Moon cakes are the main food of Mid-Autumn Festival, which symbolizes reunion. People also have different views on the origin of eating moon cakes. It is said that Emperor Taizong went to northern Turkey on August 15th and returned home in triumph with a round cake. Emperor Taizong was overjoyed, pointing to the bright moon hanging in the sky, he said with a smile, "You want to treat toad with Hu cake" and have a meal with civil and military officials. Since then, eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival has become a custom. It is said that when Emperor Tang Ming visited the Moon Palace, he ate the fairy cake hosted by Chang 'e and returned to the palace to make it. There was also the peasant uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the information of the uprising was transmitted through a piece of paper sandwiched in a moon cake.
However, according to the literature, moon cakes first appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty, but they had nothing to do with the Mid-Autumn Festival at that time. They were just steamed foods (The Old Story of Wulin, Volume 6 lists many steamed foods, such as lotus leaf cakes, mutton steamed bread, vegetable cakes and moon cakes), but I believe in moon cakes. ), just appeared in the food market. In the Ming Dynasty, moon cakes were indeed associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival. At that time, there was a kind of fruit-filled moon cakes in Beijing (the real references to Mid-Autumn Moon cakes were the documents of the Ming Dynasty, such as "Miscellaneous Notes of Ten Thousand Folk Customs" and "Feeding Moon Cakes in August" written by Shen Bang), which read: "Literati and ordinary furniture are called moon cakes of different sizes. Shops are even full of fruits with different names, and a cake is worth hundreds of dollars. Another example is Tian Rucheng and The Journey to the West (Volume 20): "August 15th is called Mid-Autumn Festival, and people take moon cakes as a symbol of reunion. From this point of view, moon cakes, as the festival food of Mid-Autumn Festival, were widely recognized by people in the Ming Dynasty. )。 On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people will make their own moon cakes and give them to friends and relatives to express their reunion and congratulations. At that time, the size and shape of moon cakes were very irregular and varied greatly. Made many interesting things, such as crescent moon cakes for men, gourd moon cakes for women, and moon cakes specially prepared for teenagers, such as "the Monkey King" and "Male Prostitute". In modern times, moon cakes are not only well-made but also increasingly rich in varieties.
Tuanyuan cake
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, in most parts of China, it is a custom to turn over "reunion cakes". It is a kind of big cake and small cake similar to moon cakes. Only one cake is steamed in a steamer. There are sugar, sesame, sweet-scented osmanthus and vegetables in the cake, and various patterns are pressed outside. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the elders are divided into blocks and the family is divided into pieces, which is called "reunion".
Eat taro
The Mid-Autumn Festival also has the custom of eating taro in many places in China. On this festival, every household will cook a pot of sweet potato taro for their families. It is said that it is thanks to the land god for giving the poor sweet potatoes and taro to solve their difficulties. People in the southeast coast also regard eating taro as overthrowing the tyranny of the Yuan Dynasty like the Han people at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (eating taro at the Mid-Autumn Festival is popular in the south, which is said to commemorate the historical story that the Han people (referring to the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty) killed Tatars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty). It was on the evening of August 15 that the Han uprising overthrew the tyranny of the Mongols in the Yuan Dynasty. After the Tatar-killing uprising, the Han people offered sacrifices to the moon. Later, of course, it was impossible to sacrifice their heads to the moon every Mid-Autumn Festival, so taro was used instead. So far, cutting taro is called "cutting ghosts" in some places. It is said that the custom of eating taro in Mid-Autumn Festival has been preserved. ) "taro" and "disaster" are homophonic, and eating taro does not forget the danger of the country and the nation.
Food for Mid-Autumn Festival in other countries:
In Japan, Mid-Autumn Festival is called "Full Moon Festival". In the evening, the whole family gathered in the courtyard of Yue Bai, offering sacrifices with melons, fruits and zongzi, and then sharing them.
North Korea's Mid-Autumn Festival is called "Autumn Festival", and there is also the habit of enjoying the moon and eating moon cakes. Cakes are steamed cakes and pancakes filled with bean flour and sugar, and the offerings are "medicated porridge" similar to "eight-treasure porridge", which is made of glutinous rice, red dates, chestnuts and sugar, and is sweet and delicious.
The Mid-Autumn Festival in Thailand is called "July Festival". On the night of the festival, every household tied an arch with sugar cane and offered portraits or statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva and the Eight Immortals on the table of the Eight Immortals in Yue Bai. The main offering is Shoutao. According to Thai legend, Guanyin is the person who rose to the moon. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Eight Immortals took peaches to the Moon Palace to celebrate Guanyin's birthday.
Yilan calls the Mid-Autumn Festival "Mach Festival", which is the 16th day of the seventh lunar month in Yilan. During festivals, people like to taste all kinds of harvest fruits.
On Kolkata Island in Africa, residents call Mid-Autumn Festival "Full Moon Festival". During the "full moon festival", a grand "snail blowing party" will be held on the beach, and people will drink and eat fish happily.
The United States calls Mid-Autumn Festival "Autumn Moon Festival". During the festival, every household should eat grapes, chestnuts, beans and other fresh fruits and newly cooked food.