Is August in the solar calendar 15 the Mid-Autumn Festival? What is Mid-Autumn Festival? introduce

August 15 in the solar calendar is not the Mid-Autumn Festival, but July 15 in the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as "July Festival" or "Orchid Festival" and "Ghost Festival", is one of the three major ghost festivals. Mid-Autumn Festival is a Taoist saying. The name "Mid-Autumn Festival" originated from the Northern Wei Dynasty. In some places, it is usually called "Ghost Festival" and "Stone Drum", also known as the Day of the Dead and July 30th. According to ancient records: "The Taoist scriptures are Shang Yuan on the 15th day of the first month, Zhong Yuan on the 15th of July, and Xia Yuan on the 15th of October.

Mid-Autumn Festival activities:

offer sacrifices to ancestors

The festival of ancestor worship is on the fifteenth day of July in the lunar calendar, so it is called "July and a half" for short. At this time, the midsummer has passed and the autumn cool has just begun. Folk believe that ancestors will return home to visit their children and grandchildren at this time, so they need to worship their ancestors. Worship ceremonies are usually held in the evening before the end of July, and are not limited to a specific day. You should worship your ancestors on normal days, and generally don't move their tablets. At the time of ancestor worship in July and a half, the ancestral tablets should be invited out one by one, respectfully put on the sacrificial table dedicated to worship, and then burn incense, drink tea and eat rice in front of each ancestor's tablet three times a day in the morning, middle and faint until July 30. If there is a portrait of your ancestors, please come out and hang it. When worshipping, kowtow to each ancestor in the order of seniority and seniority, pray silently, report to the ancestors and ask others to check their words and deeds this year first, so as to protect their peace and happiness. When returning, burn paper money and clothes, which is called burning coating, or Buddhist or Taoist ritual crossing. In some areas of Jiangxi and Hunan, Mid-Autumn Festival is more important than Tomb-Sweeping Day or Double Ninth Festival.

Sacrifice land

On July 15th, offering sacrifices to land and crops is still a folk custom. Scatter sacrifices in the fields. After burning the paper, wrap it on the ears of crops with cut five-color paper. Legend has it that autumn can avoid hail and get a bumper harvest. At the same time, some places have to go to Houtu Temple to offer sacrifices. Hemp and valley are hung at the gate of Dingxiang county folk custom.

Put on a river lantern.

People think that the Mid-Autumn Festival is a ghost festival, and lanterns should also be put on to celebrate the festival for ghosts. But people and ghosts are different, so a lantern in the Central Plains is different from a lantern in Shangyuan. People are yang, ghosts are yin; The earth is yang and the water is yin. The mysterious darkness underwater reminds people of the legendary hell and the place where ghosts sink. So Shangyuan lanterns are on land, and Zhongyuan lanterns are in water. Today's river lantern has become a joyful activity. According to the etiquette of Buddhist bonsai, the river lantern is just one of the small programs, which doesn't seem so important. In the folk activities of Mid-Autumn Festival, it is more important to put on lights.