Why do we eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival? ? The origin of eating mooncakes

The meaning of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is reunion, reflecting people's good wishes for family reunion. Later, people gradually regarded watching the moon and tasting mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion. The fillings of mooncakes are mostly made of plant raw materials and seeds, such as walnut kernels, almonds, sesame kernels, melon seeds, hawthorn, lotus paste, red beans, jujube paste, etc., which have certain health benefits for the human body. Do you know why we eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival? What is the origin of eating mooncakes? The following is an interpretation brought to you by Encyclopedia Knowledge Network.

Contents of this article

1. Why do we eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival?

2. The Origin of Eating Mooncakes

3. What flavors are there for mooncake fillings?

Why do we eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival?

The symbol of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is reunion, reflecting people's good wishes for family reunion. It is said that eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Yuan Dynasty. The most traditional mooncakes are round, symbolizing reunion and beauty. Mooncakes were originally used to worship the moon god. Later, people gradually regarded watching the moon and tasting mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbol of family reunion.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Moon Festival, Moonlight Festival, Moon Eve, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Worship Festival, Moon Lady Festival, Moon Festival, Reunion Festival, etc.

The customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival include worshiping the moon, appreciating the moon, dancing the fire dragon, playing with lanterns, eating moon cakes, appreciating osmanthus flowers, drinking osmanthus wine, lighting lanterns, and eating sweet potatoes.

The Mid-Autumn Festival evolved from the ancient autumn evening moon worship. The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in ancient times, became popular in the Han Dynasty, took shape in the early Tang Dynasty, and became popular after the Song Dynasty.

The Origin of Eating Mooncakes

In ancient times, people used mooncakes as offerings when they worshiped the moon god during the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, mooncakes at that time were called small cakes, palace cakes, and reunion cakes, not moon cakes.

During the Han Dynasty, the emperor sent an envoy named Zhang Qian to the Western Regions. He brought back sesame seeds and walnuts, and thus round cakes with walnut kernels as fillings came into being, called "Hu Bing".

During the Tang Dynasty, it is said that one Mid-Autumn Festival night, when the moon rose, Emperor Taizong of Tang and Concubine Yang were enjoying the moon and eating Hu Bing under the bright moonlight. While eating, Emperor Taizong suddenly said, "Why is the name of this Hu Bing so ugly?" In order to please the emperor, Concubine Yang looked at the bright moon in the sky and replied casually, "Then let's call it moon cake!"

What flavors are there in mooncake fillings?

Mooncakes are filled with sweet-scented osmanthus mooncakes, dried plum mooncakes, five-nut mooncakes, red bean paste, rose, lotus paste, rock sugar, ginkgo, meat floss, black sesame, ham mooncakes, egg yolk mooncakes, etc. Mooncakes, also known as moon cakes, small cakes, harvest cakes, reunion cakes, etc., are one of the traditional foods of the Han Chinese. Mooncakes were originally used as offerings to worship the moon god.

The fillings of mooncakes are mostly made of plant-based seeds, such as walnut kernels, almonds, sesame kernels, melon seeds, hawthorn, lotus paste, red beans, jujube paste, etc., which have certain health benefits for the human body.

Currently, mooncakes are classified according to their place of origin, ignoring their core characteristics: Beijing-style mooncakes, Shanxi-style mooncakes, Cantonese-style mooncakes, Yunnan-style mooncakes, Chaozhou-style mooncakes, Su-style mooncakes, Taiwanese-style mooncakes, Hong Kong-style mooncakes, Anhui-style mooncakes, Quzhou-style mooncakes, Qin-style mooncakes and even Japanese-style mooncakes.

Most mooncakes can be stored at room temperature and eaten right after opening. However, mooncakes like snow skin mooncakes and ice cream mooncakes need to be taken out of the refrigerator and thawed for a while before eating, so that they taste better.