In Chinese lunar calendar, a year is divided into four seasons, and each season is divided into three parts: Meng, Zhong and Ji, so Mid-Autumn Festival is also called Mid-Autumn Festival. There are many nicknames for Mid-Autumn Festival: it is called "August Festival" and "August and a half" because it falls on August 15th; Because the main activities of Mid-Autumn Festival are all around the "moon", it is also commonly known as "Moon Festival" and "Moon Festival". The full moon in Mid-Autumn Festival symbolizes reunion, so it is also called "Reunion Festival".
The ancients attached importance to the Mid-Autumn Festival, second only to the Spring Festival, and even to some extent, it was far better than the Spring Festival. Every Mid-Autumn Festival night, looking up at the moon in the sky, I suddenly feel infinite reverie and lovesickness. Welcome the cold, enjoy the Yue Bai, enjoy the moon, play with the moon, eat moon cakes and watch the lanterns burning … The sense of ceremony of the ancients celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival is also reflected in this grand and expectant mood.
Mid-Autumn Festival originated from "Moon Festival"
The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival can be traced back to the ancient "Moon Festival", that is, the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. According to historical records, as early as the Zhou Dynasty, people began to worship the moon in autumn. At that time, the moon was regarded as a symbol of harvest, and people would sacrifice to the moon after the autumn harvest to express their gratitude for the harvest and pray for the future. Later, with the passage of time, this ritual activity gradually evolved into a folk custom, which was the later Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Mid-Autumn Festival became an officially recognized national festival, about in the Tang Dynasty. The custom of appreciating the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival flourished in Chang ‘an area in the Tang Dynasty, and many poets have poems about appreciating the moon in their masterpieces. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Liu Yuxi wrote in "Playing with the Moon on the Night of August 15th" that "the stars make the light shine, and the wind reveals the crystal. Can change the world, but it is Yujing ",which will wash out people’s love of playing with the moon." In Wang Jian’s "Looking at the Moon at Fifteen Nights and Sending it to Du Langzhong", he said: "In the atrium, there are crows in Bai Shu, while in Coody Leng, there are silent and wet osmanthus flowers. Tonight, the moon is full of hope. I wonder who Qiu Si will fall into? " Among them, the phrase "Everyone looks forward to the moon tonight" points out that enjoying the moon on August 15th is what everyone does, and it has become a popular custom. It can be said that the Mid-Autumn Festival custom in the Tang Dynasty is that relatives and friends get together to enjoy the moon, the central content of which is to enjoy the moon, and the reunion is caused by enjoying the moon. According to the available data, the early years of the Tang Dynasty were mainly middle and upper class people, such as officials and literati, who gathered with their families or friends on the night of August 15th to enjoy the moon, compose poems, drink and chat. In the mid-Tang Dynasty, ordinary people’s families began to have the custom of gathering, feasting and offering sacrifices to the moon.
In the Tang Dynasty, when playing with the moon, the son of heaven and the courtiers could play in the palace. The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao records: "Su Xian and Li Shan exchanged letters and letters, and Xuanzong cared deeply for them. On the night of August 15, I stayed in the forbidden city, and all the scholars played with the moon and prepared a feast of wine. When the sky is cloudless and the moonlight is like day, Su Yue said, It’s clear and lovely. Why use lamps and candles? So I removed it. " In order to play with the moon, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and his ministers can remove the lighting candles at night.
Poets and local officials can play in courtyards, hills, rivers and temples at will. Bai Juyi’s "Inviting friends to play with the moon on the night of August 15th in Huayang View" is about gathering with friends to play with the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival, which makes people feel full of friendship when reading: "The moon is bright in autumn, so how about inviting people to enjoy it? On the autumn altar in Huayang Cave, there are many clear lights here tonight. "
In the Tang Dynasty, "Woman Yue Bai" was popular after enjoying the moon. In the poem "Worship the New Moon" by Li Duan, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, "When you open the curtain to see the new moon, you will worship at the next level. Whispering people don’t smell it, and the north wind blows nepotism ",which describes this scene. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, women will set up red dates, plums, grapes and other sacrifices on the incense table, light red candles and worship the moon, praying that it looks like Chang ‘e and is as round as a clean moon.
Playing with the moon all night in Song Dynasty
On the basis of the popularity of enjoying the moon in the Tang Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Song Dynasty was more lively. The imperial court also attached importance to this festival and gave public officials a day off.
Father Meng recorded in "Tokyo Dream of China": "Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, all the shops sold new wine, re-knotted the flower heads of colorful buildings on the facade, and painted drunken flowers. People in the city competed for drinks, and by noon, there was no wine in every family, so they dragged down the hope. " Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, it has entered a reasonable wine appointment period. Shopkeepers are also rude. They have erected poles with flower heads carved and hung banners with the words "Drunken Immortal" to attract customers. Of course, the effect is remarkable. In the past few days, people who eat wine have poured in, often "at noon", and every family has no wine to sell. Senator Meng also wrote: "It’s time for the crab to come out. Pomegranate, cuttlefish, pear, jujube, chestnut, grape and orange are all on the market." Song people still love life after all. After drinking, just after the hour, they took the hairy crabs that had just been delivered from the street and took a few bags of grapes, oranges or other fresh fruits home for a nap.
A few days later, the Mid-Autumn Festival finally arrived. On this day, restaurants and stores will rearrange themselves and sell newly opened good wine. Before the fruit shop, it is full of fresh and beautiful fruits. The night market is noisy, people go to the balcony to watch the moon, and some rich families will watch the moon on their own pavilions, and at the same time put on food and arrange family banquets. Even people who live in mean alleys will pawn their clothes to buy wine to celebrate festivals.
Senator Meng went on to write: "On Mid-Autumn Night, your family decorated the terrace, and the people competed for the restaurant to play with the moon." In the Song Dynasty, besides inheriting the custom of Yue Bai in the Mid-Autumn Festival for women in the Tang Dynasty, there was a more chic activity "playing with the moon". At that time, the house of dignitaries built and decorated a high platform and a low pavilion, and held a "Mid-Autumn Festival party". All kinds of musical instruments were played together, and the sound was full of noise, and you could hear the music in the distance until late at night. Ordinary people will go to restaurants, take seats, drink and enjoy the moon. This night, the night market is noisy, "children in the night play." As for the night market, as for familiarity. "
During the Southern Song Dynasty, "playing with the moon" was even more lively. Wu Zimu described the Mid-Autumn Night in Lin ‘an in detail in "Dream of Liang Lu": "On this occasion, the golden wind is cool, the jade dew is cool, the osmanthus fragrance is floating, and the silver toad is full. Prince Sun’s son, a rich man with a huge room, never fails to climb a dangerous building, play with the moon on the porch, or open a wide pavilion, have a feast, and sing loudly with his harps and harps, so as to predict the joy of the evening. As far as the home of paving seats is concerned, I also boarded a small platform, arranged family dinners, and organized children to reward the festive season … This night, I bought and sold in the streets until the five drums, and I played with tourists on the moon, dancing in the city until the night. "
It can be seen that the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Song Dynasty was extremely lively, and the most remarkable feature was to celebrate all night. On this day, people would not turn off the lights and go to sleep because it was getting late.
Many people are familiar with Su Dongpo’s poem "When will there be a bright moon?", and its opening preface is "Bingchen Mid-Autumn Festival, drinking too much, getting drunk, making this article and being pregnant." From this point of view, the word Su Shi must be the result of his drinking all night. And in this word, "I wish people a long time, and a thousand miles together" is a reflection of the past and the present, bearing the common philosophical thoughts and expectations of people.
Crystal-arranging tray for fruit moon cakes
"Cake" is the general name of a kind of pasta in ancient times. For example, noodles are called soup cakes and cakes, steamed bread is called steamed cakes and cooking cakes, dumplings are called boiled cakes, and cold noodles are called boiled cakes. It is inevitable that the ancients used pasta to worship the moon with cakes. For example, during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Song Dynasty, the court ate palace cakes, cookies and moon cakes.
Legend has it that the origin of moon cakes originated from the conquest of the Turks in the Tang Dynasty, and a businessman from the western regions congratulated him on making Hu cakes. Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, sighed with emotion that "Hu cakes should be invited to toads". There is no basis for this statement. Hu Bing has entered the Central Plains in the Han Dynasty, which is similar to today’s Naan. Li Shimin just said that Hu Bing’s circle is similar to the moon, and it has nothing to do with moon cakes. In fact, the term "moon cake" didn’t appear until the Southern Song Dynasty, but it was sold in the city, which had nothing to do with the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it was probably steamed, which was recorded in the book Old Wulin in the Southern Song Dynasty. Steamed moon cakes are still circulating in Shandong, Henan and other places. There is also a word "moon cake" in the book "Dream of Liang Lu", but in the Mid-Autumn Festival at that time, moon cakes were not a necessity, and many people would not deliberately prepare moon cakes as a meal that night. Compared with moon cakes, drinking is more common. Because under the conditions at that time, it was still difficult for ordinary people to make moon cakes. On the one hand, the process of making moon cakes was more complicated and it was difficult for ordinary people to do it. Secondly, the materials needed for moon cakes are not complete for every household. Drinks are different. Most villages and towns and neighborhoods have wine shops, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is the time when new wines are on the market. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, the rich sing songs about wine, and the poor also buy clothes and wine, "reluctantly welcome the joy and refuse to waste it."
Don’t eat moon cakes, so what did people eat at that time? According to historical records, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, you should drink "playing with the moon soup" no matter the mid-autumn night in the north and south.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Tao Gu recorded in his notes "Qing Yi Lu" that there was a restaurant opened by a chef named Zhang Shoumei next to Luhemenwai Avenue, which was very good at doing business, creatively serving on demand, and making corresponding special foods for sale according to seasons and festivals, which was extremely popular. For example, "Yuanyang Fan Yuan Day … Children’s Day on June 1 … Green Pouches Fu Day … Playing Moon Soup Mid-Autumn Festival …" is the "Yuanyang Fan" which looks like super jar meat on the first day of the first month, the "Children’s Day" on the seventh day of the first month, the "Green Pouches" on the dog days of June, and the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th. It is recorded in the Record of the Chef: "Go on a diet in the middle of the year and play with the moon soup in the Mid-Autumn Festival."
There is no explicit historical data on the specific method of playing with moon soup, which leaves unlimited room for future generations to daydream. Some scholars speculate that it may be egg custard or something like that, or it may be shaped like a moon, or at least it is an egg cake poured with juice. Some people also think that a "Xi Shi plays with the moon" in Jiangsu cuisine today is inspired by the story of Xi Shi enjoying the moon in Lingyan Mountain, Suzhou, and may still have the taste of playing with the moon soup. This dish is mainly made of meatballs made of chicken and fish, with ham slices, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, small vegetables and chicken soup as auxiliary materials. The soup is clear and the meatballs are flawless, which makes diners easily associate with the bright moon in the sky. However, cooking experts later found that there was still a market for playing moon soup in Lingnan area in the late Qing Dynasty. Remove the core of lotus seeds and add longan, cook with clear water, take out, add the blended lotus root powder into the pot, gently stir to form a thick soup, pour back the lotus seeds longan, and simmer slowly with a little fire. Experts speculate that this may be the time to play with the moon soup.
Ciba, pomegranate, glutinous rice lotus root, taro, etc. were also standing items in the Mid-Autumn Festival at that time, paying attention to the happiness and sweetness of the full moon night, which was quite pleasant.
During the Yuan Dynasty, a large number of Central Asian culinary technicians entered the Central Plains, which made the technology of shortening and pulp extraction more mature and popularized, thus promoting the development of moon cakes. Eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival has become more exquisite in the Yuan Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Tao Zongyi recorded the Mid-Autumn Festival in Zonghaishan, Yuan Wu (AD 1309) in yuanshi county Yeting Ji. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, Yuan Wuzong and his concubines went boating in the royal Taiye Pool and held a banquet for fun. The food served was quite rich, such as "recommend the breast of ducking wings, the catfish in the autumn wind, the wine of Yuan frost, and the lamb of Kazuki Watanabe musician". The "Kazuki Watanabe musician lamb" here means "eating moon cakes".
