One autumn in the early Tang Dynasty, a group of Tufan (ancient Tibet) businessmen came to Chang 'an and paid tribute to Tang Gaozu Li Yuan with many gifts (refined round cakes). On the evening of Mid-Autumn Festival, Tang Gaozu invited ministers to enjoy the moon and share the moon cakes presented by businessmen in Tufan. The emperor and his officials ate cakes while enjoying the moon, and renamed the round cakes as moon cakes, which were the earliest moon cakes.

Mooncake (pinyin: yuè bǐng) is one of the traditional Chinese cakes with a long reputation, and it is the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival. Moon cakes are round and shared by the whole family, symbolizing reunion and harmony.

Extended data:

Moon cakes symbolize reunion, which should have started in the Ming Dynasty. If we look at the information about moon cakes and Mid-Autumn Festival folk customs in the Ming Dynasty, we should be able to see the historical track of the reunion of moon cakes: after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family will sit together and share moon cakes and fruits (offerings of the moon). Because moon cakes are also round and shared by the whole family, it gradually forms the implication that moon cakes represent family reunion.

Moon cakes often contain plant seeds, such as walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds, melon seeds, hawthorn, lotus seeds, red beans, jujube paste, etc., which have a certain health care effect on the human body.

References:

Mooncakes-Baidu Encyclopedia