Where did the Mid-Autumn Festival originate? How did it come into being?

The origin of festivals is closely related to the calendar, and the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival is no exception. Mid-Autumn Festival is also called Mid-Autumn Festival, because August 15th is the second of three months in autumn. Autumn is the season when crops are ripe. In ancient times, there were autumn parties all over the country, which was a ceremony to thank the gods such as the land, also called autumn newspaper. The Mid-Autumn Festival didn't have to be on August 15th. The date of Mid-Autumn Festival should also be related to people's custom of offering sacrifices and enjoying the moon. There was the moon in the pre-Qin period, which is the royal etiquette of offering sacrifices to the moon at the autumn equinox. The moon in Mid-Autumn Festival is the roundest, brightest and most pleasant. On this day, people in later generations combined the autumn festival with the festivals and customs such as offering sacrifices to the moon, Yue Bai, enjoying the moon, watching the tide, enjoying osmanthus and feeding moon cakes, which gradually gave new meanings to this festival, such as reunion. Since then, it has formed a very meaningful festival.

From the autumn party, which is purely a farming ceremony, it has become a reunion festival symbolizing family reunion and happiness, which is intriguing. Autumn clubs and classmates get together, from the psychological level, naturally have some kind of * * * pursuit. Praying for a bumper harvest or holding a sacrificial ceremony to reward the gods of heaven and earth is undoubtedly praying for material wealth and a rich and happy life; And looking forward to reunion is not the hope for a happy and happy life? But the difference between them is not difficult to analyze. The former seems to pay more attention to material wealth, while the latter seems to pay special attention to the pursuit of family and interpersonal harmony, so it pays more attention to spirit. But what does the formation of reunion character in Mid-Autumn Festival show? It shows that China people's pursuit of family affection, family harmony and interpersonal harmony exceeds the pursuit of material things. On the other hand, the existence of the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival has cultivated China people's spirit of attaching importance to family, affection and harmonious interpersonal relationship. Therefore, even during the so-called Cultural Revolution, people can't forget the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is not accidental, because it is rooted in the extremely deep traditional ethical and cultural soil.

On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, every household used to set up a sacrificial platform in the courtyard, and put on seasonal foods such as moon cakes, lotus roots, water chestnuts, watermelons, pomegranates and edamames to sacrifice to the moon. According to Jia Qinglu in Qing Dynasty, every household in Wu had a bottle of orchids and incense sticks during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and looked up at the sky to pay homage. Children worship the moon and play in front of the lights. What do you call it? Ramadan palace. At the beginning of this century, I went to Songjiang countryside to do a folk survey. The villagers told me that until the 1950s and 1960s, every Mid-Autumn Festival night, they would set tables, light incense and offer offerings to worship Ramadan. These customs reflect people's reverence and affection for the moon and nature. Isn't this rare? Isn't this a sign that people pursue the unity of heaven and man? At the same time, let go of work for a while, enjoy the moon with the whole family, eat moon cakes to save things, and talk about family happiness. This picture looks ordinary, but we can also appreciate the fun and beauty of ordinary people's lives and the beauty of our human feelings in China.

The formation of customs such as appreciating the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival is equally intriguing. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people take their relatives and friends to go outdoors, enjoy the bright moon and enjoy the festival. In addition to enjoying the moon, many places in the south also have the custom of watching the tide. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Qiantang River witnessed unprecedented tide watching. During Su Dongpo's trip to Hangzhou, he watched the tide many times and wrote down the seven laws of "Watching the Tide on Mid-Autumn Night". In addition, Qujiang in Yangzhou is also a good place to watch the tide. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is still the season of fragrant osmanthus, and the wind of appreciating osmanthus is also enduring. The existence of the Mid-Autumn Festival makes people consciously experience and feel the beauty of the full moon, the realm under the moon and all kinds of scenery. At this time, the life weather of nature will correspond to people's inner emotional experience, and people will become sensitive to the beauty of the moon and the realm under the moon. It is no accident that people often fly and sing when enjoying the moon. The charming moonlight greatly activated people's imagination. Myths and legends such as toad, rabbit, the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, laurel and WU GANG in the middle of the month make this festival full of mystery, which makes many Mid-Autumn Festival poems present a magnificent and beautiful face. There are countless Mid-Autumn poems. Some works have even been sung all over China. However, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival not only allows us to enjoy aesthetics in nature and moonlight, but also constantly cultivates and enhances our aesthetic taste.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a national festival, but in the past, women in some places had their own unique activities to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, such as Yue Bai. It is said that the Mid-Autumn Festival is the birthday of the moon, and the moon is called the goddess. There is a saying that men don't Yue Bai, and women don't sacrifice stoves. Wu has the custom of walking on the moon, and women dress up and go out, returning home until chickens crow and xiao yue still dance. Recently, there is a group of large sculptures in Suzhou Folk Museum, which vividly depicts the scene of Wu walking on the moon. The formation of the custom of women's Yue Bai may be related to the folk belief that the moon is the master of fertility in ancient times, as evidenced by the combination of Yue Bai activities and child-seeking ceremonies in some places. Women in southern Fujian and Taiwan Province Province have the custom of listening to incense on Mid-Autumn Festival. After listening to people burn incense and worship, stand still or go out, pay attention to eavesdropping on other people's language and predict good or bad luck.

I want to point out in particular that the Mid-Autumn Festival used to be a children's festival. On this day, children's folk activities are very rich. In some places, children used to hold Yue Bai ceremonies. Children in the north, every Mid-Autumn Festival night, eat and sing while holding a big cake: sing the moon, sing the moon, the next year will be better; Sing songs and read moon cakes. Next year will be a good year. On the Mid-Autumn Festival in Anhui, children have the custom of touching autumn. Children carry torches and go to the fields in droves to pick fruits and beans. This is called touching autumn. In some places in Jiangxi and Anhui, the Mid-Autumn Festival also has the custom of children piling pagodas: picking up old bricks in the wild and piling them into seven-story pagodas. There is a small table in front of the tower for putting fruit cake bait. At night, lights and candles are lit inside and outside the tower. After recording this custom, Mr. Hu Puan praised: a bright and brilliant place, competing with the bright moon in the sky. Children sit in front of the tower to enjoy the moon and do all kinds of entertainment to show their joy. It's really an innocent picture of children's drama and music, but no one painted it. (China Folk Customs, Volume 7, Volume 2) Children in Guangdong hold lanterns and parade and sing happily along the street on Mid-Autumn Festival night. The Children's Lantern Festival in Mid-Autumn Festival in Guangxi is quite distinctive. The children tied bamboo sticks into dragonflies, butterflies, shrimps, rabbits and so on. It's more beautiful than anyone to paint candles and carry lanterns to the streets. The lamp is homophonic with Ding. These customs about Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns convey people's wishes for family reproduction and prosperity. It is a great pity that many children's customs on the Mid-Autumn Festival have not been passed down. In today's era when more and more attention is paid to tradition, how to explore the connotation of traditional festivals and how to make children enjoy the fun of traveling in traditional festivals and get beneficial influence is undoubtedly a problem worthy of our attention.

Finally, a folklore about moon cakes: At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, in order to maintain its crumbling and decadent rule, the ruling clique banned private ownership of ironware and stipulated a kitchen knife for ten households, and the people complained bitterly. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhang Shicheng put a note in each moon cake, calling on the people to revolt. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people broke moon cakes and saw leaflets, and they rose up one after another. The rise of eating moon cakes in Ming and Qing Dynasties was to commemorate the people's uprising against Yuan Dynasty. The truth of this legend is unknown, but it makes moon cakes and Mid-Autumn Festival contain anti-oppression and anti-tyranny, which is of course meaningful.