At first, the festival of "Sacrificing the Moon" was held on the "Autumn Equinox" of the twenty-four solar terms in the Ganzhi calendar, and later it was moved to August 15th in the summer calendar. Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Dragon Boat Festival are also called the four traditional festivals in China. Influenced by China culture, Mid-Autumn Festival is also a traditional festival for overseas Chinese in some countries in East and Southeast Asia, especially local Chinese. ?
On May 20th, 2006, the State Council listed it in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage. Since 2008, Mid-Autumn Festival has been listed as a national statutory holiday. ?
On October 25th, 20021year1October 25th, the Notice of General Office of the State Council on Some Holiday Arrangements in 2022 was issued, and the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2022 will be closed from September 10 to 12, with a holiday of ***3 days.
Xuanzong story
According to legend, Taoist priests Xuanzong, Shen and Hong all enjoy the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Suddenly, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty put forward the idea of visiting the Moon Palace, so Shi Tianzhao did it, and the three of them began to go to Qingyun and roam the Moon Palace. However, the palace is heavily guarded and cannot enter, so it can only overlook the imperial city of Chang 'an. At this moment, I suddenly heard the voice of a fairy. Tang Xuanzong was always familiar with melody, so he remembered it. This is exactly: "this song should only be in the sky, and people can listen to it several times!" " Later, Xuanzong recalled Xian 'e's music and singing in the Moon Palace, composed and choreographed his own music, and created a famous colorful feather in history.
Moon cake uprising
It is said that eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Yuan Dynasty. It is said that at that time, the broad masses of the people in the Central Plains could not bear the cruel rule of the ruling class in the Yuan Dynasty and rose up against the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang joined forces with various resistance forces to prepare for the uprising. However, the officers and men of the imperial court searched very closely and it was very difficult to pass on the news. Liu Bowen, a military strategist, came up with a plan and ordered his men to hide a note with the words "Uprising on the 15th of August" in the cake, and then sent people to the uprising troops in different places to inform them to respond to the uprising on the 15th of August. On the day of the uprising, all the rebels responded together.
Soon, Xu Da captured the Yuan Dynasty and the uprising was successful. When the news came, Zhu Yuanzhang was so happy that he quickly sent a message that all the soldiers should have fun with the people in the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and give the "moon cakes" secretly sent at the time of the war as seasonal cakes to the ministers. Since then, the making of "moon cakes" has become more complicated and varied. Since then, the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival has spread among the people.
In ancient China, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was the most elegant in the court. For example, eating crabs was very popular in the court of the Ming Dynasty. After steaming the crabs with cattail, everyone sat around and tasted them, served with wine and vinegar. Drink Su Ye Tang after eating and wash your hands with it. The banquet table was filled with flowers, pomegranates and other fashionable things, and the Mid-Autumn Festival drama was staged. In the Qing Palace, a courtyard placed a screen to the east, with cockscomb flowers, soybean crafts, taro, peanuts, radishes and fresh lotus roots on both sides of the screen. There is a square table in front of the screen, with an extra-large moon cake on it, surrounded by cakes and fruits. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, mooncakes are cut into several pieces according to the royal population, and each person symbolically tastes them, which is called "eating reunion cakes". The size of moon cakes in Qing Palace is unimaginable. For example, the moon cakes given by the last emperor to the Minister of the Interior are "about two feet in diameter and weigh about twenty pounds".