Whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, admiring the moon and talking about it have become a long-lasting topic among people.
Tracing back to the origin of moon appreciation in the Mid-Autumn Festival, according to the "Preface to the Poetry of Wan Yue in Chang'an": "Autumn is about time, summer comes before winter; August comes after autumn, and the season begins and ends; on the night of the 15th, the moon comes again among. According to the way of heaven, the cold and heat will be equal, and according to the number of months, the soul of the toad will be round. "That is to say, August 15th is in the middle of August in autumn, so it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival". Why do people love admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival? There is a poem that says: "There is a bright moon at four o'clock, so what is the reason for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival? It is advisable to hang the jade mirror on the highest head of the jade world; it emits a thousand feet of white hao, scattering the color of Taixu." All things come into my eyes, the stars avoid the light, the wind and dew help the tranquility. ”
From a seasonal perspective, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the "Autumn Harvest Festival". The grains sown in spring and summer should be harvested in autumn. Since ancient times, people have drank, danced and celebrated the harvest joyfully in this season. This is described in the "Book of Songs", the earliest collection of poems in my country. In terms of origin, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also the "Moon Sacrifice Festival", which originated from ancient humans' worship of nature. In the ritual system of ancient emperors, there were two sacrifices in spring and autumn: the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. The first day to worship the moon was on the "Autumnal Equinox". The season of "Autumnal Equinox" is different every year in August, so there may not necessarily be a moon on the day of the Autumn Equinox. It would be a great disgrace to worship the moon without the moon. Gradually, it became a common practice to worship the moon. The day of the month is fixed on August 15th. From scientific observations, the tilt of the earth and the sun increases in autumn, and the warm and humid air over China gradually subsides. At this time, the northwest wind is still very weak. In this way, when the humidity has gone and the dust has not risen, the air looks particularly fresh, the sky is particularly clean, and the moon looks round and big. This is the best time to enjoy the moon. Just as the ancient poem says: "The brilliance is bright and clear. In ancient and modern times, only admiring the Mid-Autumn Moon and wondering how it is that the moon is different, it is the clear air in the world and heaven." ”
