The Mid-Autumn Festival is a relic of the custom of worshipping the moon, which is an ancient astronomical phenomenon. As one of the important ceremonies of Mid-Autumn Festival, it has continued from ancient times and gradually evolved into a folk activity to appreciate and praise the moon. At the same time, it has become the main form of modern people's longing for reunion and their desire for a better life.
After the Zhou Dynasty, the casual worship of the sun and the moon evolved into a fixed time and place and a programmed ritual system, which became a symbol of imperial power. "On Mandarin and Zhou Yu" records: "In ancient times, the first king won the world and respected God, so he taught Wen Jun day and night."
After the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the ancient culture of China entered a new period of development. Especially after the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the prosperity of national strength and economy laid a solid economic foundation for holiday amusement. The Mid-Autumn Festival, which was formed in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, developed Yue Bai activities monopolized by the royal family into a romantic festival for every family to enjoy the moon, and customs such as gathering, feasting, Yue Bai and writing poems also rose.
In the Song Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival became more solemn and lively, and boys and girls prayed for the moon and made wishes together, which became a popular fashion in Beijing at that time. According to Jin Yingzhi's "New Works of Drunken Weng Lu" in the Song Dynasty, the moon viewing in Beijing was different from other places at that time. In Yue Bai, children aged 12 or 13 put on adult clothes and burn incense upstairs or in the yard. Boys pray "Go to themoon early, climb the laurel", while girls stand silently wishing that the moon is "as round as Chang 'e and as bright as the moon".
Since Ming and Qing Dynasties, family reunion and Yue Bai's blessing have become the most important themes of Mid-Autumn Festival. The book Scenery of the Imperial Capital, which records the customs of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty, has a detailed record of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Outside Beijing, customs such as Mid-Autumn Festival Yue Bai, family reunion and eating moon cakes are very popular all over the country, and Song ci poems that cherish the Mid-Autumn Festival and realize life are excellent works one after another. One of the most famous is Su Shi's "Shuidiao Tou" written on the moon in the Mid-Autumn Festival: "When will there be a bright moon?" I take my glass from a distance. I don't know what year it is tonight. "