The Custom of Playing with Torches During the Mid-Autumn Festival
In some parts of China, there is a custom of "playing with torches" during the Mid-Autumn Festival.For example, in the Heyang area of Shaanxi Province, people "swing torches" during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Swinging torches usually starts on the evening of the 14th day of the eighth lunar month and ends on the evening of the 16th day, carried out by local young men.
When the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, local young men will take out flattened grass rings, which are mixed with a small amount of grain stalks or corn stalks, and then tightly tie them with an iron rope used for tying pigs or pulling oxen. They light them under the moonlight.
The lit torches are held by strong young men, who then swing them vigorously. The firelight appears particularly bright in the night sky. If several people swing them together, the scene becomes even more spectacular, looking from a distance like several fire rings flying in the air.
These bright red torches, whenever they rotate past someone's front door, the host will warmly bring out a tray of cigarettes and a tray of mooncakes to offer to the onlookers. Then, people greet each other and wish each other a happy Mid-Autumn Festival in this lively atmosphere, hoping for good luck.
What Does It Mean to Play with the Rabbit God?
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, there is a custom of playing with the "Rabbit God" in northern China.The custom of playing with the Rabbit God began around the late Ming Dynasty. In old Beijing, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, besides eating mooncakes, people would also worship the Rabbit God. "Rabbit God" has a rabbit head and human body, wearing armor, with a back flag, sitting or standing, or holding a pestle or riding an animal, with two large ears upright. Initially, the "Rabbit God" was used for moon worship rituals during the Mid-Autumn Festival. By the Qing Dynasty, the "Rabbit God" gradually transformed into a toy for children during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Ji Kun (active around 1636) wrote in his "Flower King Pavilion Remnant Collection": "During the Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing, people often make rabbit-shaped figures out of clay, dressed in clothes and sitting like humans, which children worship and pay homage to." By the Qing Dynasty, the function of the Rabbit God had shifted from moon worship to becoming a toy for children during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Rabbit God is made of clay, with a rabbit head and human body, wearing armor, with a back flag, face covered with gold mud, body painted with colors, sitting or standing, holding a pestle or riding an animal, with two large ears upright, both solemn and humorous. As recorded in "Yan Jing Yearly Customs": "Every time the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, clever people in the city make images of frogs and rabbits out of yellow clay to sell, called the Rabbit God." During the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court referred to the moon's rabbit as the "Lord of the Moon." However, the people of Beijing called it the "Rabbit God," which was a unique folk custom that was more playful than solemn.
