The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in ancient times, popular in the Han Dynasty, shaped in the early Tang Dynasty, prevailing in the Song Dynasty. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a synthesis of seasonal customs in autumn. Most of the festival customs it contains have ancient origins. The Mid-Autumn Festival to the full moon of reunion, for the sustenance of missing hometown, missing relatives, praying for harvest, happiness, become a rich and colorful, precious cultural heritage.

The Mid-Autumn Festival and the Spring Festival, qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and known as China's four traditional festivals.

Influenced by Chinese culture, Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival in some countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia, especially among local Chinese. On May 20, 2006, The State Council included it in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national holiday since 2008.

Origin:

The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from celestial worship, from the ancient times qiuxi festival evolved from the moon. Offering to the moon, a long history, is ancient China in some places the ancients of the "moon god" a worship activities, 24 solar terms of the "autumn equinox", is the ancient "offering to the moon festival". The Mid-Autumn Festival was popularized in the Han Dynasty, which was the period of economic and cultural exchange and integration between the north and the south of China. In the Jin Dynasty, there are also written records of Mid-Autumn festival, but it is not very common. The Mid-Autumn Festival in the Jin Dynasty is not very popular in the north of China.

It was in the Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became an official national holiday. The Custom of Mid-Autumn Festival in the Tang Dynasty was popular in the north of China. Mid-Autumn moon customs in the Tang Dynasty chang 'an area of the peak, many poets are famous in the poetry of the moon. And the Mid-Autumn festival and The Moon, Wu Gang cut laurel, Jade rabbit pound medicine, Yang Guifei changed the moon god, Tang Minghuang tour moon palace and other myths combined, make it full of romantic color, play on the wind just xing. The Tang Dynasty is an important period in which traditional festival customs are integrated and finalized. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival has become a common folk festival, and the official lunar calendar August 15 as the Mid-Autumn Festival. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Mid-Autumn festival had become one of the main folk festivals in China.

Since ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been offering sacrifices to the moon, appreciating the moon, eating moon cakes, playing lanterns, enjoying osmanthus flowers and drinking osmanthus wine. The Mid-Autumn Festival, less clouds and fog, the moon is bright and bright, in addition to the folk to hold a full moon, sacrifice to the moon, eat moon cakes blessing reunion and a series of activities, some places and dance grass dragon, build a pagoda and other activities. Up to now, eating moon cakes has been a necessary custom for the Mid-Autumn Festival in the north and south of China. In addition to moon cakes, a variety of fresh and dried fruits in season are also delicacies in the Middle autumn night.

Customs and habits

Traditional activities

Worship the moon

Offering to the moon is a very ancient custom in Our country. In fact, it is a kind of worship for the "moon god" of the ancients. In ancient times, there was the custom of "Autumn evening moon". Evening, namely worship month god. Since ancient times, in some areas of Guangdong, people have worshiped the moon god (worshiping the moon goddess, worshiping the moon) in the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Worship, set up a big incense table, put moon cakes, watermelon, apples, dates, plums, grapes and other offerings. Under the moon, the tablet of "moon God" is placed in the direction of the moon, with red candles burning high, and the whole family worship the moon in turn, praying for happiness. Offering the moon, moon memorial, expressed people's good wishes. As one of the important festivals of the Mid-Autumn Festival, offering sacrifices to the moon has been continued from ancient times and gradually evolved into folk activities of appreciating the moon and singing the moon. Meanwhile, it has also become the main form of modern people yearning for reunion and expressing their good wishes for life.

•  light a lamp
On the night of the Mid Autumn Festival, there is a custom of lighting lamps to help the moonlight. Today, there is still the custom of lighting lanterns on the tower with tiles in the Huguang area. There is a custom of making light boats in Jiangnan.
•  Guess riddles
On the night of the full moon of the Mid Autumn Festival, many lanterns are hung in public places. People gather together to guess the riddles written on the lanterns. Because they are the favorite activities of most young men and women, and love stories are also spread on these activities, so the Mid Autumn Festival riddle guessing has also derived a form of love between men and women.
•  Eat moon cakes
Moon cakes, also known as moon group, harvest cake, palace cake and reunion cake, are offerings to worship the moon god in the ancient Mid Autumn Festival. Moon cakes were originally used to offer sacrifices to the moon god. Later, people gradually took the Mid Autumn Festival to enjoy the moon and taste moon cakes as a symbol of family reunion. Moon cakes symbolize reunion. People regard them as festival food and use them to sacrifice the moon and give them to relatives and friends. Since its development, eating moon cakes has been a necessary custom for the Mid Autumn Festival in North and South China. On the Mid Autumn Festival, people have to eat moon cakes to show "Reunion"

•  Appreciating osmanthus and drinking osmanthus wine
People often eat moon cakes and enjoy Osmanthus fragrans during the Mid Autumn Festival. They eat all kinds of food made of Osmanthus fragrans, especially cakes and candy.
On the night of the Mid Autumn Festival, it has become a beautiful enjoyment of the festival to look up at the mid autumn laurel, smell the fragrance of laurel, drink a cup of osmanthus honey wine and celebrate the sweetness of the whole family. In modern times, people often use red wine instead.
•  Vertical Mid Autumn Festival
In some parts of Guangdong, the Mid Autumn Festival has an interesting traditional custom called "tree Mid Autumn Festival". Trees are also erected, which means that the lights are erected high, so it is also called "erecting the Mid Autumn Festival". With the help of their parents, children use bamboo paper to make rabbit lamps, carambola lamps or square lamps, which are hung horizontally in a short pole, then erected on a high pole and held high. The colorful lights shine, adding another scene to the Mid Autumn Festival. The children compete with each other to see who stands tall and more, and the lights are the most exquisite. At night, the city is full of lights, such as stars, competing with the bright moon in the sky to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival.

•  lanterns
Mid Autumn Festival, there are many game activities, the first is to play lanterns. The Mid Autumn Festival is one of the three major lantern festivals in China. We should play with lights during the festival. Of course, there is no large lantern festival like the Lantern Festival. Playing with lights is mainly carried out between families and children. Playing lanterns in the Mid Autumn Festival is mostly concentrated in the south. For example, at the Autumn Fair in Foshan, there are all kinds of colored lights: Sesame lamp, eggshell lamp, shaving lamp, straw lamp, fish scale lamp, grain shell lamp, melon seed lamp and bird, animal, flower and tree lamp, which are amazing.

•  Dancing Fire Dragon
Fire dragon dance is the most traditional custom of the Mid Autumn Festival in Hong Kong. From the evening of August 14 of the lunar calendar every year, the Tai Hang area of Causeway Bay holds a grand fire dragon dance for three nights in a row. The fire dragon is more than 70 meters long. It is tied into a 32 section dragon body with pearl grass and filled with longevity incense. On the night of the grand meeting, the streets and alleys in this area were full of winding fire dragons dancing under the lights and dragon drum music.

•  Burning tower
The Mid Autumn Festival lantern is not the same as the Lantern Festival lantern. Pagoda lights are lit on the night of the Mid Autumn Festival, and they are mainly popular in the south. Pagoda lamp is a lamp in the shape of a pagoda picked up by village children.

•  Walk the moon
On the night of the Mid Autumn Festival, there is also a special activity to enjoy the moon called "walking the moon". Under the bright moonlight, people dress brilliantly, go together in three or five days, or walk in the streets, or lack boats in the Qinhuai River, or go upstairs to watch the moonlight, talk and laugh. In the Ming Dynasty, there were moon watching tower and moon playing bridge in Nanjing. In the Qing Dynasty, there was Chaoyue tower at the foot of lion mountain. They were all resorts for tourists to enjoy the moon when they "walked the moon". On the mid autumn festival night, Shanghainese call it "walking the moon".

•  Holiday arrangements:

On November 25, 2020, the notice of the general office of the State Council on the arrangement of some holidays in 2021 was issued. The Mid Autumn Festival in 2021 will be off for 3 days from September 19 to 21. Work on Saturday, September 18.