The Folk Customs and Contemporary Significance of Mid—autumn Festival

梁賽爾

【Abstract】Each nation has its own unique culture， and national culture has been constantly changing for a long history because of the spread and innovation of culture. The Mid-autumn Festival is on the fifteenth day of August of the lunar calendar. The formation and development of Mid-autumn Festival go through a long process， and combining relevant fairy tales， legends and folk customs. It associates all kinds of moon customs， including appreciating the moon， providing sacrifices to the moon and eating moon cakes altogether with their families. As a traditional festival， it plays an important role in Chinese culture. This paper explores folk customs and contemporary significance of Mid-autumn Festival so as to make people recognize and cherish Chinese cultural treasure.

【Key words】Mid-autumn Festival； folk customs； contemporary significance； moon cakes

I. The origin and historical development of Mid-autumn Festival

The Mid-autumn Festival is on the fifteenth day of August of the lunar calendar. In China， the Mid-autumn Festival， the Lantern Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival are called the three traditional festivals （Jiang， Li， & Zou， 2005）. As a result， the Mid-autumn Festival is considered as one of the most significant traditional festivals in China. The Mid-autumn Festival is also called Reunion Festival. According to Chinese lunar calendar， August is in the middle of autumn， viewed as the second month of autumn， so called “mid-autumn”. According to historical records， “Mid-autumn Festival” firstly appeared in “Zhou Li”， originated in Tang Dynasty and the Mid-autumn Festival became assured until the early Tang Dynasty. “The history of the Tang Dynasty Taizong” stated the Mid-autumn Festival is on the fifteenth day of August of the lunar calendar. It was very prevalent in the Song Dynasty， particularly famous and well-known in the Ming and Qing Dynasties， and became one of the major traditional festivals in China （Li & Zheng， 2010）.

In Tang Dynasty， some people has been involved in appreciating the moon in Mid-autumn Festival. According to the statistics of Liu Dezeng， there are 111 poems written by 65 poets describing the theme of appreciating the moon in “Poetry of the Tang Dynasty” （Zhang， 2013）. In spite of the fact that it was uncommon in public places， it has become the activities of scholars. Tang Xuanzongs legend of visiting to the moon in August 15 was widespread in Tang Dynasty， which has turned an important manifestation of folk festivals， and also enriched the cultural content of Mid-autumn Festival. Besides， it was very mysterious and interesting， and beneficial to the widespread prevalence of Mid-autumn Festival. In Song Dynasty， many people started to hold the banquet party apart from appreciating the moon. That was because the living environment and psychological state of people in Song Dynasty differed from that of Tang Dynasty. With the booming of economy， people not only pursued spirit and psychological demands， but also they got down to experience and enjoy the material life （Xiong， 2005）.endprint

After Ming and Qing Dynasties， lured by material gains purpose， realistic utilitarian factors is more and more in daily life， so the cultural contents of Mid-autumn Festival have changed and the activities have been more abundant and colorful. Gradually， it gained the great popularity from aristocracy to the public and became one of the most significant festivals in China.

II. The folk customs of Mid-autumn Festival

1. Appreciating the moon

In Wei and Jin Dynasties， China began to spring up the behavior of appreciating the moon， but it has not become a kind of custom. Until the Tang Dynasty， it was very prevailing for people to play， appreciate and extol the moon in Mid- autumn Festival. In the Southern Song Dynasty， the activities of Mid-autumn Festival are more colorful and extraordinary， including delivering moon cakes to each other and holding the banquet party， considered as the symbol of reunion. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties， the custom of appreciating the moon has gained more prevalence in our country. In Mid-autumn Festival， the moon rises， people place moon cakes， grapefruit， guava， taro， peanuts， walnuts， watermelon and other fruits in the courtyard. In ethnic minority areas of China， a great number of unique activities are held， such as worshiping， jumping， and stealing the moon and other rich and colorful activities.

When people enjoy the moon， they cant help missing their families and relatives unconsciously. The Chinese has cherished the family reunion and the happiness of sharing with their family very much， as a consequence， a variety of literature describes poems concerned about the moon so as to deliver the emotion of missing.

2. Providing sacrifices to the moon of Mid-autumn Festival

In China， the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the moon was historical and ancient， above all， the ancient emperors had formal ceremonies and rituals for offering sacrifices in autumn before ancient Qin and Han Dynasties. But until Tang Dynasty， it started to exist sacrifices to the moon in Mid-autumn Festival. As legend says， Tang Xuanzong once flew to the Moon Palace during the Mid-autumn Festival. Since then， successive generations of emperors followed this ceremony， and the Ming and Qing emperors also offered sacrifices to the moon in the Mid-autumn Festival every year.

As time goes by， the cultural content of the sacrificial ceremony gradually became rich and colorful， and people gradually regarded the Mid-autumn Festival as a festival of sacrifice. Whenever the mid-autumn moon rises， households set the open case， placed the cakes， pomegranates， dates and other fruits in the table to burn incenses and offered sacrifices to the moon. After the worship， the whole family sat around the table， talking， eating， and appreciating the moon. At present， the worship activities of festival has been replaced by alternative leisure activities.endprint

In terms of the monthly food offerings， moon cakes are the most representative food in China， and it is also essential for watermelon， apples， pears， grapes and persimmons and other seasonal fruits. In some places， it regards taro， soybeans and other agricultural products as a food offerings. Moon cake， also called Hu cake， cookies， and reunion cake， was the ancient worship to god offerings.

3. Other folk customs of Mid-autumn Festival

The Mid-autumn Festival has the habit of eating taro in Guangdong Province. In August， when it was the harvest time of taro， farmers were used to worshiping their ancestors with Taro. There is no doubt that it is also related to farming sacrifices. In Mid-autumn Festival， the biggest taro was placed in the middle of plates， around a circle of small taro， meaning many descendants. In Taiwan Province， China also has the habit of dieting taro in the Mid-autumn Festival.

In certain parts， such as Jiangsu and Nanjing Province， there is a custom called “touching the autumn” during the Mid-autumn Festival. At Mid-autumn Festival night， the women get used to touching the garden， if you can touch the melon and beans， symbolizing the birth of a son. The formation of this custom is probably because the Mid-autumn Festival is the fruiting season， which is called Qiushi， and similar to the season of children. In Taiwan， in the autumn， there are unmarried girls stealing the garden， whether they steal the vegetable or green onions in the garden， they are going to meet Mr. Right （Jiang， Li， & Zou， 2005）.

III. Contemporary significance of Mid-autumn Festival

In modern urban lives， the main traditional festivals have an important influence on our daily life， but mainly utilized by businessmen as an opportunity for economic activity. There is undoubted that the influence of traditional festivals has been declining both urban and countryside areas， is primarily caused by the changes of life style and the booming of western festivals， and the intervention of human factors. People get used to ignoring the traditional festivals， and even forbidding and abandoning old customs and habits. As a result， some useful and meaningful spiritual elements has been abandoned， which gives rise to the hollowing and surface of traditional festivals and its social status gradually declines. Cultural consciousness is the premise of positioning traditional culture， and only by digging the cultural connotation of traditional festivals can we create a distinctive way of festival （Tang， 2012）. On the basis of the situation， it is necessary for us to develop our own cultural awareness， inherit and protect spiritual treasures of our ancestors.endprint

The traditional festivals not only endow us with abundant cultural meaning， but also it expresses Chinese emotion and faith. Although the Mid-autumn Festival is the latest in Chinese traditional festivals， it meets the lives needs and spiritual requirements of Chinese （Xiao， 2004）. In china， it is very indispensable for us to set up our own cultural systems which are important signs to establish cultural identity of Chinese. Above all， the Mid-autumn Festival is the festival of family reunion， which is beneficial to social stability and the formation of social cohesion. We are able to take advantage of the merits of Mid-autumn Festival to realize the harmony of society， relieve traffic pressure， improve lives quality and promote the progress and development of society. Therefore， with the purpose of improving the status and utilizing influence of Mid-autumn Festival， our government should take plenty of measures to rebuild the cultural customs， enrich cultural activities， and encourage family reunion. In addition， cultural changes are inevitable， it is probable for us to establish new cultural customs and activities on the basis of inheriting traditional customs， which is effective to realize the coordination between traditional festival and modern lives， and the construction of socialist culture and harmonious society.

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