The Mid-Autumn Festival is full of poetry because of the wonderful moonlight. Under the moonlight is the best time for young men and women to sing and find their partners, so it is also a festival for the pursuit of love. Young men and women sing, dance and play under the moonlight, and they can become spouses when they meet the person they like. In modern times, this kind of ancient custom still exists and is full of interest.
Throwing handkerchiefs to attract relatives
In some areas of Fujian Province, there is a custom of throwing handkerchiefs to attract relatives on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. That night, a colorful platform was set up in the square, arranged like a moon palace, with jade rabbits, osmanthus trees, etc. Some unmarried girls dressed up as Chang'e. After the celebration singing and dancing, the girls threw some handkerchiefs embroidered with different colors to the audience. If an audience member receives a handkerchief of the same color as the one held by "Chang'e", he or she can go on stage to receive the prize. Some unmarried young men can give a ring to "Chang'e" if they like it when returning the handkerchief. From then on, the two parties can make friends and communicate with each other, and the lovers will get married.
Begging for the moon, shining on the moon, and climbing on the moon
In the old days, some women in Dongguan believed that "Yue Lao is a matchmaker." If there are adult men and women in the family who accidentally fall in love with each other, it is convenient for them to marry each other at the third watch of the Mid-Autumn Festival night. Burning incense and candles under the moon, begging Yuelao to help him get married. It is said that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, soaking in the moonlight can make women pregnant. In some areas, on the moonlit night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, some women who have been married for a long time and are infertile will go out of their homes to bathe in the moonlight, hoping to have a baby soon, which is called "shining the moon".
Stealing vegetables to beg a man
In Taiwan, there is a custom of unmarried women "stealing vegetables to beg a man" on Mid-Autumn Festival night. A beautifully dressed woman walks under the moonlight and secretly picks green onions and vegetables from other people's vegetable gardens. Picking them secretly indicates that she will meet the right husband. Therefore, there is a proverb in Taiwan: "Steal onions, marry a good husband; steal vegetables, marry a good son-in-law."
Stealing moon vegetables by the Dong people
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Dong Township, Hunan, an interesting custom of "stealing moon vegetables" is popular.
According to legend, in ancient times, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fairies in the Moon Palace would descend to the lower world and spread nectar all over the world. The fairy's nectar is selfless, so people can enjoy the fruits and vegetables sprinkled with nectar together that night. The Dong family named this custom "stealing moon vegetables".
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dong girls hold flower umbrellas and choose the gardens of their beloved children to pick vegetables without being regarded as "stealing". They even shouted loudly and intentionally: "Hey! I've ripped off your vegetables. Come to my house to eat oil tea!" It turned out that they were using the Fairy of the Moon Palace to pass on the red thread. If they can pick a melon with parallel stems, it means they will have a happy love. Therefore, beans growing in pairs became their picking targets. The sisters-in-law also went to other gardens to "steal moon vegetables" that night. However, they hoped to pick the fattest melon or a handful of fresh and green edamame, because this symbolizes the child's fatness and hairiness. health (the homophone of edamame refers to children). Young men also have the custom of "stealing moon vegetables" because they also hope that the Moon Palace Fairy will give them happiness. However, they could only cook and eat it in the wild and could not take it home. "Stealing moon vegetables" adds infinite joy and magic to the Mid-Autumn Festival night in Dong Village.
Moon dancing of the Miao people
Every Mid-Autumn Festival night, the bright moonlight shines all over the Miao village. After the Miao men and women reunite with their families, they go to the clearings of the mountains and forests to sing and dance. Hold a "moon jump" event.
In the ancient legend of the Miao people, the moon is a loyal, honest, hard-working and brave young man. There was a young and beautiful girl named Shui Qing. She rejected ninety-nine young men from ninety-nine prefectures who proposed to her and fell deeply in love with the moon. In the end, she also experienced all kinds of hardships caused by the sun, and finally combined with the moon happily.
To commemorate their happy love, the Miao elders will bathe in the light of the moon and dance Miao songs and dances on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival for generations, and call this custom "moon dancing". . In the "moon dance", young men and women look for each other's sweethearts and express their love for each other, saying that they want to be like the clear water and the moon, with a pure and bright heart, and a happy marriage forever.
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the custom of begging for a child is still popular in many places. This is a manifestation of ancient fertility worship. This is because the moon belongs to the yin and female gods, and at the same time there are activities of pursuing love, so the custom of seeking children is spread in the Mid-Autumn Festival customs. The customs of seeking children vary from place to place.
Stealing melons to pray for children
In Hengyang, Hunan, "On the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a thing about giving melons."
If Xi Feng Lu Yuan's family has married a woman who has been infertile for several years, relatives and friends will send melons to them. A few days ago, a winter melon will be stolen from the vegetable garden. The owner of the garden must not be aware of it, and the face will be painted with colors and clothes will be wrapped around it. If human form. Those who are blessed with longevity are held in their arms, "ring gold, fire cannons, and send them to their homes." The elders place winter melons on the bed to cover them, and recite the sun in the door. If you sow melons, you will get melons, and if you sow beans, you will get beans. The person who receives the melon will prepare a grand feast to entertain him, if something happens again. After the woman gets the melon, she cuts it open and eats it. According to popular legend, "In Hengyang, for every married family without children in the village, as long as they are popular, someone in the village will give them a child."
In other areas of Hunan, there is also the custom of giving melons as a gift, similar to Hengyang. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the owner is not at home enjoying the moon, a good neighbor will secretly give him a son. The person giving away the child must already have children. They first selected Guayuan from the most evil family in the village, stole a big winter melon from the garden, drew a doll's face on the melon, and then inserted a five-inch long bamboo tube into the belly of the winter melon and followed the bamboo tube. Pour water into it until it is full. The giver hid the winter melon in the owner's bed, and when the owner returned to the room to sleep, he would pull the quilt with his hands. When the winter melon doll moved, water would flow out along the bamboo tube, just like a child who wets the bed. People who throw melons scold them when they get up early in the morning. It is said that the more fierce the scolding, the stronger the baby will be in the future. If a child is really born in the second year, the child will be asked to worship the person who gave the child as "godfather" or "godmother".
There is also a custom in Guizhou of stealing melons and giving away children. When stealing melons at night, they deliberately let the person who was stolen know about it in order to provoke angry curses. The more powerful the curses, the better. After the melon is stolen, it must be dressed in clothes and eyebrows, pretending to be the shape of a child, beating gongs and drums, and carrying it on a bamboo pole to a childless family. The person who accepts the melon must treat the person who gave it to a meal. Moon cakes, then sleep with the melon all night, and cook the melon and eat it the next morning, thinking that you can get pregnant from now on.
In the area of ??Shexian County, Anhui Province, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, adults let children enjoy other people's Japanese melons or Japanese yams with their mothers and children, and then put them dripping with mud and water into the quilts of newlyweds, making the mattress extremely wet. dirty. Use this method to express giving away a child. There is a poem that says: "Sending a son to a child during the Mid-Autumn Festival is a beautiful story. It is always suitable for men to send melons and taro seeds. The innocent cherish the red silk quilt the most. It is shameful to drag the mud with water.
Hakka customs
Hakka people's customs of eating moon cakes and admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival are roughly the same as those in other parts of the country. Hakka people call it the August Festival or August Half.
When the full moon rises during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Hakka people go there early. In the courtyard, on the balcony, or in front of the house facing the rising moon, moon cakes, peanuts, grapefruits and other fruits are placed to prepare for the "Moonlight Respect" activity.
After worshiping the moon, the whole family gathers. Watching the moon and eating outside is a matter for adults. Children usually don’t sit there upright and watch the moon. Instead, they chase and play under the bright moonlight. This is their paradise. Food is a bit particular. Parents often let everyone eat the sacrifices to the moon god. In Chinese sacrificial culture, there is a tradition that after the gods enjoy it, the sacrifices are often eaten by the sacrificers. In this way, the whole sacrificial ceremony is over. In the process of sharing the food, on the one hand, we received the blessing of the moon god, and on the other hand, we fulfilled the traditional sacrificial culture. The people of Meixian County say that eating these sacrifices will make you "better" and bring you blessings. Yes, it will be more auspicious to eat.
In Meizhou, in addition to mooncakes, a traditional and universal Mid-Autumn food, pomelo is an essential festival food, and varieties include golden pomelo (Shatian pomelo). , honey pomelo or crystal pomelo. And eating pomelo also has a certain meaning. "Like cutting a pomelo is called 'killing pomelo', which means to ward off evil spirits." It is also said that peeling grapefruit peels is 'peeling ghosts', embodying the wish to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters. ”
Mooncakes in the Hakka area, in addition to ordinary mooncakes, include “five-nut mooncakes” and a round cake of different sizes made of glutinous rice flour and sugar. Although the social and economic progress continues, Hakka People have always inherited traditional food culture and are developing folk food culture, and the traditional customs of the Central Plains remain unchanged.
Walking on the moon and walking on the three bridges
Wu Di has the tradition of walking on the moon and walking on the three bridges. It is customary to travel under the moonlight and walk across at least three bridges (see Gu Lu's "Qingjia Lu Volume 8"). This is also the custom in Shanghai (see Yu Yusheng's "Haizou Ye Youlu"). The taste of disaster is obvious.