The joyous Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated on the fifteenth day
ffxi gilof the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon".
This day was also considered as a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables
aoc goldand grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant.
Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches,
wow goldgrapes, pomegranates, melons, oranges and pomelos might be seen. Special foods for
maple story mesosthe festival included moon cakes, cooked taro and water caltrope, a type of water chestnut
maplestory mesosresembling black buffalo horns.
Some people insisted
maple story meso that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of allthese foods, it could not
be omitted from
wow goldthe Mid-Autumn Festival.The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half
aoc goldinches in thickness,
resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These
wow goldcakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean
wow goldpaste,
orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the
wow goldcenter of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. Traditionally,
thirteen moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year," that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary moon. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional
wow goldfestivity
for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia
wow goldand Shang Dynasties (2000 B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the Zhou Dynasty(1066 B.C.-221 B.C.),
people hold ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival sets in. It becomes very
wow goldprevalent in the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon.
In the Southern Song
wow goldDynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of
wow goldfamily reunion.
When it becomes dark, they look up at the full silver moon or go sightseeing on lakes to celebrate the festival. Since the Ming (1368-1644 A.D. ) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911A.D.), the
wow gold custom of Mid-Autumn
Festival celebration becomes unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appear some special
wow goldcustoms in different parts of the country, such as burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting
lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances. However, the custom of playing under the moon is not so popular as it used to be nowadays, but it is not less popular to enjoy the bright silver moon. Whenever the festival sets in, people will look up at
the
wow goldfull silver moon, drinking wine to celebrate their happy life or thinking of their relatives and friends far from home,and extending all of their best wishes to them.
