Mid-autumn Day in Taizhou falls on the sixteenth day of the eighth lunar month. [Photo/Official WeChat Account: hytv0576]

Mid-autumn Day in Taizhou falls on the sixteenth day of the eighth lunar month, which is the day after Mid-autumn Festival in China.

There are many explanations for its origin. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang, founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), commanded his subordinate to hide the announcement of an uprising on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month in mooncakes, but the messenger was delayed and arrived at Taizhou on the sixteenth. But by a strange combination of circumstances, however, the uprising finally succeeded. Zhu happily rewarded his ministers with the message mooncakes, and so Taizhou natives celebrate the Mid-autumn Festival on the sixteenth day of the eighth lunar month.

Some say that Ming general Qi Jiguang defended against the Japanese invasion at the night of Mid-autumn Festival and celebrated the winning of the war on the next day, so the festival was changed in memory of the victory. 

Others think that according to the Huangyan County Annals in the time of the Guangxu Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the dates ending with three, six and nine are market days, so the festival was changed for easier shopping.