Origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival: History, Development & Legends

There are multiple theories about the origin of the Mid‑Autumn Festival. One traces it to ancient moon worship; another to rituals honouring the moon goddess Chang’e — according to legend, Hou Yi obtained the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West, and his wife Chang’e stole it and flew to the moon palace; yet another traces it to ancient autumn harvest rituals honouring the Earth God. “Mid‑Autumn” was originally a seasonal description: the seventh, eighth, and ninth lunar months constitute autumn, and the 15th of the eighth month falls in the middle of mid‑autumn, hence the name. According to the Rites of Ritual, “The Son of Heaven worships the sun in spring and the moon in autumn,” indicating that as early as the Spring and Autumn period, emperors had already begun to worship the moon. The Mid‑Autumn Festival became an officially recognised national festival around the Tang dynasty. In the Northern Song period, it became a common folk festival, and the 15th day of the eighth lunar month was formally designated as the Mid‑Autumn Festival.

Mid-Autumn Festival / Mid-Autumn Festival Origins

327 days until Mid-Autumn Festival September 15, 2027 · Lunar 八月十五

The Name "Mid‑Autumn"

Origins & Anecdotes · Tracing the Past

“Mid‑Autumn” in the Rites of Zhou

The term “Mid‑Autumn” first appeared in the Rites of Zhou. The Rites of Zhou · Office of Spring · Yuezhang records: “At mid‑spring during the day, strike the earthen drum and play the Bin Odes to welcome the heat; at mid‑autumn during the night, welcome the cold in the same manner.” This means: on the day of mid‑spring, people beat earthen drums and played the Bin Odes to welcome the coming of summer; on the night of mid‑autumn, they welcomed the coming of cold in the same way. Here, “mid‑autumn” refers to the second month of autumn, i.e., “mid‑autumn” (仲秋), not specifically the 15th of the eighth month, but generally the middle period of autumn. The Rites of Zhou · Office of Heaven · Sijiu also records: “At mid‑autumn, present fine furs to the king, and the king then distributes bird feathers [to his ministers].”

From “Mid‑Autumn” to “Mid‑Autumn Festival”

The earliest written record of “Mid‑Autumn” as a specific festival name appears in the Tang dynasty. The Tang Shu · Records of Emperor Taizong explicitly records “the Mid‑Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth month.” By the Song dynasty, Wu Zimu in his Dreams of the Painted Land · Mid‑Autumn explained: “The 15th day of the eighth month is the Mid‑Autumn Festival; on this day, the three autumn months are exactly half‑way, hence it is called Mid‑Autumn.” According to the ancient Chinese calendar, the eighth lunar month is the middle month of autumn, called “mid‑autumn” (仲秋); and the 15th day falls exactly in the middle of mid‑autumn, hence “Mid‑Autumn Festival.” This explanation precisely summarises the astronomical and calendrical basis of the name.

Alternative Names of the Mid‑Autumn Festival

“Mid‑Autumn” has many alternative names: because it falls on the 15th of the eighth month, it is called “Eighth Month Festival,” “Mid‑Eighth Month,” or “Eighth Month 15th”; because it is related to moon worship, it is commonly called “Moon Festival” or “Moon Eve”; because the full moon on Mid‑Autumn night symbolises family reunion, it is also called “Reunion Festival.” The earliest record of “Reunion Festival” appears in the Ming dynasty. The Records of Excursions in West Lake states: “The 15th of the eighth month is called Mid‑Autumn; the people exchange mooncakes, taking the meaning of reunion.” The Scenes of the Imperial Capital also states: “On the 15th of the eighth month, sacrifices are made to the moon; the cakes must be round… If a married daughter has returned to her parents’ home, she must return to her husband’s house on this day, called the Reunion Festival.”

Origins of the Festival

Origins & Anecdotes · Tracing the Past

The formation of the Mid‑Autumn Festival did not originate from a single event or tradition, but from the gradual fusion of multiple cultural sources over a long historical period. These sources include ancient moon worship, the imperial moon‑sacrifice rituals of the Zhou dynasty, the autumn harvest customs of pre‑Qin agrarian society, and calendrical adjustments brought by calendar evolution. Converging from different directions, they jointly formed the foundation of the Mid‑Autumn Festival.

Moon Worship

The oldest origin of the Mid‑Autumn Festival can be traced back to ancient moon worship. This is the deepest and most essential cultural gene of the festival.

In ancient times, people keenly observed the close relationship between the movements of the sun and moon and the changing of seasons and growth of all things. The sun brought warmth and light, while the moon, with its regular waxing and waning, became the earliest time scale recognised by ancient peoples. In the Chinese cosmological view, the sun and moon represented the two poles of yin and yang — “the sun is the master of yang,” “the moon is the source of yin.” The harmonious movement of the sun and moon was the guarantee for the flourishing of all life.

Moon worship is almost as ancient as Chinese civilisation itself. The cyclical changes of the moon were so regular and intuitive that people naturally connected them to the rhythms of life and the changing seasons. The moon’s transition from waning to waxing symbolised the revival and abundance of life; its transition from waxing to waning symbolised decline and storage. This reverence and worship of the moon is the most foundational cultural gene of the Mid‑Autumn Festival.

With the development of primitive religion, the moon gradually became personified as a deity governing the night, fertility, and harvest. The Rites of Ritual · Sacrificial Regulations records: “Night brightness — this is the sacrifice to the moon.” “Night brightness” was the title of the moon deity, indicating that as early as before the Zhou dynasty, the moon had already been revered as a deity and received sacrifices. According to the Records of the Grand Historian · Treatise on the Feng and Shan Sacrifices, Han emperors regularly worshipped the sun deity and moon spirit, with the practice of “worshipping the sun in the morning and the moon in the evening, with bows.” This kind of moon worship occurred in early civilisations around the world and was often connected with “fertility worship,” as a product of primitive thought. However, since the Zhou dynasty, the official moon sacrifice in China had shifted from fertility worship to respect for natural and social laws, combining with ritual music culture and the concept of “yin and yang.”

The legend of Chang’e flying to the moon is a vivid manifestation of the moon’s personification. During the Warring States period, the story of Chang’e’s flight to the moon had already appeared. According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas: “The wife of Emperor Jun, Changxi, gave birth to twelve moons.” The Book of Changes · Guizang records: “In ancient times, Chang’e took the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West, and flew to the moon to become the moon spirit.” By the Han dynasty, the Huainanzi · Lanming Xun further elaborated the story: Hou Yi’s wife Heng’e (i.e., Chang’e) stole the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West and flew to the moon palace, transforming into a toad. By the Qin and Han period, the notion that “there are spirits in the moon” had been concretised as “there is Heng’e (Chang’e) in the moon,” and Chang’e became the moon goddess. Besides Chang’e, the moon palace also featured the “Golden Toad” and “Jade Rabbit,” which became popular among the people. Although the legend of Chang’e is a myth, it profoundly shaped the Chinese imagination of the moon and infused the Mid‑Autumn Festival with romantic mythological colour.

Imperial Moon Sacrifice

After long development, moon worship gradually rose from folk belief to state ritual. According to the Rites of Ritual: “The Son of Heaven worships the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. The morning of sun worship, the evening of moon worship.” “Sun worship” referred to the morning sacrifice to the sun at the Spring Equinox, while “moon worship” referred to the evening sacrifice to the moon at the Autumn Equinox. Zheng Xuan, in his commentary on the Rites of Zhou, wrote: “The Son of Heaven should worship the sun at the Spring Equinox and the moon at the Autumn Equinox.” This indicates that as early as the Spring and Autumn period, emperors had already begun the ritual of moon sacrifice. Worshipping the sun in spring and the moon in autumn were important activities of the emperors at that time.

According to the Rites of Zhou · Office of Spring · Dianrui: “Jade tablets are used to worship the sun, moon, and stars.” Tang scholar Lu Deming explained that guibi jades were used to sacrifice to the sun, moon, and stars. The Rites of Ritual · Sacrificial Meaning also records: “Sacrifice to the sun on an altar, sacrifice to the moon in a pit.” The sun was sacrificed to on a high altar, the moon in a low pit—one high, one low, reflecting the ancient understanding of the yin and yang attributes of the sun and moon. The Altar of Heaven, Altar of Earth, Altar of the Sun, and Altar of the Moon were located in the south, north, east, and west directions of the capital respectively; this directional arrangement reflected the ancient understanding of the movements of heaven, earth, sun, and moon. Beijing’s Altar of the Moon (also called “Altar of the Evening Moon”) was built in the ninth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty specifically for the Autumn Equinox moon sacrifice.

The “Autumn Reward” Custom

Alongside imperial moon sacrifice, there existed another tradition closely related to the origin of the Mid‑Autumn Festival among the people—the “Autumn Reward.”

In traditional agrarian society, spring sowing, summer tending, autumn harvest, and winter storage were the main activities. The quality of the harvest was crucial for those who lived by the land. Therefore, every spring at sowing time, people would sacrifice to the Earth God, praying for a bountiful harvest—this activity was called “Spring Prayer.” In autumn, the harvest season, they would again sacrifice to the Earth God, giving thanks for divine protection—this was called “Autumn Reward” or “Autumn Sacrifice.” The Book of Songs contains verses depicting people drinking wine and dancing to celebrate the harvest in autumn.

The core of Autumn Reward is gratitude. After the toil of spring sowing and summer tending, people finally reaped the fruits of autumn harvest, and naturally wanted to express thanks to the Earth God who had bestowed all this. The 15th of the eighth month was the harvest season, when every household would worship the Earth God. Thus, the Mid‑Autumn Festival may have been a custom inherited from the ancient “Autumn Reward.” During the harvest season, people not only worshipped the Earth God but also the Moon God. The tradition of Spring Prayer and Autumn Reward endowed the Mid‑Autumn Festival from the very beginning with the cultural meaning of gratitude for the harvest and celebration of abundance.

After the autumn harvest in ancient times, there was the “Autumn She” sacrifice. She was the Earth God; the Autumn She was a festival for worshipping the Earth God in autumn, held around the fifth wu day after the Beginning of Autumn, close in time to the Mid‑Autumn Festival. On the She festival, people gathered to share offerings, drink, and sing joyfully. This collective celebration of the harvest also provided cultural soil for the emergence of the Mid‑Autumn Festival. Although the “Autumn She” and the Mid‑Autumn Festival were not the same festival historically, their shared theme of “autumn harvest gratitude” made them closely connected in cultural spirit.

Moon worship and imperial moon sacrifice formed one thread centred on “worshipping the moon,” while the Autumn Reward custom formed another thread centred on “gratitude for the harvest.” These two threads developed independently in the river of history, yet influenced and merged with each other. Imperial moon sacrifice provided the Mid‑Autumn Festival with the object of worship—the “moon”—and the time framework of the “Autumn Equinox”; the Autumn Reward custom infused the festival with the atmosphere of “gratitude,” “celebration,” and “feasting”; while moon myths (Chang’e flying to the moon, the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine, etc.) added romantic poetic colour to the Mid‑Autumn Festival.

From Autumn Equinox to the 15th of the Eighth Month

However, the imperial moon sacrifice fixed on the Autumn Equinox had a fundamental flaw: the Autumn Equinox is a time node of the solar calendar, while the moon’s waxing and waning follows the lunar calendar—the two are not synchronised. Although the Autumn Equinox always fell around the eighth lunar month, not every Autumn Equinox night had a full moon; sometimes there might even be no moon at all. To worship the moon without a moon visible was naturally disappointing.

As time passed, people gradually became aware of this problem. Since the purpose of moon sacrifice was to worship the moon, it was unacceptable to perform the ritual on a night when the moon was not visible. Therefore, the date of moon sacrifice began to shift from the Autumn Equinox to the 15th of the eighth month—the 15th was the middle of “mid‑autumn,” and more importantly, this night was almost always a full moon night. Moving the moon sacrifice from the Autumn Equinox to the 15th of the eighth month not only preserved the “mid‑autumn” time framework but also ensured the full moon was visible—a perfect solution. This adjustment of the moon sacrifice date laid the decisive temporal foundation for the establishment of the Mid‑Autumn Festival.

Mooncakes

Origins & Anecdotes · Tracing the Past

Mooncakes are the most iconic seasonal food of the Mid‑Autumn Festival. There are multiple theories about their origin.

One theory holds that mooncakes were originally called “hu bing” (barbarian cakes), a pastry introduced from the Western Regions into the Central Plains. One Mid‑Autumn night, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Consort Yang were enjoying the moon. The emperor felt the name “hu bing” was unappealing, and Consort Yang, gazing at the bright moon, casually said “mooncake.” Thereafter, the name gradually spread among the people. A Tang‑era mooncake with a floral pattern excavated in Turpan, Xinjiang in 1972 is the earliest physical mooncake found to date.

According to the Tang dynasty Records of Luozhong, Emperor Xizong of Tang ate mooncakes on the Mid‑Autumn Festival, found them extremely delicious, and rewarded newly appointed imperial scholars with mooncakes wrapped in silk. This is one of the earliest records linking mooncakes with the Mid‑Autumn Festival. During the Southern Song, although both Old Affairs of Wulin and Dreams of the Painted Land mention the term “mooncake,” it had not yet truly “married” the Mid‑Autumn Festival—it was still just an everyday food. Mooncakes truly became associated with the festival in the Ming dynasty. In Ming dynasty Beijing, a type of mooncake filled with fruit appeared; people made mooncakes on the festival day for personal consumption and as gifts to relatives and friends, expressing wishes for reunion and congratulations. Mooncakes take the image of “roundness,” symbolising family reunion.

There is also a folk legend related to Zhu Yuanzhang’s uprising. It is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang was planning the uprising, he hid messages saying “Uprising on the night of the 15th of the eighth month” inside mooncakes as a means of communication among the rebel forces. Later, when the Ming dynasty was established, Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded his officials with mooncakes as a Mid‑Autumn Festival pastry. Although this legend may not be historically accurate, it vividly illustrates that mooncakes had become an important symbol of the Mid‑Autumn Festival in the Ming dynasty.

Historical Evolution

Historical Development

Han, Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties

Although moon sacrifice and Autumn Reward customs had long existed, the Mid‑Autumn Festival as an independent festival had not yet formed during the Han, Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties period.

Tang Dynasty

The Tang dynasty was the decisive period for the development of the Mid‑Autumn Festival. It was in the Tang dynasty that the 15th of the eighth month evolved from an ordinary day into a nationwide festival. “Mid‑Autumn” as a festival name was formally established in the Tang dynasty.

Song Dynasty

If the Tang dynasty was the formative period of the Mid‑Autumn Festival, then the Song dynasty was its flourishing period. It was in the Song dynasty that the festival developed from an elite moon‑gathering into a nationwide carnival.

Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties

Although the Yuan dynasty was ruled by the Mongols, they were deeply sinicised, and festival customs largely followed Han traditions. The Mid‑Autumn Festival customs of the Yuan period basically continued Song traditions.

Han, Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties

The Han dynasty inherited the pre‑Qin tradition of moon sacrifice. According to Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian · Treatise on the Feng and Shan Sacrifices, Han emperors regularly worshipped the sun deity and moon spirit, with the practice of “worshipping the sun in the morning and the moon in the evening, with bows.” The Han dynasty not only had the custom of “autumn moon sacrifice” but also stipulated the direction of the sacrifice: according to the Rites of Ritual · Sacrificial Meaning, “sacrifice to the moon in the west,” or “sacrifice to the moon in a pit.” At the same time, the Han dynasty also had the custom of respecting and caring for the elderly on Mid‑Autumn or the Beginning of Autumn, presenting them with coarse cakes. Although at this time “Mid‑Autumn” was still just a time node rather than an independent festival, the coexistence of moon sacrifice tradition and respect for the elderly infused two important cultural elements into the later Mid‑Autumn Festival—worship of the moon and emphasis on family ethics.

During the Wei‑Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties period, although the Mid‑Autumn Festival had not yet formed, literati began to compose more poems eulogising the moon. With the prevalence of Neo‑Daoism, poems expressing feelings about the moon gradually increased. Tao Yuanming wrote: “I rise in the morning to clear the weeds, and return home carrying my hoe under the moon”; the Southern dynasty writer Shen Xiuyou wrote “A Moon Poem in Response to the Censor Wang Siyuan”; the Southern dynasty Yuefu Midnight Songs of the Four Seasons contains eighteen Autumn Songs, seven of which are directly related to “moon‑gazing.” These poems indicate that the concept of “moon‑gazing” had already emerged during this period, and people’s attention to the moon gradually shifted from religious “moon sacrifice” to aesthetic “moon‑gazing.”

According to documentary records, by the Wei‑Jin period, there was a record of “an official travelling incognito on the river with his attendants on the Mid‑Autumn Eve.” This shows that during the Wei‑Jin period, some people were already boating on the river to enjoy the moon on the night of the 15th of the eighth month. However, this moon‑gazing was still the personal activity of a few literati, not a nationwide festival. Zong Lin’s Jingchu Suishiji of the Southern Liang dynasty also contains no record of the 15th of the eighth month as the Mid‑Autumn Festival, indicating that during this period, the Mid‑Autumn Festival did not yet exist as an independent festival.

During this period, moon‑related myths and legends also grew increasingly rich. Stories such as Chang’e flying to the moon, Wu Gang chopping the osmanthus tree, and the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine gradually took shape. The legend of Chang’e had already appeared during the Warring States period and was widely disseminated in the Han dynasty; the myth of the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine also became popular during this period; the story of Wu Gang chopping the osmanthus tree only appeared in the Tang dynasty. Although these myths were not the direct cause of the festival’s formation, they greatly enriched the Chinese imagination of the moon and provided a profound cultural background for the moon‑gazing activities of later Mid‑Autumn Festivals.

Tang Dynasty

The direct source of the festival’s formation was the moon‑gazing fashion of the early Tang. The reason for this fashion lay first in the moon’s natural appearance—large and round—on the 15th of the eighth lunar month. The Tang dynasty was the golden age of poetry, and literati’s eulogies of the moon reached unprecedented heights. According to scholars’ statistics, among extant Tang poems, there are over ninety poems celebrating the Mid‑Autumn moon. The term “Mid‑Autumn” frequently appeared in Tang literati’s poems. Poets would gather on the night of the 15th of the eighth month to gaze at the moon, drink wine, and compose poems, gradually forming a fixed social custom. This custom spread from the literati circle to upper‑ and middle‑class families, eventually affecting ordinary people in the mid‑to‑late Tang.

During Emperor Xuanzong’s reign, moon‑gazing became even more popular. According to the Records of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao Eras, on a Mid‑Autumn night, Emperor Xuanzong and Consort Yang were enjoying the moon by the Taiye Pool. Unaware that the Jade Rabbit had already set in the west, the emperor felt deeply melancholy and ordered the construction of a hundred‑foot‑high “Moon‑Gazing Platform” by the pool for the following year. It is also said that Emperor Xuanzong once visited the Moon Palace on the night of the 15th of the eighth month, leading the people to regard this day as the Mid‑Autumn Festival. Although these records carry legendary colour, they reflect the Tang court’s emphasis on Mid‑Autumn moon‑gazing.

The Mid‑Autumn Festival in the Tang dynasty already had the rudiments of a festival. The Tang Shu · Records of Emperor Taizong explicitly records “the Mid‑Autumn Festival on the 15th of the eighth month.” The 15th of the eighth month in the Tang dynasty had already formed patterned folk activities—moon‑gazing, banqueting, and poetry composition. According to the Records of Luozhong, Emperor Xizong of Tang ate mooncakes on the Mid‑Autumn Festival, found them extremely delicious, and even wrapped mooncakes in silk to reward newly appointed imperial scholars. This is one of the earliest records linking mooncakes with the Mid‑Autumn Festival.

However, the Tang dynasty Mid‑Autumn Festival still had notable differences from later periods. First, Tang dynasty activities were mainly at night, centred on moon‑gazing and banqueting; second, the main participants were literati and upper‑ and middle‑class families—although ordinary people also began to participate, they were not yet enthusiastic or fully engaged. The Tang dynasty Mid‑Autumn Festival lacked the lively atmosphere of a nationwide carnival that appeared later. It was not yet an official public holiday in the Tang dynasty. But this did not affect its formation as a folk festival—the formation of festivals does not depend on official recognition.

Some scholars believe that the formal establishment of the Mid‑Autumn Festival was related to Emperor Xuanzong’s birthday, the “Qianqiu Festival.” In the 17th year of the Kaiyuan era (729 CE), Emperor Xuanzong designated his birthday, the 5th of the eighth month, as the “Qianqiu Festival,” with a three‑day national holiday and grand celebrations. Although the Qianqiu Festival fell on the 5th of the eighth month rather than the 15th, the establishment of this official festival provided a reference for the 15th of the eighth month to become a festival. Emperor Xuanzong’s admiration for Daoist concepts of immortality also brought more attention to moon‑related myths. After the Qianqiu Festival, the 15th of the eighth month gradually developed from a private literati moon‑gazing activity into a nationwide festival.

Song Dynasty

During Emperor Taizong’s reign, the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid‑Autumn Festival were designated as the three major festivals, and the Mid‑Autumn Festival received official recognition. The court granted public officials a one‑day holiday for Mid‑Autumn. From the Song dynasty onwards, the Mid‑Autumn Festival became an official festival.

The Song dynasty Mid‑Autumn Festival had two significant differences from the Tang. First, the Tang mainly involved evening banquets and moon‑gazing, while the Song celebrated throughout the day, with drinking starting at noon. Second, the Tang festival’s main participants were literati and upper‑ and middle‑class families, while in the Song it was a nationwide celebration—both the nobility and common people shared the joy.

Meng Yuanlao’s Dreams of the Eastern Capital vividly records the Mid‑Autumn Festival in Bianjing: “Before the Mid‑Autumn Festival, all shops sell new wine, redecorating their shopfronts with colourful arches and banners. People compete to buy wine; by mid‑afternoon, every household is out of wine. At this time, newly caught crabs, pomegranates, and fresh fruits are all on the market. On the Mid‑Autumn night, wealthy families decorate their pavilions, while ordinary people vie for spots in wine shops to enjoy the moon. Music fills the air; residents near the palace hear the sound of pipes from afar, as if from beyond the clouds. Children in the neighbourhood play all night. The night market is bustling until dawn.” This passage vividly depicts the Mid‑Autumn Festival scene in the Northern Song: merchants began preparations before the festival, new wine and abundant fruits appeared; on the night itself, wealthy families decorated their pavilions to enjoy the moon, while ordinary people rushed to wine shops; music was in full swing, children played all night, and the night market was crowded until dawn. The festival atmosphere was lively and widely participated in.

Wu Zimu’s Dreams of the Painted Land in the Southern Song records similar customs, equally lively, but adds one important detail: “Even modest households set up small moon platforms, arrange family banquets, and gather their children to mark the festival.” This indicates that during the Southern Song, the festival began to emphasise family reunion. The “reunion” theme of the Mid‑Autumn Festival began to sprout in the Song dynasty.

The Southern Song Mid‑Autumn Festival also had the custom of lantern appreciation. According to Zhou Mi’s Old Affairs of Wulin, on Mid‑Autumn night in Hangzhou, “lanterns and candles shone brilliantly all night long.” Along Su Causeway, people linked arms and danced, as if in daylight, and released thousands of “small red dots” (small sheepskin lanterns) on the river, shining like stars. In addition, watching the Qiantang River tidal bore in Hangzhou also became one of the festival’s customs.

The Song dynasty produced a large number of poems celebrating the Mid‑Autumn moon. The Complete Song Ci contains 210 Mid‑Autumn poems, of which 178 are specifically labelled “Mid‑Autumn.” The content of these poems mostly describes the moonlight, homesickness, and longing for family, frequently mentioning Chang’e, the Jade Rabbit, the toad, the osmanthus tree, the moon palace, and jade towers. Su Shi’s Water Melody · When Will the Bright Moon Appear is the most famous. The lines “People experience joy and sorrow, parting and reunion; the moon waxes and wanes, bright and dim—nothing has ever been perfect since ancient times. May we all be blessed with longevity; though miles apart, we share the same beautiful moonlight” compare human joys and sorrows with the moon’s waxing and waning, embodying the theme of connecting the full moon with family reunion.

Although the Song dynasty focused mainly on moon‑gazing, moon‑worshipping had also appeared. However, moon‑worshipping at that time was not widespread, and the rituals were not as solemn as in later periods. Jin Yingzhi’s New Compilation of the Drunkard’s Talks records: “On Mid‑Autumn, the moon‑gazing gatherings in the capital differ from other places. All young people, rich or poor, from about twelve or thirteen years of age, wear adult attire and worship the moon on towers or in courtyards, each with their own aspirations: boys wish to step into the Moon Palace early and climb the immortal osmanthus; girls wish to be as beautiful as Chang’e, with faces like the bright moon.” It is clear that moon‑worshipping in the Song was mainly young people making wishes and prayers to the moon.

Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties

The Ming dynasty was another important turning point in the festival’s development. Ming dynasty Mid‑Autumn activities gradually shifted from moon‑gazing as the core to moon‑worshipping, and mooncakes appeared as a seasonal food. Tian Rucheng’s Records of Excursions in West Lake records: “The 15th of the eighth month is called Mid‑Autumn; the people exchange mooncakes, taking the meaning of reunion.” The Scenes of the Imperial Capital also records: “If a married daughter has returned to her parents’ home, she must return to her husband’s house on this day, called the Reunion Festival.” These historical sources show that in the Ming dynasty, people began to value family reunion on this day. The themes of human relationships and family affection gradually became prominent, hence the 15th of the eighth month was also called “Reunion Festival.” On the night of the festival, ordinary Ming people would set up tables in open spaces, placing mooncakes, pomegranates, dates, and other fruits on the table. After worshipping the moon, the whole family would sit around the table, eating, talking, and enjoying the moonlight. This custom continues to this day.

By the Qing dynasty, the Mid‑Autumn Festival had risen further in status, becoming one of China’s traditional festivals on par with the Spring Festival. Although the Qing court no longer held large‑scale lantern festivals like those in the Song, folk lantern festivals remained spectacular. Emperor Qianlong would summon vassal states and ministers to the Garden of Perfect Brightness on the 15th of the first month to view lanterns, fireworks, and performances of song, dance, and acrobatics. The Qing dynasty, inheriting the Ming tradition of lantern craftsmanship, added ice lanterns, and also inherited a series of folk traditions including lion dances, dragon dances, and community parades. During the Ming‑Qing transition, the Mid‑Autumn Festival, which in the Tang and Song had been somewhat intellectually oriented, gradually transformed into one focused on secular human relationships. Mooncakes became popular and an indispensable seasonal food of the festival.

Cultural Spirit

Cultural Core

Mid-Autumn Festival carries the Chinese people’s longing for a better life and their devotion to family, embodying the cultural spirit of reunion, harmony, gratitude and blessing — it is one of the most enduring traditional festivals in Chinese culture.

Full Moon and Family Reunion

Gratitude and Prayer

Poetry and Romance

Full Moon and Family Reunion

The most central cultural spirit of the Mid‑Autumn Festival is “reunion.” The full moon holds unique symbolic meaning in Chinese culture—roundness represents completeness, perfection, and a state without flaws. As the ancients said, “the moon waxes and wanes”; the full moon is the most complete moment of the month, and the moon on the 15th of the eighth month is the roundest and brightest of the year. People compare the moon’s “roundness” with the family’s “unity,” gazing at the full moon on Mid‑Autumn night and naturally feeling the longing for and cherishing of family togetherness.

From the Tang dynasty’s “moon‑gazing” to the Song’s “moon‑playing,” and then to the Ming and Qing’s “moon‑worshipping” and “reunion,” the theme of the Mid‑Autumn Festival underwent a transformation from aesthetics to emotion, from individual to family. In the Tang and Song, moon‑gazing was more of an aesthetic gathering, full of literati romance and philosophy; by the Ming and Qing, the festival’s focus on secular human relationships became increasingly prominent, and family reunion became the core of the celebration. This transformation elevated the Mid‑Autumn Festival from a literati gathering to an emotional feast shared by all.

Gratitude and Prayer

The Mid‑Autumn Festival also carries the cultural connotations of gratitude and prayer. From the ancient Autumn Equinox moon sacrifice, to the pre‑Qin Autumn Reward to the Earth God, to later moon‑worshipping, what runs through it all is people’s reverence for and gratitude to the deities of heaven and earth—gratitude to the moon for giving light, and gratitude to the earth for bestowing the harvest. This tradition of gratitude makes the Mid‑Autumn Festival not only a time for family reunion but also a day to reflect on the relationship between humanity and nature and to express reverence for heaven and earth. In moon‑worshipping, people pray not only for family reunion but also for national peace, social harmony, and personal happiness.

Poetry and Romance

The Mid‑Autumn Festival is China’s most poetic and romantic traditional festival. From Qu Yuan’s Questions to Heaven questioning the moon, to Li Bai’s “I raise my cup to invite the bright moon, facing my shadow we become three”; from Su Shi’s “When will the bright moon appear? I raise my cup and ask the blue sky” to Zhang Ruoxu’s “Who by the river first saw the moon? When did the river moon first shine upon people?”—the moon carries the Chinese people’s deepest philosophical reflections and richest emotional expressions. The myths of Chang’e flying to the moon, Wu Gang chopping the osmanthus tree, and the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine add infinite poetic charm and imagination to the Mid‑Autumn night.

Conclusion

Afterglow

The formation of the Mid‑Autumn Festival is the result of the accumulation of thousands of years of Chinese culture and the continuous infusion of the spirit of different eras. It originated from ancient moon worship and sacrifice, gained its institutional framework from the Zhou dynasty emperors’ “Autumn Equinox moon sacrifice,” nurtured its aesthetic fashion in the moon‑eulogising poems of literati during the Han, Wei, and Six Dynasties, was formally established as a festival in the moon‑gazing fashion of the Tang, flourished in the nationwide carnival of the Song, and achieved its ultimate elevation in the reunion theme of the Ming and Qing.

From the pre‑Qin “welcoming the cold on the mid‑autumn night,” to the Han dynasty “autumn moon sacrifice”; from the Wei‑Jin literati’s moon‑inspired poetry to the Tang poets’ moon‑gazing and versifying; from the Song nationwide carnival to the Ming and Qing reunion moon‑worshipping—the Mid‑Autumn Festival underwent a long evolution from sacrifice to aesthetics, from aesthetics to emotion, from elite to popular, from religion to secular. It is precisely this open, inclusive, and eclectic cultural character that has enabled the Mid‑Autumn Festival to traverse thousands of years and still illuminate every Chinese person’s heart with its unique charm. As folk scholar Xiao Fang put it, the Mid‑Autumn Festival is “the warmth and carnival in the moonlight.” That bright moon carries the Chinese people’s most simple and most profound longing for reunion, for beauty, and for eternity.

—-