Why give gifts on Mid-Autumn Festival?

China is a world-famous country of etiquette, and the gift-giving style has existed since ancient times. Nowadays, the Mid-Autumn Festival gift-giving has become one of the essential designated actions. But with the development, the concept of gift-giving gradually developed into a fixed model. Friends and colleagues send nothing more than moon cakes and fruits, and some send tea and cigarettes. In fact, many times, everyone is thinking about a problem. In addition to connecting each other's feelings, can the Mid-Autumn Festival gift be a particularly thoughtful gift for family members? Even if it is not very expensive, the key is that the mind is priceless.

First, the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts and the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival

According to historical records, the word "Mid-Autumn Festival" first appeared in the book "Zhou Li", and in the Zhou Dynasty, there was an activity of "Mid-Autumn Night to welcome the cold". However, as a festival, Mid-Autumn Festival prevailed in the Tang Dynasty and became one of the major festivals in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, alongside New Year's Day. Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been many records about eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Wan Bu Miscellaneous Notes says that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, people make cakes of different sizes and give them to each other, which is called "moon cakes". Moon cakes sold in market stores are often filled with fruits with different names. Some moon cakes cost hundreds of dollars. It is also said in Xi Chao Le that August 15 is called Mid-Autumn Festival, and people give each other moon cakes as gifts to get the meaning of reunion.

There is also a saying that the popularity of Mid-Autumn Festival gifts is related to the ancient imperial examinations. In the feudal society of China, it has always been a major event that the rulers attached great importance to. And once every three years, the Mid-Autumn Festival is held in August of the lunar calendar. At this time, when the moon is full in Gui Xiang, people will regard those who take the high school entrance examination as those who win the laurels in the middle of the month. Therefore, every Mid-Autumn Festival, a grand celebration will be held, which has become an important custom of the whole society, and giving gifts to high school students in that year has also become one of the forms of celebration. Whether sending cakes or other things, everyone is trying to express their good wishes. It can be said that the Mid-Autumn Festival gift-giving just complied with the trend at that time and became popular from then on.

The legend of the Mid-Autumn Festival is also very rich, and fairy tales such as the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang cutting Guangxi and Jade Rabbit smashing medicine have been circulated. According to legend, Yi got the elixir from the Queen Mother of the West and gave it to Chang 'e for safekeeping. When Feng Meng heard about it, he stole the medicine and hurt Chang 'e. In desperation, Chang 'e swallowed the elixir of life, flew to the sky and left it in the moon palace. Lonely and unbearable in the Guanghan Palace, he urged WU GANG to cut down the osmanthus tree, let the Jade Rabbit pound medicine, and return to the world to reunite with Iraq as soon as possible.

Mid-Autumn Festival has always been a sensational day for literati. They miss their hometown for the moon, leaving the eternal quatrains of "Looking up, I found it was moonlight, and then sinking back, I suddenly remembered home" and "Wish people a long time, thousands of miles away". Across Qian Shan, every corner of the world, everyone can watch the Mid-Autumn Moon together.

Second, moon cakes are the main carrier of Mid-Autumn Festival.

At first, moon cakes were not called moon cakes, but called "cookies" or "moon groups". The word "moon cake" first appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty, and a man named Wu first mentioned it in the book Dream of Dreams. Then there is the original moon cake, not round, but diamond. In addition, moon cakes in this period were not only eaten in the Mid-Autumn Festival, but actually more like a daily snack. By the Ming Dynasty, the custom of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival had become very popular. At this time, moon cakes had become a familiar circle and were only eaten on Mid-Autumn Festival.

In today's highly developed business, people have more choices. The earliest change of moon cakes is the luxurious commercial packaging. Careful people can find that the shell of moon cakes has been upgraded from paper boxes and iron boxes to red wooden boxes and even crystal boxes, and a group of waiters have been artificially equipped to tie gifts. It's just that many people think that this sky-high moon cake can't represent the pure traditional Mid-Autumn Festival culture.

Nowadays, many people regard the concept of giving gifts in Mid-Autumn Festival as the most important, such as spending more time with their families, simply eating and drinking tea, enjoying the moon, and having a chat with the family and talking about their personal feelings. Gifts are not the most important thing, but it is the simplest meaning of the festival to let the family feel a caring and affectionate feeling.

Third, the significance of Mid-Autumn Festival gifts

As a traditional festival, Mid-Autumn Festival is a good opportunity to strengthen family ties and enhance feelings, and it is the big gift-giving festival next to New Year in a year. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, relatives and friends always contact and exchange gifts to enhance communication and affection. Gifts for Mid-Autumn Festival, called Celebration Festival, Sending Festival, Chasing Festival, also called Farewell Gifts, often start a few days before the festival or even at the beginning of the month, and feed each other, which reflects the etiquette culture of China.

The implication of eating moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival is reunion, which reflects people's good wishes for family reunion. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole family sat around and shared moon cakes, which gradually formed the implication that moon cakes represented family reunion. According to legend, eating moon cakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival began in the Yuan Dynasty, which was related to Zhu Yuanzhang's fighting and various resistance forces.

Eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional folk custom in China, just like eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival and glutinous rice balls on Lantern Festival. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, when the bright moon is in the sky, the whole family will get together, enjoy cakes and the moon, talk about everything and enjoy family happiness. Moon cakes, also known as Hu cakes, palace cakes, cookies, moon cakes, reunion cakes, etc. It is an offering to worship the moon god in the ancient Mid-Autumn Festival, and the custom of eating moon cakes has been formed since it was handed down. Moon cakes symbolize reunion and are a must-eat food for the Mid-Autumn Festival. On holiday nights, people also like to eat some reunion fruits, such as watermelons and fruits, and wish their families a happy, sweet and safe life.

Fourthly, China is a country that pays special attention to etiquette. Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to honor elders or relatives and friends, many pay attention to! We should abide by the Mid-Autumn Festival gift-giving culture handed down from the older generation. Because of a little carelessness, "doing bad things with good intentions" makes relatives and elders unhappy, which is not good. Therefore, gifts for Mid-Autumn Festival can't be casual.

Mid-Autumn Festival gifts are double, not single.

Since it is a traditional festival, there are naturally traditional customs. Remember to "give a pair but not a single" when giving gifts in the Mid-Autumn Festival. That is to say, you can't send one moon cake, even number of moon cakes in the gift box can do. You can't just send a bottle of wine, which will be impolite and disrespectful to each other. Because in such a festive festival as Mid-Autumn Festival, the emphasis is on "yes-men". You can give even Mid-Autumn Festival gifts of 2, 6 and 8, which is auspicious.

Mid-Autumn Festival gift box, not in bulk.

China people attach as much importance to the Mid-Autumn Festival as the Dragon Boat Festival and the Spring Festival. So whether it's sending moon cakes, wine or fruit, everyone sends them in the form of gift boxes. First of all, the gift box represents exquisiteness and luxury. Even if it is an ordinary moon cake or fruit, the gift box will naturally go up after some packaging. In this way, the other party will feel that they are highly valued and their hearts will be happier. Mid-Autumn Festival in bulk is a bit too casual. Anyway, it's a happy picture for everyone. Send a gift box if you can!

However, the Mid-Autumn Festival also has many bad meanings or homophonic gifts to avoid. For example, clocks spoil the scenery, giving wallets will take away wealth, the homonym of "shoes" and "evil" of shoes is unlucky, and the homonym of "umbrella" and "scattered" means dispersion and separation. The homonym of "Li" and "Li" stands for separation. In short, it is to avoid some gifts with bad homophonic meaning.

Written at the end, no matter what gifts you give during the Mid-Autumn Festival, you should take time to spend with your family. Family together, round and round, safe is the most important thing. Zhuangzi said in "Knowing the North Tour": "If there is a gap between heaven and earth, it will be sudden." Life is alive, time is fleeting, and one day you will understand that family background is the most precious wealth!