, many families have the habit of frying snails during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Eat taro
Eating taro in the Mid-Autumn Festival means to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters, and has the meaning of expressing disbelief in evil. The "Chronicle of Chaozhou Fu" of the Qianlong Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty said: "Playing with the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, peeling taro to eat, it is called peeling the skin of the ghost." "Stripping ghosts and eating them has the spirit of Zhong Kui to drive away ghosts, which is respectable."
Drink osmanthus wine
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, looking up at the dangui in the moon, smelling the fragrance of cinnamon, drinking a cup of osmanthus nectar wine, celebrating the sweet honey of the family, has become a beautiful enjoyment of the festival. Osmanthus flowers are not only ornamental, but also edible. In Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs", there are verses such as "Aid Ji Dou Xi Drink Cinnamon Pulp" and "Dian Gui Xi Pepper Pulp". It can be seen that the era of drinking osmanthus wine in China has been quite a long time.
Matsuri Moon
In ancient times, there was a custom of "autumn twilight moon". The sunset moon, that is, the worship of the moon god. Set up a large incense case, put on the moon cake, watermelon, apple, red dates, plums, grapes and other sacrifices, of which moon cakes and watermelons are absolutely indispensable. The watermelon is also cut into lotus shapes. Under the moon, the moon idol is placed in the direction of the moon, the red candle is lit, the whole family worships the moon in turn, and then the housewife cuts the reunion moon cake. The person who cuts it calculates in advance how many people there are in the whole family, those at home and in other places, they must be counted together, they cannot cut more or less, and the size should be the same.
Walk the moon
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is also a major special moon viewing activity called "Walking the Moon". Under the bright moonlight, people dress beautifully, three or five companions, or tour the street market, or lack of boats in the Qinhuai River, or climb the tower to watch the moon, talk and laugh. In the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing built the Moon Tower and the Moon Bridge, and there was a Moon Tower under the Lion Mountain in the Qing Dynasty, which were all moon-viewing resorts when tourists "walked the moon"; The Moon Holding Tower of Mochou Lake Park, built after liberation, has become a new attraction for citizens to enjoy the moon. In the old days, Nanjing people "walked the moon" and had a special act of prayer: all married women who did not have sons had to go to the Confucius Temple, and then cross a bridge, and it is said that there can be "dream bear joy" (meaning to give birth to boys). There is a "Jian zi bridge" on the upper pier of Yaowan Street outside the Zhonghua Gate, and on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the male owner of the family who has not yet given birth comes here to throw crock pots under the bridge, which is said to make his wife pregnant. Over time, this bridge was also falsely called "Miko Bridge".
Tide
"Dingzhi Jade Rabbit is very round, and it has become frost wind and September cold." Send a message to the heavy door to rest on the key, and the night tide stays to look at the middle of the moon. This is the poem "Watching the Tide on August 15" written by the great poet Su Shi of the Song Dynasty. In ancient times, in addition to the Mid-Autumn Festival in Zhejiang, watching the tide can be described as another Mid-Autumn Festival event. The custom of watching the tide in the Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, and it has been described in considerable detail as early as the "Seven Hairs" of the Han Dynasty. After the Han Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was even more popular. Ming Zhu Tinghuan's "Supplementing the Old Affairs of Wulin" and Song Wu Zimu's "Record of Mengliang" also have records of Guan Chao. The grand situation of watching the tide recorded in these two books shows that the tide viewing reached its peak in the mid-Autumn Festival of the Song Dynasty