The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Sacrifice Festival, Moon Birthday, Moon Festival, Moon Worship Festival, Moon Goddess Festival, Reunion Festival, Mid-Autumn Day, Moon Eve, etc., is a traditional festival popular among many ethnic groups in China. It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, named because it occurs exactly at the midpoint of the three autumn months. Together with the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, it is known as China’s Four Major Traditional Festivals.
Originating from ancient ancestors’ worship of celestial phenomena, the Mid-Autumn Festival evolved from moon sacrifices in the late autumn of primitive times. In its development, it integrated various customs such as the emperor’s moon worship at dusk, autumn community ceremonies, moon appreciation, and legends of the Moon Palace.
The festival originated in the Pre-Qin period, became widespread in the Han Dynasty, took shape in the Tang Dynasty, was officially established in the Northern Song Dynasty, and flourished after the Song Dynasty. Rooted in celestial worship, it evolved from the ancient custom of offering sacrifices to the moon in late autumn. Moon worship has a long history as a folk ritual to venerate the “Moon Goddess” in parts of ancient China. The Autumnal Equinox among the twenty-four solar terms was the ancient Moon Sacrifice Festival.
The Mid-Autumn Festival gained popularity in the Han Dynasty, an era of economic and cultural exchange and integration across northern and southern China. Cultural exchanges helped spread and blend folk customs. As the autumn moon shines particularly bright and clear, the practice of appreciating the moon gradually emerged from moon worship and moon ceremonies starting in the Han Dynasty.Mei Cheng of the Han Dynasty wrote Ode to the Moon; Lu Ji of the Western Jin Dynasty, Xie Lingyun, Shen Yue and Bao Zhao of the Southern Dynasties, and Wang Bao of the Northern Zhou all composed poems and odes to the moon. However, these activities were not fixed on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, so no formal festival was formed.Records show that in the Han Dynasty, there were activities of respecting and supporting the elderly on Mid-Autumn or the Start of Autumn, granting them round wheat cakes. Written records of moon appreciation during Mid-Autumn also appeared in the Jin Dynasty, though not widely popular. Before the Jin Dynasty, the Mid-Autumn Festival was not prevalent in northern China.
In the Tang Dynasty, Mid-Autumn customs gradually became popular in northern China. Book of Tang · Records of Emperor Taizong mentions “the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month”. Moon appreciation flourished in Chang’an and surrounding areas, with many famous poets composing verses about the moon.The festival was combined with myths such as Chang’e Flying to the Moon, Wu Gang Chopping the Laurel Tree, Jade Rabbit Pounding Medicine, Yang Guifei Becoming the Moon Goddess, and Emperor Xuanzong’s Visit to the Moon Palace, filling it with romantic charm and greatly boosting the trend of moon appreciation.The Tang Dynasty was a crucial period for the integration and formation of traditional festival customs, whose core elements have been passed down to this day. The custom of appreciating the moon during Mid-Autumn also formally took shape in the Tang Dynasty.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, the 15th day of the 8th lunar month was officially designated as the “Mid-Autumn Festival”. Literary works mentioned seasonal food: “Small cakes taste like the moon, filled with crispness and syrup”. The Mid-Autumn Festival became a grand secular festival in the Song Dynasty.It differed from the Tang version in two main ways:
In the Tang Dynasty, celebrations mainly centered on evening banquets and moon appreciation; in the Song Dynasty, the festival lasted all day, with unrestrained drinking starting at noon.
In the Tang Dynasty, participants were mainly scholars and upper‑middle-class families; common people began to take part in the mid‑to‑late Tang but not enthusiastically.
The Song court also attached great importance to the festival, granting one day’s leave to officials.
Wu Zimu of the Southern Song Dynasty recorded in Dream Memories of the Eastern Capital that Mid-Autumn customs in the Southern Song were similar to those of the Northern Song and equally lively, with an added detail: “Even shopkeepers go up to small moon platforms, hold family feasts, and reunite with their children to celebrate the festival.” This shows the festival had begun to emphasize family reunion.From the Ming Dynasty onward, Mid-Autumn customs changed considerably. While activities still revolved around the moon, their content was significantly adjusted.First, moon appreciation was no longer the central activity. Although lively moon‑viewing events remained in scenic areas, detailed records of moon worship replaced them in ordinary places. Moon worship and prayer for blessings became the most prominent part of the festival during the Ming and Qing dynasties.Second, family reunion became an explicit theme of the festival. Tian Rucheng wrote in West Lake Travel Notes: “The 15th day of the 8th lunar month is Mid-Autumn; people send mooncakes to each other, symbolizing reunion.” The festival also gained the name “Reunion Festival”.Records of the Imperial Capital states: “Daughters who have married and returned to their parents’ homes must go back to their husbands’ homes on this day, for it is the Reunion Festival.”As moon worship declined, mooncakes rose in importance within festival customs. Overall, after the Ming and Qing dynasties, the themes of respecting ethics and valuing family affection gradually stood out, while the romantic lyricism of moon appreciation and the revelry of heavy drinking seen in the Tang and Song dynasties faded.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, secular joy in seasonal festivals grew stronger. Moon appreciation ceremonies required “offerings of fruits and cakes must be round”; every household set up a “Moon Altar” to “worship the moon toward its rising direction”.Moon worship remained a ritual celebration, while the meaning of reunion and family gathering took deep root in people’s hearts.
Having evolved over thousands of years, the Mid-Autumn Festival embodies extensive and profound traditional Chinese culture. Ancient rituals and numerous myths have enriched its connotations, and scholars and literati have left countless poems and essays in its praise.The roundness of the moon symbolizes human reunion. The festival expresses longing for hometown and relatives, and prayers for harvest and happiness, making it a rich and precious cultural heritage.
On May 20, 2006, the Mid-Autumn Festival was inscribed by the State Council on the First National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.Besides China, the festival is also popular in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Southeast Asia and other regions.
On January 1, 2008, it was designated as a national statutory holiday by the State Council.