Do you ever think that how did Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival? Basically, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the traditional celebration day and it is set on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. It is called Mid-Autumn Festival because it happens to be in the middle of the third autumn. In some places, the Mid-Autumn Festival is set on August 16. There are customs such as worshipping the moon, admiring the moon, worshiping the moon, eating moon cakes, admiring osmanthus flowers, and drinking osmanthus wine. The full moon signifies the reunion of people, as a sustenance to miss the hometown, the love of relatives, and pray for a good harvest and happiness, and become a colorful and precious cultural heritage.

The year is divided into four seasons, and each season is divided into three parts: Meng, Zhong and Ji, so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called Zhongqiu. The moon on August 15 is rounder and brighter than the full moon in other months, so it is also called “Moon Eve”, “August Festival”.  This night, people look up to the bright and bright moon in the sky like a jade plate, and naturally look forward to family reunion. The wanderers far away also take this to express their feelings for their hometown and relatives. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called “Reunion Festival”.

Our people have the custom of “autumn evening and evening moon” in ancient times.  Xiyue means worshiping the moon god.  In the Zhou Dynasty, every Mid-Autumn Festival was held to welcome the cold and celebrate the moon. Set up a big incense table, put moon cakes, watermelon, apples, red dates, plums, grapes and other sacrifices, of which moon cakes and watermelon are absolutely indispensable. The watermelon should be cut into lotus shapes. Under the moon, place the statue of the moon in the direction of the moon, and the red candle will burn high. The whole family will worship the moon in turn, and then the housewife will cut the reunion moon cakes. The cut person has calculated in advance the total number of people in the whole family. Those at home and in other places must be counted together. You cannot cut more or less, and the size should be the same.

According to legend, the ugly girl of Qi Kingdom had no salt in the ancient times. When she was a child, she worshipped the moon religiously. When she grew up, she entered the palace with superb character, but she was not favored. On August 15th of a certain year, the emperor saw her in the moonlight. He felt that she was beautiful and outstanding. He later made her a queen. This is where the Mid-Autumn Festival comes. In the middle of the moon, Chang’e is known for her beauty, so the girl worships the moon, wishing “looks like Chang’e, face like a bright moon.”

In the Tang Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival and moon watching were quite popular. In the Northern Song Dynasty Jingshi. On the night of August 15th, everyone in the city, rich or poor, young and old, must wear adult clothes, burn incense and worship the moon, express their wishes, and pray for the blessing of the moon God. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the folks gave moon cakes as a gift for reunion. In some places, there are activities such as dancing grass dragons and building pagodas. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival has become more popular; many places have formed special customs such as burning bucket incense, tree Mid-Autumn Festival, lighting tower lanterns, setting sky lanterns, walking the moon, and dancing fire dragons.

Today, the custom of playing on the lower reaches of the moon is far less popular than it was in the past. However, banquets to admire the moon are still very popular. People ask their wine to celebrate a good life, or wish their relatives in a distance to be healthy and happy, and to “share a thousand miles together” with their families.

There are many customs and forms of the Mid-Autumn Festival, but they all entrust people’s infinite love for life and yearning for a better life.