What are the customs around Mid-Autumn Festival?

2. Sacrificing the Moon (Zhuang Nationality)

3. Male prostitutes (Beijing)

4. Tree Mid-Autumn Festival (Guangzhou, Hong Kong)

5. Lanterns (Guangxi, Guangdong and many southern regions)

6. Dragon Dance Extended Information (Hong Kong) 1, Walking on the Moon (Nanjing)

On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a special activity called "Walking the Moon". In the bright moonlight, people wear gorgeous clothes, travel in groups of three or five, or stroll the streets, or lack boats on the Qinhuai River, or go upstairs to watch the moonlight, talking and laughing. In the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing had a building to look at the moon and a bridge to play with the moon. In the Qing Dynasty, there was the Moon Tower under Lion Mountain, which was a scenic spot for tourists to enjoy the moon.

The Moon Building in Mochou Lake Park, built after liberation, has become a new attraction for citizens to enjoy the moon. In the old days, Nanjing people had a special prayer of "walking on the moon": any married woman without a son would go to the Confucius Temple and then cross a bridge. According to legend, there would be "the joy of dreaming of bears" (meaning giving birth to boys).

There is a "top bridge" on the pier of Yaowan Street outside Zhonghua Gate. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, an unborn family man came here to throw a crock under the bridge, which is said to make his wife pregnant. Over time, this bridge was also mistakenly called "Top Bridge".

2. Sacrificing the Moon (Zhuang Nationality)

The activity of "offering sacrifices to the moon and asking god" of Zhuang nationality in western Guangxi is more typical. Every year in the middle of August in the summer calendar, some are on the Mid-Autumn Festival night. People set up an altar in the open air at the end of the village to offer sacrifices and incense burners. On the right side of the table, a branch or bamboo branch about a foot high symbolizes the community tree and is also a ladder for the moon god to descend to earth. There are ancient moon myth factors preserved here.

The whole activity is divided into: inviting the moon god to descend to earth, with one or two women as the spokespersons of the moon god; God and man sing to each other; Luna divination fortune-telling; Singers sing mantras and send the moon god back to heaven in four stages.

3. "Male prostitute (Beijing)

Every Mid-Autumn Festival, smart people in the city sell the images of toads and rabbits in loess, which are called male prostitutes. "There used to be a stall in male prostitutes, selling male prostitutes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition, Nanzhi Store and incense sticks are also available for sale. This male prostitute has been personalized through the bold creation of folk artists. That's a rabbit's head with a jade pestle.

Later, some people shaped the prostitute into a warrior wearing a golden helmet and shining armor, some riding lions and beasts, some riding birds such as peacocks and cranes. It is a strange thing for male prostitutes to ride a tiger, but it is a bold creation of folk artists. There is also a male prostitute whose elbows and jaws can move, commonly known as "scratching", which is more pleasing. Although it is a gift from Yue Bai, it is really a great toy for children.

4. Tree Mid-Autumn Festival (Guangzhou, Hong Kong)

In Guangzhou, Hong Kong and other places, Mid-Autumn Festival activities will be held on Mid-Autumn Festival night, and trees will be erected, which means that lanterns will be erected high. With the help of their parents, children make rabbit lanterns, carambola lanterns or square lanterns out of bamboo paper, hang them horizontally on short poles and then stand on high poles. They are high-tech and colorful, adding another scenery to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Children often compete with each other to see who stands tall, much taller and has the most exquisite lighting. In addition, there are sky lanterns, that is, Kongming lanterns, which are made of paper and tied into large lanterns. Burning candles under the lamp, the hot air rises, making the lamp fly in the air, making people laugh and chase. In addition, there are children carrying all kinds of lanterns to enjoy in the lower reaches of the moon.

5. Lanterns (Guangxi, Guangdong and many southern regions)

In Nanning, Guangxi, in addition to all kinds of lanterns tied with paper and bamboo for children to play with, there are also simple grapefruit lanterns, pumpkin lanterns and orange lanterns. The so-called grapefruit lamp is to empty the grapefruit, carve a simple pattern, put on a rope and light a candle inside, which is very elegant. Pumpkin lanterns and orange lanterns are also made by removing pulp.

There is a simple autumn lantern in Guangxi, which is made of six bamboo sticks, pasted with white gauze paper and inserted with candles. Hanging on the platform for offering sacrifices to the moon or for children to play with.

Now, in many areas of Guangxi and Guangdong, the Lantern Festival is arranged on the Mid-Autumn Festival night, large modern lanterns illuminated by electric lights are made, and new lanterns made of various plastics are used for children to play, but the simplicity of the old lanterns is gone.

In addition, the game of burning tile lanterns is widely spread in the south, and it is spread in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places. At dusk, it is burned in the firewood tower under the bright moon. As soon as the tiles burned red, kerosene was poured on the fire, and suddenly the fields were red and bright as day. It was not until late at night, when no one was watching, that it began to get interested. This is the famous tile-burning lamp. "

6. Dragon Dance (Hong Kong)

This is the most traditional custom of Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong. From the evening of the 14th August of the lunar calendar every year, a grand dragon dance has been held in the Tai Hang area of Causeway Bay for three consecutive nights. This fire dragon is more than 70 meters long, and it is tied into 32 dragon bodies with pearl grass, which is full of longevity incense. On the night of the grand event, the streets and alleys in this area are very lively, and the winding dragon dances with joy under the light and dragon and drum music.