中秋节的来源是什么呢?
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发布时间:2022-10-07 20:13
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时间:2023-10-30 01:24
“中秋”一词,最早见于《周礼》。根据我国古代历法,农历八月十五日,在一年秋季的八月中旬,故称“中秋”。一年有四季,每季又分孟、仲、季三部分,因为秋中第二月叫仲秋,故中秋也称为“仲秋”。到魏晋时,有“谕尚书镇牛淆,中秋夕与左右微服泛江”的记载。直到唐朝初年,中秋节才成为固定的节日。《唐书·太宗记》记载有“八月十五中秋节”。中秋节的盛行始于宋朝,至明清时,已与元旦齐名,成为我国的主要节日之一。这也是我国仅次于春节的第二大传统节日。
相传古代齐国丑女无盐,幼年时曾虔诚拜月,长大后,以超群品德入宫,但未被宠幸。某年八月十五赏月,天子在月光下见到她,觉得她美丽出众,后立她为皇后,中秋拜月由此而来。月中嫦娥,以美貌著称,故少女拜月,愿“貌似嫦娥,面如皓月”。
随着社会的不断发展,古人赋予月亮许多传说,从月中蟾蜍到玉兔捣药,从吴刚伐桂到嫦娥奔月,丰富的想象力为月宫世界描绘了一幅幅斑驳陆离的胜景。自汉至唐,*人墨客纷纷吟咏月亮及月中之事,八月十五月圆时成为抒发感情的极佳时刻。至北宋太宗年间,官家正式定八月十五日为中秋节,取意于三秋之正中,届时万民同庆。中秋之夜,明月当空,清辉洒满大地,人们把月圆当作团圆的象征,把八月十五作为亲人团聚的日子,因此,中秋节又被称为“团圆节”。
中秋节成为一年之中的重大节日,又与科举考试有着极其微妙的关系,在我国封建社会,开科取士,一直是统治者十分重视的一件大事。而三年一次的秋闱大比,恰好安排在八月里举行。胜景与*结合在一起,人们便将应试高中者,誉为月中折桂之人。每到中秋,必须进行隆重庆贺,成为全社会人民的重要风俗,经朝历代,盛行不衰,中秋节逐渐成为我国四大节日(春节、清明、端午、中秋)一。 Thejoyous Mid-Autumn Festival, the third and last festival for the living, was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. Many referred to it simply as the "Fifteenth of the Eighth Moon". In the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurred sometime between the second week of September and the second week ofOctober.
This day was also considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. With delinquent accounts settled prior to the festival , it was a time for relaxation and celebration. Food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, pomegranates , melons, oranges and pomelos might be seen. Special foods for the festival included moon cakes, cooked taro, edible snails from the taro patches or rice paddies cooked with sweet basil, and water caltrope, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some people insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight. Of all these foods, it could not be omitted from the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The round moon cakes, measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These cakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted ck egg was placed at the center 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.
Origin
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon (called xi yue in Chinese) can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and 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 prevalent in the Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D.) that people enjoy and worship the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), however, people send round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family 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 custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration becomes unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appear some special customs 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 full 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.