[Photo via tuchong.com]

Ceremony Held by the Nobility

Holding a ceremony to offer sacrifices to the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival is an ancient Chinese custom. According to historical records, as early as the Zhou dynasty, emperors started to worship the sun on the vernal equinox, the earth on the summer solstice, the moon on the autumn equinox, and heaven on the winter solstice. The places where the ceremonies were held were called the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Earth, the Temple of the Moon and the Temple of Heaven. They were built in the east, south, west and north of the city respectively. The Temple of the Moon in Beijing was where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties worshipped the moon. It not only was a custom of the royal family and the aristocracy but gradually affected commoners as the society developed. As time went by, more commoners started to enjoy the moonlit night instead of worshiping the moon. The once serious ceremony became a joyful celebration. Nowadays, the moon-worshiping ceremony has been replaced by all sorts of grand celebrations, during which people enjoy the full moon and have fun.

Family Moon-Worshiping Activities

Every native Beijing family will set an altar for the moon at home. Offerings include fruits such as watermelons, mooncakes, the stems of the edamame, cockscomb, radishes, lotus roots, etc. Among them, mooncakes are the most important ones, and fruits are also needed. However, when offering sacrifices, men usually do not kowtow to the moon. As the saying goes, "Males do not kowtow to the moon, while females do not kowtow to the Kitchen God."

There are rules for placing the fruits. People in the past believed having many sons and grandsons meant longevity and happiness, so peaches (representing longevity) must be placed with pomegranates (representing descendants). Chestnuts and persimmons must stay together to make the business prosper. A handful of longans are needed to represent the precious family reunion. If young people of the family cannot come back home, lotus roots will be offered, meaning "though we are apart, we are still connected." Families usually sits around the table in the moonlight, drinking alcohol and enjoying the full moon. That's why the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the "Reunion Festival."

Worshiping the Rabbit God's Portrait

The Rabbit God's portrait is a product of the ancient city, Beijing. The figurine of the long-eared Rabbit God is a famous traditional toy in Beijing. It has a rabbit's head and a human's body. It wears armor and carries pennons on its back. Its face is covered in golden mud, and its body is painted. It sits or stands; it holds a pestle or rides a beast. However, it's not strictly true that it has a rabbit's face. Except for the rabbit's mouth with three lips, everything on its face looks more like that of humans. The Rabbit God is one of the symbols of old Beijing customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the past, Beijingers could find stalls selling its figurines at places like the Dong'an Market, Wupailou (the Five Gateways) near the Zhengyangmen Gate, the Dongsi Subdistrict and Xidan two weeks before the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the stalls, there were ascending shelves that looked like stairs, on which the figurines of the Rabbit God in different sizes were placed. People called them the "Hill of the Rabbit Gods." Those figurines added some brilliant colors and joy to the magnificent "Reunion Festival."

Admiring the Moon

Admiring the full moon is prevalent in Beijing. After offering sacrifices to the moon and finishing the reunion dinner, people of means will go to places such as Beihai Park and Taoran'ting Park to admire the moon. Those who can't go to such places will place a huge water vat in the courtyard and admire the moon's reflection in the water. Wang Zuoji, an expert in folklore studies, recalled, "There were two ways to admire the moon. The first one was called 'wenwan' (playing games related to literature and arts). People would compose poems, draw pictures and solve lantern riddles in the moonlight. The second one was called 'wuwan' (playing games involving sports). People would admire the reflection of the moon by the lake or the reflection in the water vat in the middle of the Chinese courtyard house that they were living in. But that wouldn't satisfy them. They would pick up pebbles, throw them into the water and watch the waves they created. Children in Beijing also liked to chase the moon in hutongs (alleys). They called that "moon-chasing."

Admiring Flowers

Flower-admiring culture during the Mid-Autumn Festival is quite special. Every family likes to lay their flowers in a heap on the windowsill and make it a "mountain" of flowers. There are still flower markets in Chongwen District and Xuanwu District today. All kinds of flowers create a joyous atmosphere. Apart from that, the lantern market in Beijing is also a lively place. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the three grand festivals of lanterns in China. People play with lanterns on this day. Of course, there won't be grand lantern fairs like those during the Lantern Festival. Lanterns for the Mid-Autumn Festival are mainly played on a limited scale by family members or children.

Eating Mooncakes

Eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is an age-old custom. Beijingers in the past mainly ate three kinds of mooncakes: red mooncakes, white mooncakes, and pulp mooncakes (known as reunion cake). Fanmao mooncakes, Laipi mooncakes and Cantonese-style mooncakes are relatively new. Native Beijingers also liked to make mooncakes themselves.

Mooncakes that were offered to the moon as sacrifices must be red mooncakes, not white mooncakes. But both kinds of traditional mooncakes could be eaten as snacks. "In Beijing, the moon usually shows up late during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It usually rises after 9 pm. After people finish the reunion dinner and admire the moon, they would place a table in the courtyard, have some tea and eat some mooncakes." As offerings to the moon, red mooncakes must be made according to strict rules. Their crusts must be fried with sesame oil. Their fillings include different kinds of nuts and Beijing's "green threads" and "red threads" (made with waxberries and orange peel), and there must be rock candy. As for white mooncakes, there are no particular rules made for the choosing of their ingredients except that the dough must be mixed with lard.

(Source: Bj.wenming.cn)