Mid-Autumn Moon. The month to the Mid-Autumn Festival is more clean. Partial and pure, know how much he is, yin and sunny.
The clouds and clouds are all said, and the good times on earth are happy. Good season, may it be every year, common Mid-Autumn Moon.
--Ming Xu Youzhen, "Mid-Autumn Moon"
In the Mid-Autumn Festival, China has had the custom of appreciating the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival since ancient times, and there is a record of "Autumn Twilight Moon" in the Book of Rites, that is, worshipping the moon god. In the Zhou Dynasty, every Mid-Autumn Festival night, it was necessary to hold a cold and moon festival, set up incense cases in the courtyard, and place seasonal fruits such as mooncakes, watermelons, apples, plums, grapes, etc., of which mooncakes and watermelons must not be less, and watermelons should be cut into the shape of lotuses.
Similar to the description in the Book of Rites, on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people worship the moon god with melon and fruit cakes
In the Tang Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival moon viewing and playing with the moon were quite popular. In the Song Dynasty, the mid-autumn festival of the moon was more popular, according to the "Tokyo Dream Record" recorded: "On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, your family knotted the table, and the people competed to occupy the restaurant to play the moon." "On this day, all the shops and restaurants in Beijing have to decorate their facades, display lights, sell seasonal fruits and refined foods, the night market is also very lively, the people are more on the high platform to watch the moon, some rich and noble families, on their own pavilions to admire the moon, and put moon cakes, fruits, or arrange family banquets, the whole family sits together, enjoy the moon together.
Tokyo Dream
In "Dream of the Red Chamber", Cao Xueqin repeatedly depicted the lively Mid-Autumn Festival night in Daguan Garden. At the end of the dinner, the willows on the moon, Jia Mu led the crowd to enjoy the moon, the book wrote: "At the moment, the main entrance of the garden has been opened, and the horn lamp is hanging. On the platform of Jiayin Hall, bucket incense is burned, and candles are held, and melon cakes and various fruits are offered. Lady Xing and a bunch of other female guests were waiting inside for a long time. It is really a moonlight, popular cigarettes, crystal bright, not shapeable. The ground floor is covered with prayer carpets. Jia Mu's hand was full of incense, so everyone worshipped. ”
The Mid-Autumn Festival moon is full and bright, and it is the traditional custom of the Mid-Autumn Festival to reunite the family and enjoy the bright moon together. So, in addition to the Mid-Autumn Festival customs that we are most familiar with, such as moon viewing and eating moon cakes, what other characteristic Mid-Autumn Festival customs are there?
"The Mid-Autumn MoonCake is a mirror, the light of the Jia Hall is reflected, the streets and alleys are bo mooncakes, Cuo Nei shouts A big whisper, Sun Careful Han Bo Yi Xiu, A sister Bo Wu let the big brother, Bo wins against Tang An Ma, Andong Bo wins the Yuan cake." This is a nursery rhyme that is popular in the southern Fujian region. Nursery rhymes are sung in Hokkien, friends may not understand, nor can they understand, but the "Mid-Autumn Festival" and "MoonCake" in the first sentence of the nursery rhymes let us know that it sings the Mid-Autumn Festival. Yes, this nursery rhyme depicts the scene of the Minnan people celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. And what is the activity of "Bo MoonCake" (Bo Cake) that appears in nursery rhymes? What does it mean to "one show", "right hall", and "yuan cake"?
The Mid-Autumn Festival Bo Cake originated in Quanzhou Province, and is said to have been invented by Zheng Chenggong. It is said that more than 300 years ago, Zheng Chenggongtun soldiered Xiamen, every August 15, when the moon was full, the soldiers who were full of anti-Qing and restoration of the Ming Dynasty inevitably had homesickness, and in order to relieve and comfort the soldiers' pain of missing their hometown relatives during the festival, Zheng Chenggong's subordinate Hong Xu invented a game of Bo cake to let soldiers enjoy the moon Cake. Using six dice and a large porcelain bowl as utensils, bo cake holds six dice in the hand at the same time, and throws six dice at the same time, the dice hit the porcelain bowl to make a crisp "clicking" sound, and arrange the size of the mooncake with the result of the throwing points. The traditional prizes are mooncakes of different sizes, a total of one, set 1 Yuan, 2 pairs of tang, 4 three reds, 8 four in, 16 for two, 32 for a show, of which the golden flowers are the largest (four four points, two one points), and one show (one four points can be) is the minimum. This unique game, which was gradually spread and improved in folklore, became a fun folklore activity.
Golden flowers
Bo cake rules refer to the diagram
The "Chronicle of Fujian Customs and Materials" published by the Fujian People's Publishing House in 1985 records that in Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, there is a custom of "grabbing the yuan cake" during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In some urban and rural areas in central and eastern Taiwan, as well as in Kinmen County, an outlying island of Taiwan, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival Bo Zhuangyuan cake is still popular. In Kinmen, the Wucuo Community Development Association of Jincheng Town celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival Community Gala every year, and there is a Bo zhuangyuan cake competition. Minnan people Bo cake, pay attention to is a happy, is a good omen for Bo, especially for children, Bo cake is not only a day of family reunion, but also a time for children to win a variety of moon cakes. Most people are willing to believe that the luck of a year will always be particularly good, of course, because the Bo cake activity pours people's emotional sustenance. Therefore, minnan people always attach great importance to the Mid-Autumn Festival, and even have the saying of "small Spring Festival, big Mid-Autumn Festival".
According to the "Discussion on the Culture of Southern Fujian", in the southern Fujian region, taro must also be eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, when sweet potatoes and taro are ripe, the ancient Quanzhou people regarded it as a staple food for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Originally, sweet potatoes are golden yellow, while taro is white, which is referred to as "gold and silver" by Mintai. In addition, "taro" is harmonized with "road" and "protection" in Minnan dialect, and there is a saying in dialect proverbs that "eat rice flour taro, there is a good head road (work way out)". In addition, taro is often a "taro mother" can grow a nest of "taro", people often say "taro taro sun", harmonious dialect pronunciation "protect the son to protect the grandson", therefore, eat taro during the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, there is a beautiful meaning of protecting the grandchildren, the prosperity of the people.
Discussion on The Culture of Southern Fujian
Autumn winds, crab feet itch; chrysanthemums bloom, smell crabs come. Every year from September to October, when the crab is full of yellow and oil, so during the Mid-Autumn Festival, crabs are fattened and are an indispensable dish in family banquets. Folk eat crab as a great pleasure in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mr. Lin Yutang's "Jinghua Smoke and Clouds" depicts the scene of "Yao Fu Crab Feast celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival" in a heavy way. After the hosts and guests were seated, a large green plate full of crabs was brought to the table. The whole table exclaimed "Ah", and then they rolled up their sleeves and prepared to eat. Lin Yutang said that eating crabs is not like eating other meals that are served by servants and delivered by servants, but everyone has to be busy and move by themselves. After a period of hecticism, each bite of crab felt more and more delicious in the mouth. Some people eat fast, some people eat slowly. Some people love to eat crab yellow, some people love to eat crab meat, some people don't bother to eat crab legs slowly, just like playing cards - everyone's temper is tested, some people eat meat very clean, and some people gobble up. Mo Shuo laughed at Mulan eating crab like eating cabbage tofu, although exaggerated, but particularly vivid. When eating crabs, there is warm wine on the table, and each person has a small plate of ginger vinegar soy sauce in front of them, which is hot enough to offset the coldness of the crab.
In Mr. Feng Zikai's "Remembering Childhood", a small article called "Father's Crab Eating" also reveals the folk mid-autumn festival crab eating customs. The text reads: "The second thing that cannot be forgotten is the father's Mid-Autumn Festival moon appreciation, and the center of the joy of appreciating the moon lies in eating crabs." Father said: Eating crab in the Mid-Autumn Festival is a graceful thing, and the way to eat it must be knowledgeable to understand. Fold the crab's feet first, then open the crab bucket... How can the flesh in the fist (i.e. joint) on the foot be eaten clean, how the meat in the umbilicus can be removed... The claws can be used as needles to pick flesh... The bones on the crab can be put together into a good butterfly... My father was really good at eating crabs and ate them very cleanly. ”
The Mid-Autumn Festival coincides with the fragrance of osmanthus flowers, so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also inseparable from the appreciation of osmanthus flowers and the tasting of cinnamon pulp. The osmanthus flowers in jiangnan are in excellent bloom, for example, the people of Nanjing will eat the famous Jinling osmanthus duck in the Mid-Autumn Festival. "Osmanthus duck" should be marketed when the guizi is fragrant, fat but not greasy, delicious and delicious. After drinking, you must eat a small sugar taro, poured with cinnamon paste, the beauty goes without saying. "Gui Pulp", named after Qu Yuan's "Chu Ci Shao Si Ming" "Aiding the North to Close the Cinnamon Pulp". Cinnamon pulp, a sugar osmanthus flower, picked around the Mid-Autumn Festival, pickled with sugar and sour plums. Jiangnan women are skillful in turning the chants in the poems into table delicacies. Nanjing people enjoy the moon together as "celebrating reunion", sitting and drinking together as "full moon", and traveling in the street market is called "walking the moon".
Osmanthus wine
China's land is vast, one side of the water and soil to support the other side of the people, so the Mid-Autumn Festival, different places have their own unique local customs, can not be presented here. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a day of family reunion, and the Mid-Autumn Festival customs in various places are a vivid embodiment of the profound and profound Traditional Chinese culture. What are the unique Mid-Autumn Festival customs in your hometown? Let's share it!