In the Tang Dynasty, people had bakers engaged in production, and pastry shops began to appear in Chang 'an, the capital. It is said that one Mid-Autumn Festival, when Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei enjoyed the moon and ate Hu Bing, Tang Xuanzong thought the name Hu Bing was not pleasant to listen to. Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon, and her heart surged, and she came to "moon cakes" at hand. Since then, the name of "moon cake" has gradually spread among the people.
The royal family in the Northern Song Dynasty likes to eat a kind of "palace cake" in the Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as "small cake" and "moon group". Su Dongpo has a poem: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, crisp and pleasing."
The screenwriter of the Song Dynasty was thorough. The name "moon cake" was first mentioned in Old Wulin, which described what Lin 'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, saw.
In the Ming Dynasty, eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival gradually spread among the people. At that time, ingenious bakers printed the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon's fairy tales on moon cakes as food art drawings, making moon cakes a necessary food for Mid-Autumn Festival.
In the folk, every Mid-Autumn Festival in August, there is the custom of Yue Bai or offering sacrifices to the moon. August 15th, full moon, Mid-Autumn moon cakes are sweet. This famous saying says.
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, people in cities and rural areas eat moon cakes every day. Moon cakes are mostly used to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion, and mooncakes gradually became holiday gifts.
allusion
Moon cakes, originally a kind of offering when offering sacrifices to the moon, later became a mutual gift from the people. The Journey to the West said: "People give mooncakes to each other as a sign of reunion." Dongpo praised the moon cake "a small cake is like chewing the moon, and there is pulp in the cake". According to legend, in ancient China, the emperor had a system of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. In the folk, every Mid-Autumn Festival in August, there is also a custom about Yue Bai or offering sacrifices to the moon. The famous proverb "The moon is full on August 15th, and Mid-Autumn moon cakes are sweet" tells the custom of urban and rural people eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn night. At first, moon cakes were used to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion, and mooncakes gradually became holiday gifts.
Moon cakes originally originated from Zhu Jie food in the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Tang Gaozu, General Li Jing conquered the Huns and returned home in triumph on August 15.
Turpan people who were doing business at that time presented cakes to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Gaozu Li Yuan took the gorgeous cake box, took out the round cake, smiled at the bright moon in the sky and said, "We're going to invite toads with Hu cakes." After that, share the cake with the ministers.
Moon cakes symbolize reunion and are a must-eat food for the Mid-Autumn Festival. On holiday nights, people also like to eat some reunion fruits, such as watermelons and fruits, and wish their families a happy, sweet and safe life.
Eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional folk custom in China, just like eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival and glutinous rice balls on Lantern Festival. Throughout the ages, people regard moon cakes as a symbol of good luck and reunion. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, when the bright moon is in the sky, the whole family will get together, enjoy cakes and the moon, talk about everything and enjoy family happiness. Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, cookies, moon cakes, reunion cakes, etc. It is an offering to worship the moon god in the ancient Mid-Autumn Festival, and the custom of eating moon cakes has been formed since it was handed down. Moon cakes have a long history in China. According to historical records, as early as the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, there was a kind of "Taishi cake" to commemorate Taishi Wenzhong, the "ancestor" of China moon cakes. Zhang Qian introduced sesame seeds and walnuts to the Western Regions in Han Dynasty, which added auxiliary materials for making moon cakes. At this time, a round cake filled with walnuts appeared, which was called "Hu cake". In the Tang Dynasty, people had bakers engaged in production, and pastry shops began to appear in Chang 'an, the capital. It is said that one Mid-Autumn Festival night, Emperor Taizong and Yang Guifei enjoyed the moon and ate Hu Bing. Emperor Taizong felt that the name Hu Bing was not pleasant to listen to. Yang Guifei looked up at the bright moon, and her emotions surged. She casually came up with "moon cakes". Since then, the name of "moon cake" has gradually spread among the people. The royal family in the Northern Song Dynasty likes to eat a kind of "palace cake" in the Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as "small cake" and "moon group". Su Dongpo has a poem: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, crisp and pleasing." In the Ming Dynasty, eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival gradually spread among the people. At that time, ingenious bakers printed the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon's fairy tales on moon cakes as food art drawings, making moon cakes a necessary food for Mid-Autumn Festival. The Journey to the West, a Tian Rucheng in Ming Dynasty, said: "August 15th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send moon cakes to show their reunion." By the Qing Dynasty, the production technology of moon cakes had been greatly improved, and there were more and more varieties. Moon cakes prepared for the moon can be seen everywhere. Yuan Jinglan, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, has a long poem "Moon Cake Poetry", which includes "If you enter the kitchen, you can defrost and steam the pot. Rub fine dust and polish rouge marks. This sentence, "Let friends and relatives exchange gifts and save everything ... children sit together and the cups and plates are exhausted" is described, from the making of moon cakes, the exchange of moon cakes between friends and relatives, to the holding of family banquets and the appreciation of the moon.
It is said that moon cakes appeared in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. It is the most important item in Yue Bai during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is shared by the whole family after the festival. Because moon cakes symbolize reunion, some places are called "reunion cakes". "Yanjing Lunar New Year Mooncakes" contains: "Moon mooncakes abound, the largest of which is more than a foot long, with the shapes of toads and rabbits painted on it. Eat after the sacrifice and eat on New Year's Eve. " Su Dongpo's poem said: "A small cake is like chewing the moon, with crisp inside and pulp outside." Yang Guangfu's Song Nancai Fu in Qing Dynasty wrote: "Mooncakes are filled with peach meat, and ice cream is filled with icing." It seems that the moon cakes at that time were quite similar to the moon cakes now.
The traditional Mid-Autumn Festival is a reunion festival, so there are words like "I wish people a long time, a thousand miles of beauty", that is, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone is more looking forward to reunion. If someone in the family can go home for reunion overseas or in other places, it will increase the sense of missing, which is the characteristic of China taking the family as the social unit, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is the concentrated expression of this characteristic.
China has been founded by agriculture for generations, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is just the spring and autumn season, with a bumper harvest in agriculture. Therefore, there is a custom to worship "taro kui" in rural areas, that is, eating sweet potatoes and taro in the Mid-Autumn Festival. These two root crops are big and round, symbolizing bumper harvest and fullness. Giving moon cakes between relatives and friends also symbolizes perfection and reunion.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival night, it is also one of the pleasures of life for the whole family to sit together, with the bright moon in the sky, or drinking wine on the moon, or drinking tea and eating moon cakes to entertain Tan Xing. Therefore, you can eat moon cakes without the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it is not the Mid-Autumn Festival without moon cakes, so the Mid-Autumn Festival and moon cakes are closely linked and indispensable. There are many theories about the origin of this custom.
It is said that during the Wude period in Tang Gaozu, the border guards invaded this territory. Commander-in-chief Li Jing went to war and won a great victory. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people celebrated all night inside and outside Chang 'an. Sometimes, Tubo people will present cakes to celebrate their victory. Gaozu took out the round cake, pointed and said with a smile, "You want to invite toad with Hu cake." Later, it was given to ministers, so the custom of eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival was formed. Second, during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty, people climbed the stairs to see the bright moon quickly, and then held the Yue Bai ceremony. There are round cakes as sacrifices. According to "Mooncakes at the Age of Yanjing", "Mooncakes are everywhere, and the largest one is more than a foot long. The moon palace is painted with the shape of a toad, and some people eat it after the sacrifice". This is the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival in Song Dynasty.
Or the rulers at the end of the Yuan Dynasty practiced the brutal rule of "three families and one yuan, five families and one dish". Liu Bowen organized a peasant uprising, specially made a big round cake, and there was a hidden note in it, which stipulated the August 15th uprising. As a result, the uprising succeeded, overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty. Since then, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival has become more popular.
In short, the custom of reunion, moon viewing and eating moon cakes has a long history. After several generations of inheritance, new contents are constantly added to enrich this traditional festival with national characteristics, which is still popular today.
Mid-Autumn Festival is the second largest festival in China, symbolizing the reunion of human beings with the full moon. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival in August every year, all kinds of moon cakes on the market have become a great landscape. People give mooncakes to each other, especially on the fifteenth night, when families get together, face the bright moon in the sky, eat cakes and enjoy the moon.
As for the origin of moon cakes, there are always different opinions, even related to the legendary Houyi shooting the sun and the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon. This is a story about Ming Di in the Tang Dynasty in the eighth century.
According to legend, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was enjoying the moon in his palace. Luo Gong, a Taoist priest beside him, did magic, threw his cane into the sky and turned it into a long bridge, inviting Xuanzong to visit the Moon Palace together. When they walked across the long bridge, a palace suddenly appeared in front of them, with the words "Hall of Wide Cold and Clear Deficiency". It's fascinating to see the Fairy Mountain Qiongge in the palace. In the palace, Chang 'e ordered the ladies-in-waiting to hold delicious fairy cakes for the guests to taste, and watched the lights, songs and dances performed by the immortals.
After returning to the earth, Emperor Tang Ming ordered people to copy one by one according to what they saw and heard in the Moon Palace. Since then, there have been "colorful feathers" and "moon cakes" in the shape of a full moon. Su Dongpo's poem "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp inside and stuffing inside" shows that moon cakes in the Song Dynasty have been very particular about workmanship and prevailed in the world.
In addition, it is said that Zhang Shicheng, the leader of the peasant uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, took advantage of the custom of giving moon cakes to relatives and friends at the Mid-Autumn Festival, put uprising notes in the stuffing of moon cakes, and invited people from all over the country to do something at the Mid-Autumn Festival, which finally overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.
It is said that the origin of moon cakes is because the two countries are at war. A special way to send superstition is to roll up a piece of paper and put it in a round cake to convey information without being discovered by the enemy. Later, when the soldiers were hungry, they ate moon cakes, which later spread widely.