The 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in China, and it is also the second largest traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival. August 15 is in the middle of autumn, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. The ancient calendar of our country calls August in the middle of autumn "Mid-Autumn", so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Mid-Autumn Festival".
On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is exceptionally bright and bright. In ancient times, every Mid-Autumn Festival night, the folk have to hold a moon sacrifice activity, people put the straw in the shape of **, gather under the moon, called "the moon god", in order to seek smooth wind and rain, the five grains are abundant. Because "moon god" and "moon" have the same sound, people also call the moon worship the moon. In the Song Dynasty, people gradually took the Mid-Autumn Festival moon appreciation and moon cake tasting as a symbol of family reunion, so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the "Reunion Festival".
There are many different folk theories about the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival. One of the most popular theories is that the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is related to agricultural production. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, the crops are almost ripe, and farmers celebrate the harvest with the "Mid-Autumn Festival" as a festival.
Another theory is that the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is related to the moon. Legend has it that in ancient times, there were ten suns in the sky, and people could not bear their exposure, so the people asked the hero Hou Yi to shoot the extra sun to alleviate people's suffering. After Hou Yi shot down nine suns, he was respected and loved by the people. In order to reward Hou Yi, the Queen Mother put the elixir in the bow and arrow that Hou Yi usually used to practice Xi. Hou Yi's apprentice Peng Meng took advantage of Hou Yi to go out hunting, sneaked to the Queen Mother and forced the Queen Mother to hand over the elixir. In desperation, the Queen Mother threw the elixir into the sky, and the medicine fell into the world into a river and a stream. Chang'e was sad and wept because she missed Hou Yi, this day happened to be August 15, and the moon was round and bright, Chang'e flew to the nearest moon in the world and became a fairy. When Hou Yi came back and learned all this, he was so grief-stricken that he had no choice but to look at the full moon in the sky and pray silently. Because he missed his wife, Hou Yi put Chang'e's favorite pastries, fruits and other foods in the courtyard on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month every year to commemorate Chang'e. Later, people knew that the moon on this day was particularly round and bright, so they called this day the "Mid-Autumn Festival".
These are two theories about the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Nowadays, when the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming, every household has to eat moon cakes, admire the moon, light lamps, dance, guess riddles and so on. The moon cake symbolizes reunion and harmony, and carries people's thoughts and blessings for their relatives and hometown.