The meaning of guessing lantern riddles during the Mid-Autumn Festival

The annual Mid-Autumn Festival is coming, and children in foreign lands have to go home to visit relatives. The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, Autumn Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, August Festival, etc., is a traditional cultural festival for many ethnic groups in my country and a day for family reunion. In addition to eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, people also enjoy flower lantern viewing, guessing lantern riddles, appreciating scratched flowers, and drinking osmanthus wine.

About the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival lantern riddles and the significance of the Mid-Autumn Festival

The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival lantern riddles has a long history in our country, with a history of more than 3,000 years. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, "argot" appeared, which was the prototype of lantern riddles. By the Han Dynasty, "lingo" began to divide into two directions. One type is a mystery about things that mainly describes the characteristics; the other type is a mystery about the meaning of words that is based on the form and meaning of the words. In the Wei Dynasty, it was called "riddle". With the prosperity of poetry during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, poetic riddles appeared in large numbers and became mainstream. Starting from the Song Dynasty, some scholars often posted riddles on various lanterns on the night of the Lantern Festival to attract passers-by to guess. This is how "lantern riddles" came about. After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, mysteries became popular and many mysterists emerged. After the Revolution of 1911, lantern riddles formed two styles: the Southern and Northern sects. In the old society, because most of the riddle makers were scholar-bureaucrats, some literati thought they were noble, one-sidedly emphasized elegance, and rejected folk lantern riddles. After liberation, under the guidance of the party's literary and artistic policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom", lantern riddle activities developed even more vigorously, and the riddles with riddle materials became increasingly perfect and abundant, making great contributions to building socialist spiritual civilization and activating the cultural life of the masses. Currently, overseas Chinese all over the world have lantern riddle activities and academic exchanges on lantern riddles.

The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival

There are many opinions on the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The word Mid-Autumn was first seen in "Book of Rites of Zhou". "Book of Rites·Yue Ling" says: "The Mid-Autumn Festival The moon nourishes the elderly, and the Mid-Autumn Festival porridge is eaten. ”

1. It originated from the sacrificial activities of ancient emperors. The "Book of Rites" records: "The emperor faces the sun in spring and the moon in autumn." The eclipse moon is a sacrifice to the moon, which shows that as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, emperors had begun to worship and worship the moon. Later, noble officials and literati also followed suit, and gradually spread to the people.

2. The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is related to agricultural production. Autumn is the harvest season. The meaning of the word "Autumn" is: "Autumn is when the crops are mature." During the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, crops and various fruits mature one after another. In order to celebrate the harvest and express their joy, farmers use the "Mid-Autumn Festival" as a festival. "Mid-Autumn Festival" means the middle of autumn. The eighth month of the lunar calendar is the middle month of autumn, and the 15th is the middle day of this month. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival may be a custom inherited from the ancients' "Autumn Announcement".

Some historians have also pointed out that the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival should be the 15th day of August in the 13th year of Daye of the Tang Army in the late Sui Dynasty. As military pay, it successfully solved the military food problem caused by absorbing a large number of anti-Sui rebels.

The development of the Mid-Autumn Festival

As for the custom of admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, historians infer that it first arose among the ancient court literati and then spread to the people. As early as the Wei and Jin Dynasty Yuefu "Forty Songs of Midnight", there is a song "Autumn with Moon" that describes: "Look up at the bright moon and express your feelings for the thousands of miles of light." In the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular, and many The poets' famous poems all have verses praising the moon, and the Mid-Autumn Festival began to become a fixed festival. "Book of Tang·Taizong Ji" records the "Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th". Legend has it that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty dreamed of traveling to the Moon Palace and received the song of colorful clothes and feathers, and the custom of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival became popular among the people.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, August 15th was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the seasonal food "small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispy and sweet fillings" appeared. Meng Yuanlao's "Tokyo Menghua Lu" said: "On the Mid-Autumn Festival night, noble families decorated their pavilions, and people competed for restaurants to play in the moonlight." Moreover, "the sound of strings and cauldrons was boiling, and residents nearby heard the sound of sheng and taro in the middle of the night, just like clouds." Outside, children play all night, and the night market is full of people. "Wu Zimu's "Meng Liang Lu" said: "At this time, the golden phoenix is ??refreshing, the jade dew is refreshing, the osmanthus is fragrant, and the silver toad is shining. Rich people with huge houses all climb up to the dangerous towers, play under the moon in the pavilion, or open the pavilion, prepare banquets, play pianos and harps, drink wine and sing, so as to predict the joy of the evening. , arrange a family banquet, gather around the children, and celebrate the festival. Although the poor people in the back alleys drink in the farmers' market, they barely welcome it, and they don't want to waste it.

That night, people were selling and buying in the street, until the five drums were played, people were playing with the moon, and the mother-in-law was in the market, and the fire was endless. "What's even more interesting is that "New Drunkard's Talk" records the custom of worshiping the moon: "The children of the Qingcheng family do not think that they are rich or poor and can go to the twelve or three by themselves. , each has his own dynasty; men are willing to go to the Toad Palace early and climb up to the fairy laurel. ...Women wish to look like Chang'e and be as round as the bright moon. ”

The moon-appreciating activities in the Ming and Qing dynasties remained popular. “The fruit cakes offered as sacrifices must be round”; each family must set up a “moonlight position” and “offer offerings to the moon” in the direction of moonrise. ". Lu Qihong's "Beijing Suihua Ji" records: "On the Mid-Autumn Festival night, people set up symbols of the Moon Palace, and the symbols on the symbols stood like people; they put melons and fruits in the courtyard, and the moon palace toads were painted on the cakes; men and women worshiped and burned incense. Of. "Tian Rucheng's "West Lake Tour Notes" says: "It's evening, people have a moon-viewing banquet, or they take a boat on the cypress lake and cruise along the lake until dawn. On the Su Causeway, people join hands to sing songs, just like the daytime"; "People invite each other with moon cakes to take the meaning of reunion." Fucha Dunchong's "Yanjing Years' Notes" said: "The Mid-Autumn moon cakes are those who come to Meizhai from the front door. Kyoto is number one, but there is not enough food elsewhere. Moon cakes are available everywhere. The larger one is more than a foot long, with the shape of a wax rabbit in the moon palace painted on it. "Every Mid-Autumn Festival, all the wealthy families in the mansion present moon cakes and fruits as gifts." When the 15th lunar month is full, melons and fruits are placed in the courtyard to worship the moon, and edamame and cockscomb flowers are offered as offerings. This is the time when the sky is bright, the colorful clouds are beginning to disperse, cups are being passed around and cups are being washed, and children are noisy. It is truly a festival. Only when the moon is offered, many men do not bow down. "At the same time, in the past five hundred years, "burning incense", "walking on the moon", "releasing sky lanterns", "trees for Mid-Autumn Festival", "lighting tower lanterns", "dancing fire dragon", "trailing stones", "selling Festival activities such as "Lord Rabbit"; among them, customs such as admiring the moon, eating moon cakes, and having reunion dinners have been passed down to this day.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival in China. According to historical records, the term "Mid-Autumn Festival" was the earliest Appeared in the book "Zhou Li". In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a record of "the emperor ordered the minister to suppress the cattle confusion, and the people were in uniform on the Mid-Autumn Festival." It was not until the early Tang Dynasty that the Mid-Autumn Festival became a fixed festival. "Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th" was recorded. The popularity of the Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Song Dynasty. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become as famous as New Year's Day and became one of the major festivals in China. It is also the second largest festival in my country after the Spring Festival. Traditional festival.

About the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival lantern riddles

Lantern riddles are an art form of Chinese folk literature; they are the wisdom and crystallization of people’s long-term labor practice. Life is used in life; it is also an intellectual activity game that people love to see. It attracts enthusiasts from all walks of life and allows people to gain wonderful enjoyment while increasing their knowledge and enlightening their wisdom.

About the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival lantern riddles and the significance of the Mid-Autumn Festival

The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival lantern riddles has a long history in our country, with a history of more than 3,000 years. "Arguments" appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. This is a lantern riddle. In the Han Dynasty, "argot" began to divide into two directions: one type was mainly about describing the characteristics of things; the other type was mainly about the meaning of words, which was called "riddles" in the Wei Dynasty. With the prosperity of poetry in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, poetic riddles appeared in large numbers and became mainstream. Starting from the Song Dynasty, some scholars often posted riddles on various lanterns on the night of the Lantern Festival to attract passers-by to guess "lantern riddles." That's how it came about. After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the mystery style became popular, and many mystery masters emerged. After the Revolution of 1911, lantern puzzles formed two styles: the southern sect and the northern sect. In the old society, because most of the mystery masters were literati, some were literati. Pretending to be noble, one-sidedly emphasizing elegance and rejecting folk lantern riddles.

Liberation

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