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1、The Mid-Autumn FestivalThe Mid-Autu mn Festival is the Chin ese traditi onal festival, and it celebrated onththe August 15 on the lunar. It coincides with the autumn equinox and it is the middle month of autumn, so does the name come. What' snore, the moon on this day is ple nil une, in dicat in
2、g the reunion of families, so it also called The Reunion Day.Origin and historyThe earliest record of The Mid-Autumn Festival history is on The Book ofDocume nts. It described: on The Mid-Autu mn Festival, the ni ght equal to the day and the star occur in the south. In the early year of the Dang Dyn
3、 asty, the Mid-Autu mn Festival became the traditi onal festival.The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival has three stories. Firstly, people worshiped the moon. Secon dly, there was a custom which people dan ced and sang to find his soul mate on this day. Thirdly, in an cie nt time, people sacrificed t
4、he god of the earth on this day.The Mid- Autu mn Festival associated with the lege nd of Chang' e. Accordi ng tothe myth, Chang ' e was the wffHouYi. HouYi begged the immortal to give him a pill which can make people never died, but the pill was stole by Chang' e. After eathe pill, she c
5、ould not stay on the ground but flied to the moon. She wan ted to catch someth ing to let her stay, so she caught the rabbit beside her hurriedly. The rabbit lived on the moon with Chang' forever. When HouYi found Chang' emissed, he raised his head to call on the Chang' e aggrievedly, su
6、dde nly he found some one wholiked Chang ' e on the moon. In order to express his miss to Chang' e, he put his wifefavorite moon cakes and fruit on the table. Whe n people knew the story of Chang'they also put the moon cake on the table to pray Chang' e for blessing them. Hencepray i
7、ng for the moon became popular.Different ConsuetudeSacrifici ng the moon is the oldest con suetude. The sacrifice places in clude day altar, earth altar, moon altar, sky altar; they are located in the differe nt directi ons: east,west, south, and no rth. This day was also con sidered as a harvest fe
8、stival since fruits, vegetablesa nd grain had bee n harvested by this time and food was abundant. Food offeri ngs were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegra nates, melons, oran ges and pomelos might be see n.Appreciating the moon is the entertainment for
9、 public. On the Mid-Autumn Festival day, bookme n ofte n write the poems about the moon. In Song Dyn asty, the Mid-Autu mn Festival was a day without sleep, and people played and appreciated the moon.Hanging the lantern on the high place and enjoying the beauty is another con suetude. Childre n can
10、hold the little colorful la ntern made by their pare nts to play with the compa nies or tried to make lanterns by themselves.Havi ng a big dinner with family is the most com mon way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. The dishes are ample and delicious. After the dinner, people will accord the nu
11、mber of the family to divide the moon cake into several parts, and every one eat one part. This activity is called eat ing the reunion moon cake. Moon cake is the n ecessary of the Mid-Autu mn Festival, and it also the gift to give to the people we are solicitous about. The moon cake is roundish, so
12、 it is endowed the meaning of reunion. These cakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, alm on ds, min ced meats, bea n paste, orange peels and lard. A golde n yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the cen ter of each cake, and the golde n brow n crust was decorated with symbols of the festi
13、val. Traditionally, thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirtee n moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one in tercalary moon. For gen eratio ns, moon cakes have bee n made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese
14、dates, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasti ng dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudd ing and fruit cakes which are served in the En glish holiday seas on s.Nowadays, there are hun dreds varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of Moon Festival.Whenever and wherever they are, people always try their best to reunite. Although they can not meet family, they also philosophize and miss the familymember while gaz ing at the ni ght sky and see ing the moon.