The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon's Eve, Autumn Festival, Mid-autumn Festival, August Festival, August Meeting, Moon Chasing Festival, Moon Festival, Moon Worship Festival, Girl's Festival or Reunion Festival, is popular among many traditional cultural festivals in China. It is on the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month of the lunar calendar; because it is just half of the third autumn, hence the name, there are also places where the Mid-Autumn Festival is set on August 16. The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the early years of the Tang Dynasty and prevailed in the Song Dynasty. It has become one of the major festivals in China as famous as the Spring Festival. On May 20, 2006, the State Council included the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. Since 2008, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national legal holiday.
Origin of Mid-Autumn Festival:
The Mid-Autumn Festival is an ancient festival. Sacrificing and admiring the moon is an important custom of the festival. In ancient times, emperors had a social system of offering sacrifices to the day in spring and offering sacrifices to the moon in autumn. The folk houses also had a tradition of offering sacrifice to the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The custom of admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. Many poets' famous works have poems about chanting the moon. The courts of the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties and folks have more extensive moon worship activities. There are many historical sites such as "Moon Worship Altar", "Waiting Pavilion" and "Wangyue Tower" in various places in our country. According to historical records, the term "Mid-Autumn Festival" first appeared in the book "Zhou Li". It was not until the early years of the Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. "Tang Shu Taizong Ji" records "August 15 Mid-Autumn Festival".
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, there is also the custom of branding "reunion" in most areas of our country, that is, baking a small cake that symbolizes reunion and resembles moon cakes. The cakes are filled with sugar, sesame, osmanthus and vegetables, etc., and the moon, laurel, rabbit and other patterns are pressed outside. . After the celebration of the month, the elders in the family will cut the cake into pieces according to the number of people. One piece for each person. If someone is not at home, they will leave a portion for them, which means family reunion.
