Customs of Longkou Mid-Autumn Festival

The word "Mid-Autumn Festival" first appeared in Zhou Li. The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival is related to the ancient people's worship of the moon. According to historical records, ancient emperors had a ceremony of offering sacrifices to the moon in autumn. The festival of offering sacrifices to the moon is on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which is exactly half of that of Sanqiu, hence the name "Mid-Autumn Festival". This festival is also called "August Festival", "August Festival" and "Mid-Autumn Festival" because it falls in August in autumn. The Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Tang Dynasty and prevailed in the Song Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has become the second largest traditional festival after the Spring Festival.

Longkou has a folk custom of "sending August Festival" since ancient times. Moon cakes are veritable Mid-Autumn Festival gifts.

Moon cakes are fashionable cakes, which are made by a chicken gizzard shop. During the Republic of China, famous chicken gizzards shops in Longkou Street included Xianlufang, Yuanchengtai, Yipin Xiang and Daoxiang Village. These chicken gizzards have their own merits. The moon cakes of Yuan Chengtai and Yipin Xiang are favored by the people because of their exquisite materials, and the moon cakes of Daoxiang Village are popular because of their excellent production and elegant appearance. The moon cakes produced by Longkou Bamboo Shop include eight-treasure stuffing, jujube paste stuffing, white sugar stuffing, pulp-lifting stuffing and so on. Merchants are very particular about sending August Festival. More famous companies order moon cakes. Before the festival, the dumplings sent waiters to send mooncakes to the merchants. The company sent people to bring moon cakes, grapes from Xiaqiubao in Yexian County, apples from xinglong village in Longkou, brandy from Changyu in Yantai and battery cigarettes from British American Tobacco Company. , and put them together in the basket.

Ordinary people will go to the chicken gizzard shop to buy moon cakes on holidays. Shop assistants and other customers choose moon cakes, skillfully wrap them in glossy paper, wrap them in moon cake stickers, tear off a colorful rope and quickly tie a cross knot for customers to carry. Mooncake stickers are either lithographed art paper or red paper with bronzing characters. The mooncake sticker is simple and exquisite in design, with the font size of the merchant at the top and the words "Mid-Autumn Mooncake" in the middle. On both sides, the slogan "This number is opened in X Street X Shoulu X Lane X Facade, wholesale and retail, and all kinds of groceries, cakes and fruits are available" is decorated with patterns.

On August Day, it goes without saying that we should pay back the human feelings we owe on weekdays. During the Republic of China, there were two peasant brothers in Tijia Village, Longkou, Tazhongde and Tazhongcai, who were good at acupuncture and treated their neighbors for free. Every August Festival, all the people he cured felt sorry for themselves, and people came to greet him in an endless stream. The moon cakes received by the Ting brothers piled up like a hill, so they had to be put into a big basket full of noodles, which became a beautiful talk for a while.

In the old society, Longkou commercial community followed the custom of paying off accounts on August Festival. In the old business circle, credit is a common way of commercial credit for buyers and sellers.

From Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty, Guangxu to the Republic of China, Zhentaizhan has always been a famous grain store in Longkou, mainly acting as an agent for mung beans, soybeans, flour and sorghum. Whether it is a flour mill, an oil factory or a brand of bulk grain that often appears, if you come to Zhentai to purchase goods, you can get credit. After all, the strength of small grain depots and oil mills in rural areas is limited, and the main source of farmers' income depends on crop harvest. There is a folk saying that "there will be drought and flood on July 15 and drought and flood on August 15." . On the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the harvest of crops is a foregone conclusion. After autumn, farmers are getting richer and richer. At this time, it is reasonable for businessmen to settle accounts in spring and summer and for those who owe money to pay back.

Although "it is easy to get credit, but it is not difficult to get credit again", there are still many delinquents. To this end, the firm had to send someone to "collect accounts" (that is, collect accounts) before the festival. The guy who went to the countryside to "look for accounts" put the money bag with the account book on the car beam, tied the rattan to prevent wild dogs and rode on the road. Seeing the "account finder" coming, the small shops in the village are generally not difficult and can repay the accounts in time.

At noon on August Festival, Longkou people are used to making steamed buns. That night, every family got together to eat vegetables, drink and taste moon cakes. Longkou people are commonly known as "full moon".

In the past, businesses attached great importance to Mid-Autumn Festival, which allowed guys to have a holiday. At noon, merchants close their doors early to prepare for the festival, and have a big banquet at noon and at night. Mid-Autumn Festival is the fattest season for crabs. People in big companies have a good time. They can always taste fresh crabs. During the dinner, a chef in the kitchen broke the crab in half and served it with ginger juice. Everyone had a good time.

Mid-autumn moon cakes, which symbolize happiness and reunion, always appear last. Ordinary people, break the moon cake in half or cut it into four pieces to share, and experience the sweetness of Mid-Autumn Festival in detail.

One thing, though incompatible with the harmonious atmosphere of Mid-Autumn Festival, has to be mentioned. During the Republic of China, a square piece of white paper was stuck at the bottom of the moon cakes put by scorpions. According to the old man, this is related to the incident of "killing Tartars on August 15th" at the end of Yuan Dynasty. Later, people put white paper on the back of moon cakes as a sign, suggesting this chilling theme.