Xianning, September 9 (Hu Chuanlin, Hu Jianfang, Li Tingting) On the evening of the 27th, Dawu Lei, Shicheng Village, Guihua Town, Xianning City, Hubei Province, held a Mid-Autumn Festival moon festival, and hundreds of villagers and tourists gathered around the moon pond to watch the moon festival ceremony.
Villagers held moon festivals around the moon pond in front of the Lei ancestral hall. Photo by Zhang Yangqiang
The drums and salutes were heard at the event, and the scene was sacred, solemn and warm. Dressed in white, holding a banner with the word "thunder" and a moon lantern, the villagers walked in front, first entering the ancestral temple to worship the ancestors, and then respectfully inviting the ancestral spirits to participate in the moon worship.
Shicheng Village, Guihua Town, Xian'an District, Xianning City, has more than 11 villagers in 300 villager groups, which have been mainly engaged in agriculture for generations, supplemented by osmanthus seedling economy. The village is inhabited by the Ju clan surnamed Lei and is commonly known as "Dawu Lei". Every August 2009 around the Mid-Autumn Festival, villagers will gather in the open space in front of the Lei ancestral hall to worship the moon god and pray for smooth wind and rain and abundant grains. According to reports, Dayu Lei has had the custom of mid-autumn festival moon sacrifice since the Qing Dynasty, and since <>, after continuous excavation and sorting, a complete set of moon festival rituals has gradually formed.
The site of the Moon Festival. Photo by Zhang Yangqiang
Xian'an District is known as the hometown of osmanthus in China, and the Mid-Autumn Festival cultural activities and cultural phenomena closely related to the moon and Chang'e have been derived from the development of osmanthus culture. In the unique natural landscape, there are not only hundreds of meters of stone city, Chang'e dressing stone statue, the first temple of Jiangnan Wu Lord, but also the historical inheritance of the spring god, the 15th day of the first month to play a hundred festival dragon lanterns, Qingming ancestor worship and other folk customs, has been awarded the "China Mid-Autumn Festival Customs Inheritance Base" and "China Chang'e Culture Hometown" and other titles. (End)