Every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, moon cakes are eaten every year.
For a long time, I thought mooncakes were just an ordinary holiday food. Sweet, salty, bean paste stuffing, and five-nut stuffing, no matter how many tricks and varieties there are, they are just the ritual of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching this year. When I was visiting the supermarket, I looked at the dazzling array of mooncakes on the shelves and suddenly felt emotional. Mooncakes may seem like just a simple seasonal snack, but they cross mountains and rivers, incorporate flavors from all over the world, and convey the meaning of Mid-Autumn Festival reunion.
Later, when I looked up the information, I found out that the birth and evolution of mooncakes to their unique appearance today are the result of the participation, creation and inheritance of all ethnic groups from the beginning to the end. They are the cultural taste "cooked" by the entire Chinese nation.
It wasn't until this moment that I suddenly realized: I really underestimated the mooncakes.
Consistency and diversity, unity in diversity, and the sense of community of the Chinese nation can be explained clearly with a piece of mooncake without having to memorize big principles.
The origin of mooncakes dates back to more than 2,000 years ago. The Silk Road opened up channels for the exchange of civilizations and opened up the "two-way rush" of ingredients and techniques.
Zhang Hua's "Natural History" of the Western Jin Dynasty recorded that "Zhang Qian returned the Western Regions and obtained walnut seeds." As the exchanges between the Central Plains and the Western Regions became increasingly close, walnuts and other products entered the Central Plains and gradually became a common ingredient in Central Plains pastries.
"Xu Hanshu" records that "Emperor Ling loved Hu cakes, and all the capital officials ate Hu cakes." Some people believe that this round dough cake sprinkled with sesame seeds is the prototype of mooncakes in later generations. In Chang'an at that time, frontier merchants and the people of the Central Plains "lived next to each other", and "different things came from all directions." The products of the frontier and the craftsmanship of the Central Plains nourished each other, sowing the seeds of integration for mooncakes.
By the Tang Dynasty, the integration of civilizations had reached a new height. The Baoxiang pattern mooncake-style pastry unearthed from the Astana Ancient Tomb in Turpan, Xinjiang is the only Tang Dynasty mooncake-style pastry discovered in China. This cultural relic from the Tang Dynasty is beautifully made and regular in shape. It is a historical portrayal of the exchange and mutual learning of food culture between Xinjiang and the Central Plains. Therefore, from the beginning of its birth, mooncakes have not been of "single blood". They have always been one of you and one of me.
During the Song Dynasty, exchanges between various ethnic groups became more frequent, and the tea-horse trade connected the north and the south. The custom of appreciating the moon from the Central Plains gradually spread to the frontiers, and the unique dairy craftsmanship of the frontiers fed back the pastry skills of the Central Plains. People of all ethnic groups enjoy the bright moon together and look forward to a lifetime of reunion. Mooncakes have also entered poetry and classics.
Su Shi's poem "Small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crispness and sweetness in them" describes the exquisite flavor of shortbread cakes at that time. The name "mooncake" has been seen in "Mengliang Lu" of the Southern Song Dynasty, and it was sold as a snack in the market.
In the Ming Dynasty, mooncakes and the meaning of Mid-Autumn Festival completed a deep "binding".
Tian Rucheng's "West Lake Tour Chronicles" records: "August 15th is called the Mid-Autumn Festival, and people send moon cakes to each other to symbolize reunion." "The Scenery of the Imperial Capital" co-authored by Liu Tong and Yu Yizheng also records that "when worshiping the moon on August 15th, the fruit cakes must be round." It can be seen that people at that time gave each other moon cakes, worshiped the moon, and wished family reunion. Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes have become a unique cultural symbol.
The unified territorial structure of the Qing Dynasty was stable, and exchanges between various ethnic groups became more in-depth. Each ethnic group has transformed it based on its own products and customs, retaining the meaning of "full moon and reunion", and developing its own unique categories.
According to the "Qing Palace Dietary Archives", the Qing court inherited the custom of offering moon cakes in the Central Plains, and integrated it into the Manchu food tradition to create butter moon cakes filled with butter and butter pastry. The archives also record that when Emperor Qianlong went hunting in Mulan Paddock, the palace specially delivered mooncakes stuffed with butter and dates for consumption on the way.
Today, mooncakes are no longer the same. It takes root in different regions and develops its own flavor.
The land of Yunnan and Guizhou in the southwest has beautiful mountains and rivers and rich products. According to "Kunming City Pulse", the operator of Kunming Hexianglou pastry shop brought Beijing-style pastry techniques to Yunnan, combined with local Xuanwei ham, and improved it to create the famous cloud leg mooncakes. The Yi, Bai, Miao and other ethnic groups rely on local flowers, fruits and vegetables to innovate special categories such as flower mooncakes, which are a perfect blend of salty, mellow and sweet and elegant.
Speaking of integration, the fireworks of integration are endless on the vast Northwest Silk Road. People of all ethnic groups in the Hexi Corridor create exquisite Liangzhou mooncakes; people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang combine local almonds, raisins, rose jam and other special products to create unique mooncakes. The meaning of reunion during the Mid-Autumn Festival has been passed down from generation to generation in the fertile land of northwest China.
Among the forests, seas and snowfields of the Northeast, where there are white mountains and black waters, folk customs and products coexist in harmony. People of all ethnic groups in Northeast China combine local products such as pine nuts, wild fruits, red beans and other products to create special mooncakes with rich taste and rich aroma. The Mid-Autumn Festival customs of appreciating the moon and eating cakes for reunions have taken root in the land of northern Xinjiang and have become a festival warmth shared by people of all ethnic groups.
Anhui and other places, located at the hub of the north and south, inherit the cultural heritage of the north and the south and bring together skills from all directions. Huizhou pastry craftsmen draw on pastry techniques from the north and south, using local sesame, osmanthus, candied fruits, nuts and other products to create Huizhou-style mooncakes with unique flavors. Some of the ancient production techniques are included in the local intangible cultural heritage.
The flavors vary greatly from north to south. Some people prefer sweetness, some prefer salty flavor; some enjoy the crispiness as thin as cicada wings, while some prefer the filling with thick fillings. Different regions, different products, different customs and different aesthetics, it can be said that a hundred flowers bloom and each has its own characteristics.
But no matter how the taste changes, one thing remains the same. In the land of China, all Chinese people look up to the same bright moon; every Mid-Autumn Festival, thousands of families celebrate the same festival with lights; across mountains and seas, people of all ethnic groups stick to the same reunion.
The milk from the grassland, the fruits from the frontier, the flowers from the southwest, and the noodles from the Central Plains have traveled a long way, and finally ended up in the same moon cake.
Some people feel that the "consciousness of the Chinese nation's community" is grand and abstract and far away from life. In fact, you don’t need to think about it so complicated. Mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival are the most popular and fresh answer.
The evolution history of a piece of mooncake is a history of exchanges, exchanges and integration of the Chinese nation that can be seen, tasted and touched.
Every unique flavor is a reflection of cultural mutual learning; every fusion of skills is a spiritual connection; every reunion blessing is a true reflection of the sense of community of the Chinese nation.
A piece of mooncake has its own taste in the north and south. A "circle" is the common wish of everyone.
Author: Ai Shuxi
(Source: "Little Compass" WeChat public account)
