2. Introduction of Mid-Autumn Festival customs
(1) Sacrifice the moon. It is a very old custom in our country, and it is actually a worship activity of the ancients to the "Moon God". In ancient times, there was a custom of "autumn and dusk". The evening moon is the God of Yue Bai.
(2) burn the lamp. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, there is the custom of burning lanterns to help the moon. Nowadays, there is still the custom of piling tiles and burning lamps on towers in Huguang area. Jiangnan has the custom of making lantern boats. The custom of burning lanterns in modern Mid-Autumn Festival is more prosperous.
(3) enjoy the moon. The custom of enjoying the moon comes from offering sacrifices to the moon, and serious sacrifices have become relaxed pleasures. It is said that the moon is closest to the earth that night, and it is the largest, roundest and brightest, so there has been a custom of drinking and enjoying the moon since ancient times.
(4) Watch the tide. In ancient times, Zhejiang Mid-Autumn Festival was another Mid-Autumn Festival activity besides watching the moon. The custom of watching tide in Mid-Autumn Festival has a long history, which is described in detail in Mei Cheng's Seven Mao Fu in Han Dynasty. After the Han Dynasty, Mid-Autumn tide watching became more popular. There are also records of watching the tide in Zhu Tinghuan's Ming Bu Wulin Past and Zi Mu's Meng Lianglu.
(5) guess. On the Mid-Autumn Festival full moon night, many lanterns will be hung in public places. People get together to guess the riddles written on lanterns. Because they are the favorite activities of most young men and women, and love stories are also heard in these activities, solve riddles on the lanterns is also derived as a form of love between men and women in the Mid-Autumn Festival.
(6) eat moon cakes. Moon cakes, also known as moon cakes, harvest cakes, palace cakes and reunion cakes. It is an offering to worship the moon god in ancient Mid-Autumn Festival. Moon cakes were originally used to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion.
(7) Enjoy osmanthus and drink osmanthus wine. People often eat moon cakes and enjoy osmanthus in Mid-Autumn Festival, and eat all kinds of foods made of osmanthus, among which cakes and sweets are the most common.