In the Ming Dynasty, it was popular to make sacrifice to the moon. The Ming Shi Zong sent the officials to build the Xi Yue altar which is the Yue altar Park in Beijing now. this was the place mainly for the officials to sacrifice the moon. The emperor had to make sacrifice the moon once every three years. At the same time, it was usual to hold the activity about sacrificing.
There are many beautiful fairy tales also Lots of fairy tales In Chinese culture are about the moon in the Middle Autumn Day. There is an old saying “八月十五天门开”. Thousands of years ago, a man worked for a landlord as a farmhand. However, he was penniless after more than 20 years’ hard working so that he was alone. Once, he was kicked out by the landlord, because he could not work for the landlord due to his illness. Well, he was homeless and had to have a rest under an osmanthus tree sadly. Suddenly, a beautiful fairy fell from the moon Palace behind him. After the fairy realized his situation, the fairy used her magic to help him get the house, land, and the working tool. And these things appeared upon him suddenly. After that, the worker lived a happy life by self-sufficiency. Later, this had been spread gradually. The people began to make sacrifice to the moon every Middle Autumn Day in order to get the good luck from the fairy from the moon.
The moon cake
Make a sacrifice to the moon was still popular among the commons in the later Qing Dynasty. The Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty made sacrifice in the summer palace in the Middle Autumn Day. She ordered the officials to make the sacrifice with the water melon shaped into the shape of lotus and put it in a silver plate. It was called “莲花团圆瓜”. The sacrifice included the all kinds of the moon cakes. After making the sacrifice, she ordered the servant to cut the moon cakes into small pieces and sent to the eunuchs, maids and the concubines to have a taste. She had named the “月饼moon cake” as “月华” due to the similar pronunciation of “饼” and “病”. Therefore, it was offensive to say “月饼” in the emperor palace.
At first, the moon cake was one of the sacrifices in Chinese culture. Later, it became into a kind of present which were gave to each other. The moon cake appeared in Tong Dynasty. And more taste had been made such as He Ye, Jin Hua, and Fu Rong and so on. Due to the different live styles in China, the moon cakes have various tastes, making method and breed indifferent places. There are two kinds of taste: one is sweet; the other is salt. The moon cake may be filled with vegetables or meat.
Many places in China have conventional tradition that bakes cakes at night in the Middle Autumn Day. That is baking some big or small cakes with the picture of Chang Er Beng Yue, Tian Nu San Hua etc. on the appearance. Then these cakes are filled with something delicious. Families get together to make sacrifice to the moon, after burn the incense and place the sacrifices on the table. After that, the oldest person in the family will cut the moon cake into pieces and sent to each family member. If one of the family members is away from the home, his or her moon cake cut by the oldest will be left or sent. It predicates that all family members stay together any way. Chinese people are favor of the moon cake due to the shape of it. It is something sharing by the family members after making the sacrifices. As Chinese culture，Chinese people like give gifts in Festival. So on the other hand, it is the festival gift with good wishes. If you will learn Chinese in China, you can taste moon cakes and send them as gifts to your family or friends.
The revolt in the Middle Autumn Day in Yuan Dynasty
The commons really valued the Middle Autumn Day after the Yuan Dynasty. In The Yuan Dynasty, the fight between the different nationalities occurred occasionally in the old China. The varied nationalities could not live in peace. In Yuan Dynasty, the landlord and herdsman of Mongol nationality had ruled the old China. The lower class of Mongol nationality and the other nationality had been pressed, especially for the Han nationality. It is said that in case of the revolt by the Han nationality, the ruler controlled them strictly. However, the controllers tried their best to do everything bad to the commons. The commons hated the controllers’ guts to death. They could not suffer the disaster from the nature and the controller any more so that they planed to revolt. So they communicated with each other by sending the moon cakes which brought the messages. They decided to revolt in the August 15th. Later, people ate the moon cakes in that day in order to honor the revolt. Actually, the conventional tradition develops with development of the activities of enjoying the moon.