Beijing, Sept. 13 (Reporter Shangguan Yun): "The moonlight is the brightest night in a year, and thousands of people enjoy it together." Mid-Autumn Festival, a festival to celebrate a bumper harvest, symbolizes a happy reunion. Busy people will get together as much as possible on this day, or share a piece of moon cake, or sit around and enjoy the moon.
In a sense, Mid-Autumn Festival is not just a holiday, or even a festival. What it infiltrates is Chinese’s long-lasting family ethics and humanistic feelings. What is the Mid-Autumn Festival in your memory?
Data map: The moon is round on Mid-Autumn Festival night. China News Service reporter Yan photo
Mid-Autumn Festival means warmth and reunion.
For wanderers in a foreign land, Mid-Autumn Festival means going home and reuniting. Li Jun is 26 years old and has been in Beijing for three years.
Her hometown is in Shanxi. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Jun always plans his trip in advance to ensure that he can get home on time for the holiday. "For Chinese, this is a reunion festival, so I will spend it with my parents.".
"On holidays, my dad will buy a bunch of seasonal fruits, especially a big watermelon. Then carve the watermelon into a flower basket shape, add moon cakes and put it on the windowsill ‘ For the moon ’ This is also our local custom. " Li Jun said that the fruit moon cake will be removed after a while and shared by the whole family. The moon cake is a local mixed sugar moon cake, which is delicious.
A table of delicious food is inevitable. One of her most impressive family gatherings was last year. "We went to my aunt’s house, and my uncle cooked a lot of hairy crabs and shrimps, and the family ate them while chatting. I will also watch the Mid-Autumn Festival party together, and I feel particularly warm at that time. "
“‘ Full moon ’ It is also an important part of the Mid-Autumn Festival. I may be too busy at ordinary times to remember to look up at the moon. Looking at a full moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival night, you will feel that autumn is rich and poetic. " Li Jun concluded that the Mid-Autumn Festival gave her the feeling of "warmth" and "reunion".
"Invited Red" condenses the Mid-Autumn Festival flavor in memory.
In the eyes of some older people, the Mid-Autumn Festival was once a good opportunity to satisfy their cravings.
"Zilaihong" and "Zilaihai" moon cakes. Photo courtesy of respondents
"When I was a child, I really looked forward to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Not only is it a family reunion, but it is not rich in materials. You can eat something good during the holidays. " The 60-year-old Zhao Xingli lamented that the Mid-Autumn Festival in that time was equally delicious. "My aunt will bring some candy, and my grandmother will bring some chestnuts and sweet potatoes, which is all my heart."
Of course, parents will stew some meat for their children to satisfy their hunger. However, Zhao Xingli said that what impressed me the most was the red moon cakes that my father bought every year. The moon cakes were printed with small animal patterns and smelled fragrant.
"After dinner, put a small table in the courtyard, and give male prostitute offerings such as pomegranate grapes. When eating moon cakes, I can’t bear to eat anything like moss crystal sugar, so I have to flush it. " He remembers that adults would teach children to enjoy the moon and said that there were jade rabbits in the moon palace. "At that time, I thought it was true and I would agree that I saw rabbits."
Nowadays, life is rich, and there are more and more delicious foods to eat in the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, Zhao Xingli said that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the old father would still call his children to celebrate the festival and buy homemade red moon cakes every year. He still loved them, "because it embodies the love of his parents and the taste of memories of the times."
It used to be a secular carnival festival.
No matter sitting around watching the Mid-Autumn Festival party now, or enjoying the moon in Yue Bai in the past, it all embodies the theme of "reunion" in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Among several traditional festivals, such as Spring Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival came into being at the latest. But it contains many customs, most of which have ancient origins.
Data Map: The Mid-Autumn Festival Yue Bai ceremony makes people "travel through time and space" and feel the elegant Mid-Autumn Festival of ancient literati. Photo by Luo Bo
It is recorded in Dream Liang Lu that the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th, when Sanqiu is just half, is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, because the moonlight on this night is often twice as bright as usual, and it is also called the "moonlit". Literally, it is related to the "moonlit" of the ancient autumnal equinox.
Many festivals in China are related to the laws of the moon’s movement. The full moon often gives people a round and full aesthetic feeling. The Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Moon Festival and the Reunion Festival. The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month coincides with the crisp autumn, offering sacrifices to the moon and Yue Bai and enjoying the moon … … It is a natural expression of people’s feelings.
For example, the Mid-Autumn Festival in Song Dynasty is a secular carnival festival. Before the 15th of August, many shops in the street began to sell newly brewed wine, and people scrambled to climb the stairs to enjoy the moon, drinking and singing. On the Mid-Autumn Night, the routine curfew was also cancelled, the night market was open all night, and there were an endless stream of tourists enjoying the moon.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival became more popular, forming such customs as planting Mid-Autumn Festival trees, lighting tower lanterns, lighting sky lanterns, walking on the moon and dancing dragon. Jiangnan is used to offering vegetarian food for the moon and putting a bowl of cold water next to it. After Yue Bai, women and children dipped their fingers in water and painted them on their eyes, hoping that their eyes would be clear.
"In addition, in the past, Mid-Autumn Festival was also the day when shops counted accounts and settled wages for employees." Xiao Fang, a professor at Beijing Normal University and an expert in folklore, explained.
Today, it is still the "adjustment" of interpersonal relationships.
The custom of Mid-Autumn Festival, which has lasted for a long time, still has positive significance today.
Data Map: The moon cakes made by children are very creative. Zhuo Zhongwei photo
In Xiao Fang’s view, Yue Bai, moon viewing and reunion celebration are the core of the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival custom, which still meets people’s life needs and spiritual needs.
For example, the Mid-Autumn Festival is an opportunity for friends and relatives to express their thoughts to each other, and for noisy urban residents, they can enjoy the pleasure of returning to nature in the bright moon. Xiao Fang said that Yue Bai and the celebration of harvest are all gratitude to nature. "People can’t just focus on practical interests, and they should be grateful at all times."
Zhao Xingli lamented that in today’s affluent era, the transportation is convenient, and it is not difficult to get together and eat well. "But the Mid-Autumn Festival is too closely related to the spirit of Chinese, and it has a special symbolic significance in life, which is irreplaceable by our usual holidays."
"Festivals are the highlights of daily life. The Mid-Autumn Festival has irreplaceable humanistic psychological value and is also a strong expression of family ethics. " Xiao Fang believes that it still plays a role in regulating interpersonal relationships today. People can give gifts to each other and show concern for each other, so as to slow down the busy pace. "Don’t be in such a hurry in life, don’t forget to reunite with relatives and friends." (Li Jun is a pseudonym) (End)