Chapter 31 Section 6 Mid-Autumn Festival

The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is the Mid-Autumn Festival.At this time, half of the autumn has passed, and the autumn is high and crisp, and around the autumnal equinox, the day and night are as long, and the moon is in the due east, just receiving the direct sunlight from the west.Therefore, the moon on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival is the roundest, the brightest, and the moonlight is the most beautiful.Looking at the bright moon like a jade plate, people will naturally think of family reunion.Those who live alone in a foreign land also hope to express their longing for their hometown and relatives with the help of the mirror-like bright moon.According to customary etiquette, the daughter-in-law who returns to her natal home "must return to her husband's home every day" ("Scenery of the Imperial Capital") to show reunion.So people call the Mid-Autumn Festival the Reunion Festival.

Appreciating and offering sacrifices to the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival are the main activities of the festival and have a long history.The ancient emperors in the pre-Qin period had the ritual system of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. "Zhou Li Chun Guan Dian Rui" Zheng Xuan's note pointed out: "The son of heaven often vernal equinox morning sun, autumn equinox eve moon." The "eve moon" here refers to worshiping the moon.Beginning in the Wei and Jin dynasties, there was the activity of appreciating the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival.By the Tang Dynasty, the activities of appreciating the moon had entered the palace."Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" by Wang Renyu of the Later Zhou Dynasty of the Five Dynasties records: "On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Shang (Tang Xuanzong) and his imperial concubine came to Taiye Pond to look at the moon." The wind of enjoying the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was very popular in the Song Dynasty. "Tokyo Menghualu" said that every Mid-Autumn Festival, all restaurants in Tokyo (now Kaifeng) will redecorate their facades, tie colorful silk archways, and sell newly opened good wine.The shops are filled with fresh fruits such as pomegranates, pears, dates, and chestnuts. "Mid-Autumn night, your family decorates the terraces and pavilions, and the folks compete to occupy the restaurants to enjoy the moon", all night long, the lively night market is rare in a year.Moreover, there is a special custom of worshiping the moon in the capital.According to the "Newly Edited Drunkard Tanlu" written by Jin Ying in the Song Dynasty: "The children of the Qingcheng family, not because they are rich or poor, can go to the Twelve and Thirteen by themselves, and they all wear adult clothes, go upstairs or burn incense and worship the moon in the atrium", and each Pray to express wishes, "Men wish to go to the Toad Palace early and climb up to the fairy osmanthus", "Women wish to look like Chang'e and round like a bright moon".

In the Ming Dynasty, "when the moon is sacrificed on August 15th, the fruit cakes must be round" ("Scenery of the Imperial Capital").That is to say, after the Ming Dynasty, moon cakes have become a must-have food when offering sacrifices to the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival.There are many folk legends about the origin of the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the most important of which is that the circle of mooncakes symbolizes the joy of family reunion.Just as Wu Rucheng in the Ming Dynasty said in "West Lake Tour Zhiyu": "The folks use moon cakes to leave each other, for the meaning of reunion." "Yanjing Sui Shi Ji" also called the Mid-Autumn Festival moon cakes "Reunion cakes".Therefore, moon cakes have become the best gifts for relatives and friends to give each other during the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, moon cakes and other melons and fruits are also used to worship the moon.The food for offering sacrifices to the moon is very specific in a folk song in the north: "The table of the Eight Immortals is inlaid with gold rims, and the small moon cakes are placed on the top. On the left are pomegranates, on the right are jujubes, and in the middle are big fairy peaches. Purple pears and red persimmons , and put chestnuts in the middle of the day. The two ends of the green beans are pointed, the small watermelon is on the top, and the steel knife is cut into the lotus petals to keep you safe all year round." Every household must set up a "moonlight seat" and "worship to the moon offering" in the direction of the moon, and then withdraw the offerings, arrange family banquets, and share moon cakes and fruits with the family.There is a big moon cake, which can be more than one foot in diameter, and everyone must have a share when sharing this moon cake.Therefore, before cutting the moon cakes, the number of people in the whole family should be counted clearly. Those who go out and those who are at home are counted together.If there are pregnant women in the family, cut another portion.There are also some families who save the mooncakes for offering sacrifices to the moon until New Year's Eve, and then take them out for sharing. The name is still called "Reunion Cake".

In addition, in the Qing Dynasty, there was a custom of predicting the rainy and sunny weather of the Lantern Festival in the following year based on the cloudy and sunny nights of the Mid-Autumn Festival.The folk proverb: "On August 15th, the moon will be covered by clouds, and the lanterns will be illuminated by snow in the Lantern Festival next year", which is a reflection of this atmosphere.