What is the Origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival? Can a Beginner Make Traditional Cantonese Mooncakes?

The Origin and Legend of Mid-Autumn Festival
The term "Mid-Autumn Festival" was first used in the “Rites of Zhou” and “Book of Rites - Moon Festival", and there are more stories about the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of which says that it originated from the sacrificial rituals of the ancient emperors.
According to the “Book of Rites", the Son of Heaven, in the spring, would worship the sun, and in the autumn, would worship the moon, which means that as early as in the Spring and Autumn Periods, the emperors had begun to worship the moon.
Another theory is that the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is related to agricultural production. Autumn is the harvest season, and the interpretation of the Chinese character "Qiu" is "crops are ripe in autumn". In August, mid-autumn crops and all kinds of fruits are ripe one after another, to celebrate the harvest and express the joy of the mood, the farmers make the "Mid-Autumn" day a holiday, so the Mid-Autumn Festival may be the ancient autumn worship customs inherited.
In addition, there are other legends about the origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival found throughout East Asia, such as the legend of the Moon Rabbit, the legend of Chang'e fleeing to the moon in China, and the legend of Cuoi in Vietnam. The legend of Pei Ji, who defeated the Sui army on the 15th day of the 8th month in China, has only become popular in recent times.
Origin of Mooncakes

Mooncakes were originally used as an offering to the Lunar Deity, and the word “mooncake” was first used in Wu Zimu's “Menglianglu” in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was just a cake-shaped food like water caltrop flower cake at that time. Later, people combined the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival with mooncakes to symbolise the reunion of family members.
It is also said that the mooncake is related to the founding of the Ming Dynasty by Zhu Yuanzhang: at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang gathered all the rebel forces to meet on the Mid-Autumn Festival, but the court was very strict and it was inconvenient to pass on the news, so he hid a note in the cake and sent it to the rebel forces all over the country. On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, all the rebel forces responded together, and later Zhu Yuanzhang took over the world. At the Mid-Autumn Festival, he rewarded his ministers with mooncakes, which had been used to send secret messages during the rebellion.
Since then, mooncakes have become more delicate, with more varieties, and the custom of eating mooncakes at the Mid-Autumn Festival has spread among the people.

Traditional Cantonese Mooncake Recipe - A Must Learn for Beginners
Mooncakes are one of the essential foods for the Mid-Autumn Festival every year. It is not difficult to make mooncakes with your own hands, follow the steps below and you can make delicious mooncakes at home!
Steps:
- Pour 1 tablespoon of rose wine into the salted egg yolk to remove the fishy taste, steam for 5 minutes and set aside.
- Combine all the ingredients for the crust, sift the flour and mix well.
- Don't overwork the dough and leave it to rest for 2 hours.
- Roll out the moon cake pastry (48g) with a rolling pin into a thin sheet, add your favourite filling and the reserved salted egg yolk.
- Using the palm, slowly press the dough into a round shape and press it into the mould.
- Preheat the oven to 160°, bake for 6 minutes, take out and brush with egg mixture, put back in the oven and bake for 18 minutes and it's done.
- The secret of tasty mooncakes is to leave the freshly baked mooncakes for two or three days before eating to make the crust fluffier and more delicious.