1, Fruit Festival-Mid-Autumn Festival is a fruit autumn, and some old Beijingers call it "Fruit Festival" directly.
"Kyoto Customs" reads: "Three or five days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the thoroughfare market was covered with reed sheds with tall boxes and baskets on them.
Fresh fruits, melons and vegetables, such as peaches, durians, pears, dates, grapes, apples, etc. At night, under the light, the fragrance is red and green, and the fruit seller sells candy loudly, all the way. "Especially the fruit market outside the front door and in Deshengmen, the night market before the festival, stayed up all night. The fruit merchant's shouts came one after another: "What's the date today? Thirteen, Si Er! My fruit smells good, you don't buy it! Hey, 240! "
Apart from being tasted, these fruits are mainly used for gifts and offerings. So fruit and packaging are very particular. Some fruit farmers will stick patterns such as "Fu", "Shou" and "Buddha" cut out of paper on the fruit before it is ripe to protect the fruit from the sun. After the fruit is ripe, the paper-cut is removed, leaving a yellow-green pattern on the red apple, which is exquisite and attractive. But the price is very high. Everything used to feed relatives and friends is packed in special baskets, and Artemisia annua is also padded to increase the fragrance of fruits. Fruit baskets and red and green tickets add to the festive atmosphere.
2. Before the Moon Cake Festival, major pastry shops should sell Mid-Autumn Moon Cakes at the same time, mainly "natural invitation to red" and "natural invitation". "Purple Lai Hong" is baked in a dark color, with blue and white sugar, rock sugar and nuts as fillings. Draw a black and red circle on the skin, and make a few holes in the circle with a needle. "Zilai" is a moon cake with assorted stuffing baked with refined white flour, including jujube paste, sand, peas, mountain plants and sugar, and the skin is pure white. There is a small red seal number, indicating the type of filling. Other moon cakes, such as fluffy moon cakes, fluffy moon cakes, Guangdong moon cakes, etc., are sold. Gifts are all wrapped in pu. In addition, there are extra large moon cakes, about a city foot in diameter. Most of them are about gold, which is engraved with the pattern of the ghost temple moon and the jade rabbit playing with medicine, which is specially designed for the moon. "Yanjing Year" said: "People who give Mid-Autumn moon cakes to Meizhai, Kyoto comes first, and there is not enough food elsewhere." In the late Qing Dynasty, Li Jingshan reflected the situation at that time in his collection of poems, Budumen Zayong. "Red and white hair becomes fine, and gifts are given everywhere in the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that the whole set of gold is low in price and the stuffing is smaller than the skin. "
3, rabbit stall-the most embellished holiday scene is the rabbit stall. The Chronicle of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty reads: "The city is rich in loess, a famous male prostitute, wearing a flowered robe and two or three feet tall." Male prostitutes generally have rabbit faces, long ears (called horns), helmets and plain flags. It's hard to ride a tiger like a general. Big steel head should insert a hidden treasure umbrella. There are also "short shirts carrying things, like vendors; Others drink and dance, like Yan musicians. " It's just a little white rabbit making drugs. This is a clay toy for children's holiday entertainment. As Yao Yuan said in his Du Men Zayong in Qing Dynasty, "Children should strive for worship first, but they can worry about buying male prostitutes." Around August 15, children imitate adults to play with rabbits: "posing Buddha". This is a unique custom in old Beijing.
After April and August 10, the "Moon Palace Code", also called "Rabbit Code", was put in front of Nanzhi Store. It is a kind of "magic paper" printed with woodcut watercolor. Roughly: yellow. In front of Guanghan Palace stands a silver statue of the Moon Star and a golden jade rabbit. Red, printed with pictures about the holy emperor, the god of wealth and the golden jade rabbit standing in front of the Guanghan Palace, are mostly presented by businessmen. There are also white ones with different gods on them, but the moon palace jade rabbit pattern is indispensable. Because of the large width, in order to support the whole code, we tied the frame with straw, pasted this "magic paper" on it, formed a vertical plaque, and erected three colored paper flags on it.
/kloc-On the evening of 0/5, families get together. After the moon rises, a Yue Bai ceremony will be held in the courtyard, with similar forms. Some look up to the sky (the moon) and offer sacrifices; Some will put the big moon cakes engraved with the moon pattern on the GUI Dian on the wooden frame as gods; It is useful to use the above moon palace code as a god. However, they are all made of small low tables (small dining tables) with Mid-Autumn moon cakes (only "naturally inviting red" instead of "naturally inviting white", and cakes filled with brown sugar are temporarily steamed (so-called reunion cakes). Except for all kinds of pears (because pears are homophonic with "Li"), other fruits can be served. Watermelon with petals carved like Chu flowers is essential, because it means reunion. In addition, insert red cockscomb and edamame with branches. Candles and money. As the saying goes, "men are not for the moon, women are not for the stove." In fact, there is no absolute limit to the number of people who can worship their ancestors. The whole family can worship, but women first and men later. Children, in particular, regard Yue Bai as their playmate.
If the moon palace code is used, it will be incinerated in the yard after the confession is retracted. If the straw is not completely burned, most people who hold the theory of "old mother" will be pressed under the kang mat and leave the children who wet the kang behind.
After withdrawing the confession, "the house is full of salt, melons, fruits, wine and vegetables, and we gather in the yard to drink, which is called' reunion wine'." At the same time, the whole family eats big moon cakes and reunion cakes. However, each family has different habits, and some put the big moon cakes as reunion cakes in a dry and cool place for the whole family to share on New Year's Eve. Only servants are not included.
In Pucheng, Fujian, in order to live longer, women have to cross Nanpu Bridge during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In Jianning, hanging lanterns on Mid-Autumn Festival night is a good omen to ask the Moon Palace for children. People in Shanghang County celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and most of their children are invited to visit their parents when they are in Yue Bai. When Longyan people eat moon cakes, their parents will dig out round cakes with a diameter of two or three inches in the middle for their elders to eat, which means that they can't tell the secret to the younger generation. This custom stems from the legend that moon cakes contain the message of anti-meta-killing. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival in Kinmen, Yue Bai should worship God.
Guangdong-Chaoshan has the custom of Yue Bai in the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is mainly for women and children. There is a saying that "men are not satisfied with the moon, and women don't sacrifice stoves". At night, when the bright moon rises, women set up a box in the yard and balcony to pray. Silver candles burned high, cigarettes filled the air, and the table was filled with good fruits and cakes as sacrifices. There is also the custom of eating taro in the Mid-Autumn Festival. There is a saying in Chaoshan: "River to mouth, taro to eat." August is the harvest season of taro, and farmers are used to using taro to worship their ancestors. Of course, this has something to do with farming, but there is also a popular folk legend: 1279, Mongolian nobles destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, established the Yuan Dynasty, and brutally ruled the Han people. Mafa defended Chaozhou against the Yuan Dynasty. After the city was broken, the people were slaughtered. In order not to forget the suffering of Hu people's rule, later generations used taro as a homonym with "Hu tou", which looked like a human head, in order to pay homage to their ancestors and pass it on from generation to generation, and it still exists today.
Mid-Autumn Festival in Guangzhou-Guangzhou has an interesting traditional custom called "Mid-Autumn Festival on the tree". Every Mid-Autumn Festival, every household should tie lanterns with bamboo sticks. Lanterns have various beginnings, including fruit lanterns, birds, animals, fish and insects, and can also be made into Chinese lanterns. At night, candles are lit in the lights, and many small lights are connected below, tied to bamboo poles with ropes. Then insert bamboo poles at the height of the house, such as platforms, roofs or big trees. At night, the lights in the city are like stars, competing with the bright moon in the sky to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also called "Vertical Mid-Autumn Festival".
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the folk customs in Jiangnan are also varied. Nanjing people love to eat moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival, so they must eat osmanthus duck, a famous Jinling dish. "Sweet-scented osmanthus duck" should be listed in Gui Xiang. It is fat but not greasy and delicious. After drinking, you must eat a small piece of sugar taro and pour cinnamon pulp on it. Beauty speaks for itself. "Guijiang" was named after Qu Yuan's "Helping the North to close its doors and drink Guijiang" in Chu Ci Shao Si Ming. Cinnamon pulp is a kind of sweet-scented osmanthus, which is picked around the Mid-Autumn Festival and pickled with sugar and sour plum. Jiangnan women are good at turning poems and songs into delicacies on the table. People in Nanjing enjoy the moon with their families, which is called "celebrating reunion", the group sitting and drinking is called "full moon", and the market trip is called "walking on the moon".
Nanjing-In the early Ming Dynasty, Nanjing had the Moon Tower and the Moon Bridge. In the Qing Dynasty, the Moon Tower built under Lion Mountain was for people to enjoy the moon, and most people played the Moon Bridge. When the bright moon is high, people go to the Moon Tower to play the Moon Bridge, so as to enjoy watching the Jade Rabbit. "Xiyue Bridge" is located in the Confucius Temple on Qinhuai River, next to the mansion of Ma Xianglan, a famous prostitute. On this night, the literati gathered on the bridge to play the flute, sing songs and reminisce about Niuzhu playing with the moon and writing poems for the moon, so it was called playing with the moon bridge. After the death of the Ming Dynasty, it gradually declined. Later generations have a poem saying: "The romantic Southern Song Dynasty has been exhausted, leaving the west wind to be a long Banqiao, but remember to take the Yuren Bridge and teach the flute under the moon." Longbanqiao, the original Moon Bridge. In recent years, the Confucius Temple in Nanjing has been renovated, some pavilions and pavilions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties have been restored, and the rivers have been dredged. Until the Mid-Autumn Festival, you can enjoy playing with the moon together.
Wuxi County, Jiangsu Province, will burn incense on Mid-Autumn Festival night. There are silks around the incense barrel, which depicts the scenery in the Moon Palace. There are incense sticks made of thread Kaori with paper kuixing and colorful flags on them. Shanghainese Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet with Sweet-scented osmanthus honey wine.
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival in Ji 'an County, Jiangxi Province, every village burns crocks with straw. When the crock is red, put the vinegar in it. At this time, the whole village will smell a fragrance. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in Xincheng County, grass lanterns are hung from the evening of August 1 1 to August 17.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival in Wuyuan County, Anhui Province, children built a hollow pagoda with bricks. Curtains, plaques and other decorations are hung on the tower, and a table is placed in front of the tower, displaying various utensils to worship the "tower god". At night, lights and candles are lit inside and out. Children in Jixi Mid-Autumn Festival play Mid-Autumn firecrackers. Mid-Autumn Festival firecrackers are braided with straw, picked up and smashed stones after soaking, making a loud noise, which is a custom in Youlong. A fire dragon is a dragon made of grass with incense in it. When you visit the dragon, there are gongs and drums teams. They tour the village before being sent to the river.
Sichuan Province-During the Mid-Autumn Festival, in addition to eating moon cakes, we also have to kill ducks, eat sesame cakes and honey cakes. In some places, orange lanterns are also lit and hung at the door to celebrate. There are also children who burn incense on grapefruit and dance along the street, which is called "dancing meteor ball" Jiading County's Mid-Autumn Festival is called "Guanyin Club" for offering sacrifices to land gods and performing zaju, vocal music and cultural relics.
On August 15, farmers in Qingyun County, Shandong Province offered sacrifices to the god of land valley, which was called "Young Miao Society". Zhucheng, Linyi, Jimo and other places have to pay homage to their ancestors in addition to the moon. Landlords in guanxian, Laiyang, Guangrao and Postal City also entertain their tenants in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Jimo Mid-Autumn Festival eats a kind of holiday food called "Wheat Arrow".
Shanxi Province-Lu 'an Mid-Autumn Festival fetes son-in-law. Datong county calls moon cakes reunion cakes, and it is a custom to keep vigil on Mid-Autumn Festival night.
Wanquan County, Hebei Province calls Mid-Autumn Festival "Little New Year's Day", and there are pictures of Taiyin Xing Jun and Guandi reading Spring and Autumn at night on moonlight paper. Hejian county people think that the rain in Mid-Autumn Festival is bitter rain. If it rains in the Mid-Autumn Festival, the local people think that vegetables must be terrible.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival night in Xixiang County, Shaanxi Province, men row boats on the cliff and women arrange banquets. No matter rich or poor, people should eat watermelons. On Mid-Autumn Festival, drummers blow drums along the door to ask for money. In Luochuan county, parents lead students to bring gifts to their husbands, and there are more lunches than school dinners.
Burning towers on the night of Mid-Autumn Festival is also very popular in some places. The height of the tower varies from 1-3 meters, mostly made of broken tiles. The tower is also made of bricks, accounting for about 1/4 of the tower height, and then stacked with tiles, leaving a tower mouth at the top for fuel transportation. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, it will be lit and burned. The fuel is wood, bamboo, chaff, etc. When the fire is booming, rosin powder will be poured to cheer, which is very spectacular. There are also folk rules for burning stupas. Whoever burns the stupa to the whole house wins, and those who fail or collapse in the burning process lose. The winner will be presented with colorful flags, bonuses or prizes by the host. It is said that burning towers is also the origin of Han people's resistance to cruel rulers and Mid-Autumn Uprising at the end of Yuan Dynasty.
Divination is an interesting activity in the Mid-Autumn Festival evening. After incantations and rituals, descending gods can appear, including the table god, the moon goddess, the Eight Immortals and the Basket God (who is a goddess).
Taiwan Province Province-"Listening to incense" is an ancient Mid-Autumn Festival custom in Taiwan Province Province. Women burn incense and pray in front of the gods worshipped at home to show their thoughts (such as feelings and wealth). ). After asking the direction they should go after going out, burn incense and go out. All the conversations and songs they hear on the road can be used to predict what they ask, and then ask God if the answer is true with a cup. Unmarried girls also have the custom of stealing vegetables or onions from other people's gardens on Mid-Autumn Festival night. If they succeed, it means that she will get beautiful love.