Mooncakes symbolize reunion and are a must-have food during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is said to have been passed down from the late Yuan Dynasty.

It is said that during the Yuan Dynasty, the people of the Central Plains were unwilling to accept the cruel rule of the Mongols and revolted against the Yuan Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to unite the resistance forces, but the officers and soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty conducted a rigorous search and had no way to convey the news.

So Liu Bowen came up with a plan and ordered Wang Zhaoguang to make pancakes and hide a note with "Uprising on August 15th Night" inside the pancakes.

Then people were sent separately to the insurrectionary armies in various places, informing them to respond to the uprising on the night of August 15th.

As a result, the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown in one fell swoop. In order to commemorate this achievement, the custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival was passed down.

Especially in the Northeast region, there is a saying that "Kill Dazi on August 15th".

No matter what generation the mooncake originated from, the roundness of the moon signifies people's reunion, and the roundness of the mooncake signifies people's eternal life. Mooncakes are used to convey the feeling of missing one's hometown and relatives, and to pray for a good harvest and happiness, which have become the wishes of people all over the world.

Some people think that eating mooncakes and giving mooncakes have been related to the Mid-Autumn Festival since ancient times.

Actually, this is not the case.

In the early Tang Dynasty, it turned out that only the first day of the eighth lunar month was a festival, but not the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month.

According to legend, later Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty visited the Moon Palace on the night of August 15th, so the people regarded August 15th as the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In the mid-Tang Dynasty, people began to go up to the tower to watch the moon on the night of August 15th, but there were no mooncakes at that time.

Speaking of moon cakes, the earliest appearance was in the Southern Song Dynasty.

However, the mooncakes at that time had nothing to do with the Mid-Autumn Festival. The mooncakes at that time were also very different from modern mooncakes. They only appeared in the food market as steamed food.

Mooncakes were really associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, a kind of mooncake filled with fruit appeared in Beijing. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people made mooncakes for themselves and as gifts to friends and relatives to express reunion and congratulations.

At that time, the size and shape of mooncakes were very irregular and varied greatly, and their names were also quite special.

For example, in Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, local people have the custom of sitting around with their families and sharing reunion moon cakes.

The mooncakes it makes are many and interesting, such as crescent mooncakes specially for men, gourd mooncakes only for women, and mooncakes such as "Sun Wukong" and "Rabbit Master" specially prepared for teenagers, etc.

There are many names, just to name a few.

The production technology of mooncakes has reached a very high level in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, some mooncakes had decorative patterns such as "Toad Rabbit in the Moon" on the surface.

Its exquisite design, wonderful composition and exquisite patterns make people enjoy artistic enjoyment. It not only fully reflects the ingenuity of the mooncake makers, but also reflects the splendid culture of our great Chinese nation.

The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is a day when people reunite with their families or miss their distant relatives and friends. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, in addition to admiring the moon and eating Mid-Autumn moon cakes, Xiamen people also have a kind of "play" that has been passed down since Zheng Chenggong expelled the Dutch and regained Taiwan.

The folk activity of "making cakes and winning number one prize" is quite interesting.

There are 63 pieces of cakes in each Mid-Autumn Festival, with different sizes. They are divided into 6 types, representing the number one scholar, second place, third flower, Jinshi, successful person and scholar in ancient imperial examinations.

Each person takes turns throwing 6 dice into the bowl, and receives the cake according to the number of the dice thrown into the bowl. It is considered lucky to win the "top prize" in the end.

For more than 300 years, this fun-filled activity has been popular among Xiamen people. Xiamen’s bakeries and cake factories will mass-produce this kind of cakes for sale before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It is a unique custom of Xiamen people to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival when everyone gets together to play cake betting.

It is said that more than 300 years ago, when Zheng Chenggong occupied Xiamen to fight against the Qing Dynasty, Zheng's general Hong Xu, in order to relieve the soldiers' worries, encourage morale, and help expel the Dutch colonists and regain Taiwan, he stationed at the rear of No. 33-44 Jinhong Headquarters.

After much deliberation, the members of the Yamen cleverly designed the Mid-Autumn Festival cakes so that all the soldiers could fight happily on the cool Mid-Autumn night.

Opera cakes are calculated in "meetings", and generally one "meeting" is suitable for four or five people.

"Hui" cakes imitate the imperial examination system, with one number one scholar (the largest one), two duitang (second place) cakes, four three red (three-flower) cakes, eight four-jin (jinshi) cakes, and two (juren) cakes

16 pieces, 32 pieces of Yixiu (Xiucai) cake.

This is a symbol of the ancient four-level imperial examination.

In ancient times, children who passed the prefectural examination were called Xiucai; those who passed the provincial examination (provincial level) were called Juren; those who passed the imperial examination in the capital were called Gongsheng; those who passed the imperial examination presided over by the emperor were called Jinshi, among which were divided into the top three.

: First and third place, that is, number one, second place, third overall, commonly known as Sanding A or third place; there are more places in the second place, and there are more places in the top three.

In selecting the number one scholar in ancient times, emperors not only looked at talent and appearance, but also considered the surname and first name. For example, in the Jiachen Palace Examination in the 22nd year of Yongle (1424), the number one scholar was Sun Gong. Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty felt that Gong combined

At the same time, the word "violent" was unlucky, so he was demoted to third place, and Xing Kuanyi, who was third place, was changed to the top pick.

This shows that the number one scholar is not necessarily a person who is "talented and good-looking", but the third person is one who has real talent and learning, so the quality of the "three reds" in Xiamen Huibing is particularly good, and this is the implication.

A set of cakes costs 63 yuan, which is based on the "Three More and Nine Rus". Three and nine are the auspicious numbers among Chinese people.

Originating from Xiamen, "cake gambling" has been popular in Taiwan for more than 300 years since Zheng Chenggong regained Taiwan.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on August 15th, also known as the August Festival in Jiangnan. The origin and prosperity of the August Festival are related to Nanjing.