Essay on the Origin and Customs of August 15 40

August 15 is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the customs are: worship the moon, light the lamp, guess the riddle, chase the moon, watch the tide, etc.

1. Worship the moon. Worshipping the moon is a very ancient custom in our country, and it is actually a worship activity of the ancients to the "moon god". In ancient times, there was the custom of "autumn twilight and sunset".

The setting moon is to worship the moon god. Since ancient times, in some parts of Guangdong, people have the custom of worshiping the moon god (moon worship, moonlight) on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

2. Burn the lamp. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a custom of lighting lamps to help the moonlight. Nowadays, there is still a custom of stacking towers with tiles to light lamps on the towers in the Huguang area. In the south of the Yangtze River, there is a custom of making lightboats. In modern times, the custom of lighting lanterns in the Mid-Autumn Festival is more prosperous.

3. Guess the riddle. On the night of the full moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival, many lanterns are hung in public places, and people gather together to guess the riddles written on the lanterns, because it is a favorite activity of most young men and women, and at the same time, love stories are also spread in these activities, so the Mid-Autumn Festival lantern riddles have also been derived from a form of love between men and women.

4. Chasing the moon. The so-called "chasing the moon", that is, after the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the excitement is still not over, so the next night, many people invite relatives and friends to continue to enjoy the moon, called "chasing the moon". According to the Qing dynasty Chen Zihou's "Lingnan Miscellaneous Notes" preface:

Those who do good deeds in Guangdong, on the night of August 16, gather relatives and friends to enjoy the moon with wine and food, which is called chasing the moon. ”

5. Tide watching. In ancient times, in addition to the Mid-Autumn Festival moon viewing in Zhejiang, watching the tide can be described as another Mid-Autumn Festival event. The custom of watching the tide in the Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, and there is a fairly detailed description in the "Seven Hairs" Fu of the Han Dynasty.

After the Han Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival tide watching was more prosperous. Ming Zhu Tinghuan's "Supplementing the Old Things of Wulin" and Song Wu Zimu's "Dream Lianglu" also have records of watching the tide.

Admire the moon, eat moon cakes, guess riddles, play with lanterns, play with rabbits, etc.

1. Moon appreciation: The custom of moon appreciation** In the moon sacrifice, the serious sacrifice has become a relaxed entertainment. It is said that the moon is the closest to the earth on this night, and the empty draft moon is the largest and brightest, so there is a custom of drinking and feasting and admiring the moon from ancient times to the present; The daughter-in-law who returns to her mother's house will return to her husband's house on the same day to symbolize perfection and auspiciousness.

2. Eat moon cakes: Moon cakes, also known as moon cakes, harvest cakes, palace cakes, reunion cakes, etc., are offerings to the moon god in the ancient Mid-Autumn Festival. Mooncakes were originally used as sacrifices to the moon god, and later people gradually used the Mid-Autumn Festival moon viewing and tasting mooncakes as a major symbol of family reunion.

Mooncakes symbolize great reunion, and people use it as a holiday food to worship the moon and give gifts to relatives and friends.

3. Guess the riddle of filial piety: On the night of the full moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival, many lanterns are hung in public places, and people gather together to guess the riddles written on the lanterns, because it is a noisy activity that most young men and women love, and at the same time, love stories are also spread in these activities, so the Mid-Autumn Festival lantern riddles have also been derived from a form of love between men and women.

4. Play with lanterns: During the Mid-Autumn Festival, there are many game activities, the first is to play with lanterns. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three major lantern festivals in China.

Of course, there is no large-scale lantern festival like the Lantern Festival in the Mid-Autumn Festival, and playing with lanterns is mainly only carried out between families and children. Mid-Autumn Festival lanterns, mostly concentrated in the south. For example, there will be all kinds of lanterns in the autumn color meeting in Foshan:

Sesame lamps, eggshell lamps, shavings lamps, straw lamps and bird and beast flower tree lamps, etc.

5. Play Rabbit: The Rabbit is made of mud, the head of the rabbit is human, wearing armor, inserting the back flag, the face is pasted with gold clay, the body is painted, or sitting or standing, or pounding the pestle or riding the beast, erecting two big ears, and also harmonious. The Qing Dynasty court called the jade rabbit in the moon the Taiyin Jun.

August 15 is an important festival in traditional Chinese festivals, also known as the "Mid-Autumn Festival". According to historical records, as early as the Tang Dynasty, there was a custom of reuniting and admiring the moon on this day. With the passage of time, the Mid-Autumn Festival has not only become a day of reunion, but also a symbol of traditional folk culture such as moon viewing and eating moon cakes.

According to historical records, August 15 was first celebrated by ancient emperors to celebrate the harvest. In the Tang Dynasty, August 15 became a day of reunion and moon viewing. Zhang Jiuling, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, once wrote, "The bright moon shines among the pines, and the clear spring stone is upstream."

The bamboo noise returns to the Huannu, and the lotus moves the fishing boat. Feel free to rest in spring, and the kings and grandchildren can stay. Idle birds are acquainted, and the mountains are clear.

and other verses to sing the praises of this wonderful festival.

In addition to moon viewing, the Mid-Autumn Festival also has the tradition of eating mooncakes. According to legend, at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Chinese rebelled against Mongol rule, so one of the ways to transmit the rebellion order was to write the date of the rebellion in the filling of the mooncake, so that the time and place of the rebellion could be secretly conveyed. Now, mooncakes have become one of the indispensable foods of the Mid-Autumn Festival, with a variety of flavors and shapes, and have become the representative food of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In short, on the special day of August 15th, people reap the fruits of a bountiful harvest, enjoy the bright moon, and pray for peace and happiness. The Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a part of Chinese culture, but also a world cultural heritage, conveying the unity, culture, hope and friendship of the Chinese nation to the world. <>