Mid-Autumn Festival
01 · Historical Records
The custom of moon-gazing at Jueshan on the Mid-Autumn Festival has been recorded since the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The area of circulation of the Zezhou Mid-Autumn custom is centred on Jueshan in Zezhou County, Jincheng City, Shanxi Province, radiating to such Central Plains regions as Sanjin (Shanxi), northwestern Henan and southern Hebei. Jueshan is a famous mountain of Jincheng; the spectacle of 'the moon rising from Jueshan' (Jueshan Tuyue) is known far and wide, and it is praised as a 'famous mountain for moon appreciation in China'. In the Song and Jin periods, the practices of sacrificing to the moon, worshipping the moon and moon-gazing at mid-autumn were already prevalent. The principal rituals of the Zezhou Mid-Autumn Festival are sacrificing to the moon and worshipping the moon, which the local people call worshipping the 'Moon Granny' (Yue Popo). Other main contents include visiting the maternal grandmother, chanting poems in praise of the moon and holding temple fairs. During the festival, the local people bring their relatives and friends along to celebrate reunion. Close connection with the life of the people is a characteristic of the Zezhou Mid-Autumn custom.
Worship of the Moon Grandmother
The central rite of the Zezhou Mid-Autumn: an altar is set outdoors, incense and melons are offered, and the family bows to the Moon Grandmother.
Taking a place for Jueshan Moon-spitting
Families climb Jueshan the night before to secure a spot for watching the moon rise in the narrow gap between the twin peaks.
Temple fair at Mid-Autumn
A temple fair runs alongside the moon worship, drawing worshippers and traders to the village street.
Visiting the maternal grandmother
A distinctive Zezhou custom in which juniors pay a formal call on the maternal grandmother's household before the festival.
Poems recited under the autumn moon
Poems are improvised in call-and-response under the moon, led by village scholars and continued by the younger generation.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In spatial terms the Zezhou Mid-Autumn custom presents a pattern of 'one mountain linking the three Jin': with Jueshan as its axis, the most complete rituals are found in the townships of Zezhou County; northward the festival custom reaches as far as the Jinzhong area of Shanxi; southward, along the Dan River and Qinshui lines it keeps up exchanges with the village communes of northwestern Henan; and the villages in the direction of southern Hebei brought the observances home through marriage visits. The area of circulation is therefore not an enclosed square, but a web woven by visiting relatives and going to market. What enabled Jueshan to become the centre was the spectacle of 'the moon rising from Jueshan'. With two peaks flanking the water, on looking up one sees only a single thread of sky-light; mountain households and townsfolk climb up on the eve of mid-autumn to claim their places, the stone terraces fill to capacity, and the incense at the mountainside never dies out. The allocation of rituals varies with the conditions of habitation: in the city districts, where courtyards are small, offerings are mostly set in the household's own courtyard, with incense burned and melons and fruits presented, one altar per household; in the countryside, sacrifices are made jointly by village commune, public incense altars are set where the population is large, and mooncakes are shared out after the rites. Visiting the maternal grandmother is a feature rarely seen elsewhere in the Zezhou Mid-Autumn custom — the younger generation prepares gifts and makes a special trip to call on the maternal grandparents' family before the festival, for in the local conception of human relations the maternal side carries no small weight. Temple fairs are mostly held at mountain temples and ancient buildings in the villages, running concurrently with the moon worship; the chanting of poems in praise of the moon follows no musical score, but is improvised and passed on by rural scholars and by middle-aged and elderly people under trees and in pavilions. This ritual order is documented and promoted under the lead of the Zezhou County Folk Custom Research Association; the ritual details of each township, the lists of offerings and the sung texts have all been placed on record, and although the length of the festival varies from year to year, its framework remains unchanged.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Mid-Autumn Festival · Mid-Autumn Festival · Mid-Autumn Festival · Mid-Autumn Festival · Mid-Autumn Festival · Mid-Autumn Festival · Mid-Autumn Festival.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
This project is of great significance for carrying forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation and strengthening community residents' sense of identity and affinity, and it also has important value for folkloric and historical research.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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