August 15th of the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as "August and a half". On this day, all relatives who are away from home will go home for reunion, so it is also called "Reunion Festival". This is an important "festival" in the year after the Spring Festival. Before the festival, Yancheng villagers made full preparations. Usually people buy all kinds of moon cakes with stuffing from food stores, as well as chickens, geese, ducks and poultry waiting to be slaughtered, as well as some lotus roots, pears and diamonds. On this day, eat more jiaozi or cakes in the morning, roosters or ducks at noon, and moon cakes, glutinous rice cakes (commonly known as "sticky sesame cakes" in the west) or lotus root cakes at night. In the old society, at night, all families should "respect the moonlight". Children would take the fruits on their plates, put them outside the square table, light incense sticks, set off firecrackers and reunite with Yue Bai's family. Poor people eat ordinary rice cakes, while rich people hold banquets and have reunion wine. At present, the custom of "respecting the moon" in urban and rural areas is rare, and other folk customs still exist. Some organs and mass organizations often hold tea parties and get-togethers for overseas Chinese from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan on this festival, and industrial and commercial enterprises hold trade fairs and fairs in autumn. Intellectuals, especially celebrities in the cultural and artistic circles, often get together, write poems, write and draw pictures by enjoying the moon.

The origin of Mid-Autumn Festival, the folk custom of Yancheng has a history of more than 2000 years. It is said that ancient emperors sacrificed to the sun in the morning of February 15 in spring and to the moon in the evening of August 15 in autumn. This is what was said later: "It is better to sacrifice the sun than the moon, and mid-spring and mid-autumn are at that time." In ancient times, the three months of the lunar calendar were called Meng, Zhong and Ji respectively. The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month is just in the middle of autumn, so people call it "Mid-Autumn Festival" and "Mid-Autumn Festival". The emperor offered sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn, and dignitaries and scribes followed suit. This custom gradually spread to Yancheng folk. Therefore, Yancheng has the custom of offering sacrifices to the moon, Yue Bai and enjoying the moon every Mid-Autumn Festival. It is said that this custom is related to the statement that Ming Taizu visited the Moon Palace on August 15th in the Tang Dynasty. According to legend, one year, on the night of August 15th, Emperor Tang Ming had a dream. He flew to the Moon Palace and walked to the beautiful palace gate with Luo's help. Suddenly, he felt a chill, and when he looked intently, a white rabbit was pounding medicine under a huge osmanthus tree in front of the door, and a huge plaque was embedded in the door, which read "The House of Wide Cold and Clear Deficiency". They entered the Guanghan Palace, which was full of exotic flowers and plants and extraordinary style. In the magnificent hall with carved beams and painted buildings and jade pillars, hundreds of fairies dressed in white and transparent light jade gauze danced with melodious music. When Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty woke up from his dream, he quickly ordered his men to write down the songs in the Moon Palace, and after finishing them, they became colorful feather clothes, which were later circulated among the people.

In Yancheng, the most popular, vivid and deeply rooted Mid-Autumn Festival story is the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon. It is said that the beautiful Chang 'e on the moon was originally the wife of Hou Yi in ancient legends, and Hou Yi was a god. It is said that there were ten suns in the sky at that time, which brought disaster to mankind. Heaven sent God to send Hou Yi down to save the suffering of ordinary people. After receiving his orders, Hou Yi came to the world with his wife Chang 'e, and advised 10 suns that only one sun could appear every day. These ten suns, all sons of the Emperor of Heaven, ignored Hou Yi at all, but became even more unscrupulous, deliberately approaching the earth, making the ground ablaze and killing people without blinking an eye. After repeated advice failed, Hou Yi bent his bow and took an arrow, shooting down nine suns in one breath. Finally, Sun saw that the situation was not good, so he had to plead guilty and save his life.

Since then, Hou Yi's reputation as a folk pest controller has spread. However, the Emperor of Heaven was furious when he learned that Hou Yi had shot and killed his nine sons, and ordered Hou Yi and his wife not to return to heaven. As we all know, Hou Yi is a person who is willing to harm others for the people, and it is welcome to stay in the world. To this end, Chang 'e always blamed Hou Yi for shooting the nine sons of Tiandi without thinking, which made the couple unable to return to heaven. In addition, Houyi continued to harm the world, killing all kinds of monsters that harm the earth, such as giant snakes, raccoons, wild jackals, gnawing monsters, hydra and so on. Hou Yi thinks that he has done a lot of good things, and the Emperor of Heaven will certainly praise him and let him and his wife Chang 'e return to heaven. But it backfired, and the Emperor of Heaven simply ignored it. Chang 'e even complained about Hou Yi, who couldn't stand it anymore, so he left Chang 'e and went out to travel alone. It is said that the Queen Mother of West Kunlun Mountain has an "elixir of life". After going through all the hardships, Hou Yi came to Kunlun Mountain and asked the Queen Mother of the West for the last bag of elixir she left for herself. One person can ascend to heaven after taking this medicine, and two people can live forever after taking it. Hou Yi is kind-hearted and reluctant to part with his beloved wife and other villagers. He didn't want to go to heaven alone, so he took the medicine home to Chang 'e and hid it in a brocade box on the bed. At that time, the world was flooded, and they had no shelter or food. For the sake of Chang 'e, Hou Yi shot and killed animals with arrows, often without a meal. Chang 'e can't stand this kind of suffering. One night, she secretly took out the bag of elixir from the jewelry box and stared at the sky, longing for the beauty and happiness of life in the sky. Just as Chang 'e was meditating, there was a horse crow coming from Hou Yi in the distance. Chang 'e swallowed the elixir in a hurry, flying like a swallow, rising from the sky and reaching the sky. Hou Yi called repeatedly on horseback, but Chang 'e should not. At this moment, many immortals saw Chang 'e fly into the sky and pointed out that she "betrayed her husband and stole the elixir, which is not a good thing!" Chang 'e felt ashamed and didn't dare to fly to the sky again, so she turned and flew to the Cold Moon Palace. For the sake of his ungrateful wife, Hou Yi made up his mind several times to shoot down the moon where Chang 'e lived, but he couldn't. Hou Yi couldn't bear to shoot his wife to hunt animals, so he destroyed his bow and arrow. The news that the sympathetic hero Hou Yi destroyed his bow and arrow spread like wildfire. Feng Meng, his student, was secretly happy and thought it was time to kill Hou Yi. Kill him, he can be called a world-class shooter. So, one day, Feng Meng took advantage of Houyi's drunkenness, put an arrow on his bow and shot it at Houyi from behind. Hou Yi was caught off guard and killed by an arrow. God was furious and lightning struck Feng Meng. Later, Chang 'e regretted it very much, so she had to stay alone in the lonely moon Guanghan Palace, afraid to come out, accompanied by only a white rabbit and a toad.

Therefore, Yancheng folk used to have the custom of sending male prostitutes to their children. When people were in Yue Bai on August 15, they worshipped the "Moonlight Bodhisattva", that is, a piece of paper painted with the shape of a Bodhisattva, with the Moon Palace and the Jade Rabbit playing tricks on medicine painted below. So there was a statue of a prostitute, dedicated to offering sacrifices to the moon for children. The prostitute is very proud, with a white face, a golden helmet and a shirt, a mortar in one hand and a pestle in the other, and a flag on her back. There are all kinds of mounts, such as tigers, sika deer, lions and camels. Some are sitting on the lotus. After offering sacrifices, it became children's toys.

When it comes to offering sacrifices to the moon, Yancheng folks have a saying that "it opens on August 15th". According to legend, there was a long-term laborer in ancient times who herded cattle for landlords for more than 20 years. He is still penniless and can't find a wife. Once he was very ill, so he couldn't go herding cattle. On the night of August 15, he was driven away by the landlord and became homeless. He was lying under a osmanthus tree on the hillside, looking at the bright moon and feeling sad. Strange to say, suddenly a beautiful fairy came to the moon palace and asked why, dancing with long sleeves, she gave the long-term workers a hut, fields, pots and pans, hoes and plows. Since then, long-term workers have lived a happy life of self-cultivation. This matter is widely circulated among the people. Therefore, on the evening of the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, people set tables outside the house to offer sacrifices to the moon, praying for the reopening of Tianmen and asking the Moon Palace Empress to give gifts. Since then, the moon has become more sacred in people's hearts.

For the offerings on the dining table, mooncakes are essential, and now mooncakes have become a gift of the people. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, every family gets together to taste moon cakes and look up at the bright moon in the sky, which naturally reminds them of their families outside. On this day, women who go back to their parents' home to visit relatives must rush back to their husbands' home for "reunion". There is a saying in Yancheng that "it is better to have a Mid-Autumn Festival than to keep a girl for an autumn". Even relatives who are far away from home will look at the moon and miss their relatives at home. Therefore, Yancheng folks also call Mid-Autumn Festival "Reunion Festival", and some people can't help reciting the great poet Su Dongpo's "Water Tune": "When will there be a bright moon? I take my glass from a distance. I don't know the palace in the sky, and I don't know the month and time. I want to go home by the wind, but I'm afraid the jade building is high and not afraid of the cold. Dance to find the shadow, what is it like! The moon turned into a scarlet pavilion, hanging low on the carved window, shining on the sleepy self. There should be no hate, so why don't we leave? People are sad and happy, and they are separated and reunited. The moon has yin and yang, and there are gains and losses. Nothing is perfect, even in the past. I hope that people will last for a long time and have a good scenery. "

There are many folk sayings about Yancheng people's habit of eating moon cakes on Mid-Autumn Festival, but the more famous legend can be summarized as follows: In order to pacify northern Xinjiang, Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty sent a love general Li Jing to conquer the Turks in the north. Excavate lived up to expectations and made outstanding achievements repeatedly, which made the frontier fortress peaceful. On August 15, Li Jing returned to Beijing triumphantly. Drums and firecrackers exploded inside and outside Chang 'an, the capital city, and the whole city reveled all night. It is said that a Tubo doing business in Chang 'an made colorful round cakes overnight and presented them to Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, to congratulate him. Li Shimin was very happy. He held a beautifully packaged round cake box and stroked colorful round cakes, imagining and praising the prosperous times of the Tang Dynasty. Pointing to the sky and the moon, he blurted out, "You should invite toads (that is, the moon) to eat Hu cakes." Then, Li Shimin and the civil and military officials shared the tribute colored cakes, and everyone praised the unique flavor and profound meaning of the colored cakes.