when did the mid autumn festival first start

The exact origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival are a bit hazy, but there are two main schools of thought:

Post-Autumn Harvest Celebration: According to many scholars, the festival likely began as a simple celebration of the autumn harvest sometime between 1600 BCE and 1046 BCE. This aligns with the Shang Dynasty in China, where evidence suggests people worshipped the moon during the autumn.

Formally Recognized Festival: While harvest celebrations might have existed earlier, the recognition of the Mid-Autumn Festival as a true festival seems to have occurred much later, during the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD). It was during this period that the 15th day of the 8th lunar month was established as the official date for the festival, and mooncake offerings and sacrifice rituals became more prominent traditions.