Moon cakes originally originated from the Tang Dynasty army’s food to celebrate victory. During the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, General Li Jing conquered the Huns and returned in triumph on August 15th.
At that time, some people from Turpan who were doing business presented cakes to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty to celebrate his victory. The great ancestor Li Yuan took the gorgeous cake box, took out the round cake, pointed at the bright moon in the sky with a smile and said: "You should invite the toad with the Hu cake." After speaking, he distributed the cake to the ministers to eat together.
The word "mooncake" already exists in Wu Zimu's "Mengliang Lu" of the Southern Song Dynasty, but the description of tasting the moon and eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival was only recorded in the "West Lake Tour Zhihui" of the Ming Dynasty: "The 15th day of August is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send moon cakes to each other to symbolize reunion." By the Qing Dynasty, there were more records about mooncakes, and their production became more and more sophisticated.
Mooncakes have developed to this day, with more varieties and different flavors depending on the place. Among them, Beijing-style, Soviet-style, Cantonese-style, Chaozhou-style mooncakes are widely eaten by people from all over the north and south of my country.
Moon cakes symbolize reunion and are a must-eat during the Mid-Autumn Festival. On festival nights, people also like to eat watermelons, fruits and other fruits that bring reunion, and wish their families a happy, sweet and safe life.
The 15th day of the eighth lunar month is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival in my country, and it is also the second largest traditional festival in my country after the Spring Festival. August 15th is right in the middle of autumn, so it is called the Mid-Autumn Festival. The ancient Chinese calendar called August in the middle of autumn "Zhongqiu", so the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called "Zhongqiu Festival".
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is bright and clear. The ancients regarded the full moon as a symbol of reunion. Therefore, August 15th is also called the "Reunion Festival". Throughout the ages, people have often used the words "full moon and waning moon" to describe "joys and sorrows", and wanderers living in foreign lands use the moon to express their deep feelings. Poet Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty wrote "Looking up at the bright moon, bowing his head thinking about his hometown", Du Fu's "The dew is white tonight, the moon is bright in my hometown", Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty wrote "The spring breeze is green again on the south bank of the river, when will the bright moon shine on me again" and other poems, They are all eternal songs.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is an ancient festival, and worshiping and admiring the moon is an important custom of the festival. Ancient emperors had a social system of worshiping the sun in spring and the moon in autumn, and people also had the custom of worshiping the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Later, appreciating the moon became more important than worshiping the moon, and serious sacrifices turned into relaxed entertainment. The custom of appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival peaked in the Tang Dynasty. Many poets included poems praising the moon in their famous works. In the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, the activities of worshiping and appreciating the moon among the court and the people became more extensive. There are many ancient monuments such as "Moon Worship Altar", "Moon Worship Pavilion" and "Moon Watching Tower" remaining in various parts of our country.
The "Altar of the Moon" in Beijing was built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty for the royal family to worship the moon. Whenever the moon rises during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a table is set up in the open air, and moon cakes, pomegranates, dates and other fruits are offered on the table. After worshiping the moon, the whole family sits around the table, eats and talks, and enjoys the bright moon. Nowadays, the activities of worshiping and worshiping the moon have been replaced by large-scale and colorful mass moon-viewing recreational activities.
Eating moon cakes is another custom of the festival. Moon cakes symbolize reunion. The production of mooncakes has become more and more sophisticated since the Tang Dynasty. Su Dongpo wrote in a poem: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp and sweet fillings in the middle." Yang Guangfu of the Qing Dynasty wrote: "Moon cakes are filled with peach meat fillings, and ice cream is sweet with cane sugar frosting." It seems that the mooncakes at that time are quite similar to those now.
Eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional folk custom in my country, just like eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival and eating glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival. Throughout the ages, people have regarded mooncakes as a symbol of good luck and reunion. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, when the bright moon is in the sky, families gather together, enjoy cakes, admire the moon, chat and enjoy family happiness.
Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, small cakes, moon dumplings, reunion cakes, etc., are offerings to worship the moon god during the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient times. Passed down, the custom of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival has been formed.
Mooncakes have a long history in our country. According to historical records, as early as the Yin and Zhou dynasties, there was a kind of "Taishi cake" with thin edges and thick heart in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas to commemorate Taishi Wenzhong. This is the "ancestor" of Chinese mooncakes. When Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty was on his mission to the Western Regions, he introduced sesame seeds and walnuts to add auxiliary ingredients to the production of moon cakes. At this time, round cakes filled with walnut kernels appeared, called "Hu cakes".
In the Tang Dynasty, there were already private bakers engaged in production, and bakery shops began to appear in Chang'an, the capital. It is said that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival one year, when Emperor Taizong and Concubine Yang were enjoying the moon and eating Hu cakes, Emperor Taizong thought the name "Hu cakes" was not nice. Concubine Yang looked up at the bright moon, her heart was surging, and casually said "Moon cakes". The name "Mooncake" gradually spread among the people.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the royal family of the Northern Song Dynasty liked to eat a kind of "palace cake", which is commonly known as "small cake" and "moon cake" among the people. Su Dongpo has a poem that says: "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispness and joy in the middle."
Zhou Mi, a writer in the Song Dynasty, mentioned "moon cakes" for the first time in "Old Martial Arts", which described what he saw in Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. name.
In the Ming Dynasty, eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival gradually became popular among the people. At that time, the ingenious bakers printed the mythical story of Chang'e flying to the moon as a food art pattern on mooncakes, making mooncakes a must-have food for the Mid-Autumn Festival that is more popular among the people.
Tian Rucheng of the Ming Dynasty said in his "West Lake Tour Notes": "The 15th day of August is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send mooncakes to each other to symbolize reunion." In the Qing Dynasty, the craftsmanship of making mooncakes has been greatly improved. The varieties are also increasing, and mooncakes for the moon are available everywhere. Yuan Jinglan, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, has a long "Poetry of Ode to Mooncakes", which includes: "Entering the kitchen, the light catches the frost, and the steaming cauldron air flows. Knead the flour into fine dust, and dot it with traces of rouge."
Relatives and relatives give gifts to each other, and there is no room for neglect...Children sit together for reunion, cups and plates are scattered in a mess, etc., from the making of moon cakes, the exchange of moon cakes among relatives and friends, to the family banquet and moon appreciation, the narrative is complete.
Mid-Autumn Festival and Mooncakes
Mid-Autumn Festival and Mooncakes
Mooncakes symbolize reunion and are a must-have food for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is said to have been passed down from the late Yuan Dynasty.
It is said that during the Yuan Dynasty, the people in the Central Plains were unwilling to accept the cruel rule of the Mongols and rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty. However, the officers and soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty searched tightly and had no way to convey the news. He came up with a plan and ordered Wang Zhaoguang to make pancakes and hide the note with "uprising on August 15th" inside the pancakes. Therefore, the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown in one fell swoop. In order to commemorate this achievement, the custom of eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival was passed down.
No matter what generation the moon cakes originated from, the roundness of the moon symbolizes people's reunion, and the roundness of the cakes. As a sign of longevity, mooncakes are used to convey feelings of missing one’s hometown and relatives, and to pray for a good harvest and happiness.
Mid-Autumn Festival and Mooncakes
Some people think that eating mooncakes is a wish. Sending moon cakes has been associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival since ancient times. In fact, this was not the case. In the early Tang Dynasty, only the first day of the eighth lunar month was a festival, and there was no such festival. Later, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty visited the Moon Palace on the night of the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. In this way, people began to regard August 15th as the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the mid-Tang Dynasty, people began to go up to the tower to watch the moon on the night of August 15th. Moon cakes did not appear at that time. The earliest appearance of moon cakes was in the Southern Song Dynasty. . However, the mooncakes at that time had nothing to do with the Mid-Autumn Festival. The mooncakes at that time were also very different from modern mooncakes. They only appeared in the food market as steamed food.
The mooncakes are really related to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Ming Dynasty. At that time, a kind of mooncake with fruit filling appeared in the city of Beijing, and people made mooncakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival for themselves and as gifts to friends and relatives to express reunion and congratulations. The sizes and shapes of mooncakes are very irregular and vary widely, and their names are also quite special.
For example, in Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, local people have gathered together to share mooncakes. The mooncakes they make are many and interesting, such as crescent mooncakes specially for men, gourd mooncakes only for women, and mooncakes such as "Sun Wukong" and "Rabbit Master" specially prepared for teenagers. There are many names. The production technology of moon cakes has reached a very high level in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, some moon cakes had decorative patterns such as "Toad in the Moon". The exquisite design, the wonderful composition, and the delicate patterns give people artistic enjoyment, which not only fully reflects the ingenuity of the mooncake makers, but also reflects the splendid culture of our great Chinese nation.
The lunar calendar. August 15th is a day for people to reunite with their families or miss their relatives and friends far away. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, in addition to admiring the moon and eating Mid-Autumn moon cakes, Xiamen people also have a "play party" that has been passed down since Zheng Chenggong expelled the Dutch and regained Taiwan. The folk activity of "Bake Betting Champion" is quite interesting. There are 63 pieces of cakes in each Mid-Autumn Festival, with different sizes. They are divided into 6 types, which respectively represent the number one scholar, second place, third flower, Jinshi, successful person and scholar in ancient imperial examinations. Each person takes turns throwing 6 dice into the bowl, and receives the cake according to the number of the dice thrown into the bowl. It is considered lucky to win the "top prize" in the end. For more than 300 years, this fun-filled activity has been popular among Xiamen people. Xiamen’s bakeries and cake factories will mass-produce this kind of cakes for sale before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival.