As for the origin of the term mooncake, there is no way to verify it. However, Su Dongpo, a famous scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, left a poem that said, "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp and glutinous rice in them." Perhaps this is the origin of the name of moon cakes and the basis for the making of moon cakes.

The word mooncake was first seen in "Meng Liang Lu" by Wu Zimu in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, it was just a snack food. Later, people gradually combined moon appreciation with moon cakes, which symbolized family reunion and expressed their longing for each other.

At the same time, mooncakes are also an important gift used to connect friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon cakes at that time were rhombus-shaped, existing at the same time as chrysanthemum cakes, plum blossom cakes, five-nut cakes, etc., and they were "available at all times, and can be requested at any time without missing a customer." It can be seen that mooncakes at this time are not only eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Extended information

Moon cakes symbolize reunion and should have been recorded in writing since the Ming Dynasty. If we look at the information about moon cakes and Mid-Autumn Festival folk customs in the Ming Dynasty, we should be able to see the historical trajectory of moon cakes meaning reunion: after worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family would sit around and share moon cakes and fruits (moon offerings). Because moon cakes are also round and shared by the whole family, moon cakes have gradually come to symbolize family reunion.

In some places in Guangdong, there is a custom of worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, mainly for women and children. There is a proverb that "men do not worship the full moon, women do not worship the stove". Among ethnic minorities, the custom of worshiping the moon is also popular. Folk customs during the Mid-Autumn Festival are also diverse in areas south of the Yangtze River. Nanjing people love to eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and must also eat Jinling's famous dish of osmanthus duck with dancing fire dragon. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people in Sichuan Province not only eat moon cakes, but also make cakes, kill ducks, and eat sesame cakes, honey cakes, etc.