Because "Jiujiu" and "Jiujiu" are homophonic, and nine is the largest number in the number, which means longevity, so the ancients thought that the Double Ninth Festival was an auspicious day worth celebrating. Let's see how you celebrate the Double Ninth Festival.
1, eat Chongyang cake
Chongyang cake, also known as flower cake, chrysanthemum cake and five-color cake, is the representative food of the Double Ninth Festival on September 9. As a holiday food, it was originally used to celebrate the bumper harvest of grain and like to taste new grain. Because "Gao" and "Gao" are homophonic, there is auspicious meaning of climbing step by step, so there is the custom of climbing to eat cakes on the Double Ninth Festival.
Steamed Chongyang cake is mainly for the elderly. Old people will not have backache after eating Chongyang cake, so they should be given Chongyang cake every year to make them strong and energetic.
Step 2 enjoy chrysanthemums
During the Double Ninth Festival, all kinds of chrysanthemums are in full bloom, so watching chrysanthemums naturally becomes an important part of the festival. Besides watching bright chrysanthemums, we will also light chrysanthemum lanterns, hold banquets, make music and drums together to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival in Daqing.
Chrysanthemum is the flower of longevity, and is praised by scholars as the unyielding symbol of first frost. Double Ninth Festival is also called Chrysanthemum Festival, and chrysanthemum appreciation has become an important part of the custom of Double Ninth Festival. September of the lunar calendar, commonly known as Chrysanthemum Month, holds a chrysanthemum party on holidays, and people from all over the city go to the meeting to enjoy chrysanthemums. Beijingers also stick chrysanthemum branches and leaves on doors and windows, "to get rid of evil and filth, and to make money and treasure."
3. ancestor worship
The Double Ninth Festival, New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Zhongyuan Festival are collectively called the four traditional ancestral festivals in China. As early as the pre-Qin period, when crops were harvested, people had the custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth and ancestors in September to thank their ancestors for their kindness.
However, the worship of the Double Ninth Festival is to thank the ancestors for their kindness and pray for the blessing after the harvest, so the atmosphere is relaxed and happy, and there will be no sadness like "pedestrians want to break their souls".
4. Pei dogwood
In ancient times, there was a custom of inserting dogwood on September 9, so the Double Ninth Festival was also called the dogwood Festival. Cornus officinalis has a strong fragrance, which has the functions of expelling insects, dehumidifying and expelling wind, and also has the functions of promoting digestion and resolving food stagnation and treating cold and heat. It can be used as medicine and wine for health preservation and disease elimination. People think that the ninth day of September is also a day of disaster, so people like to wear dogwood to ward off evil spirits and seek good luck on the Double Ninth Festival. Therefore, Cornus officinalis is also called "evil spirit".
Therefore, on the Double Ninth Festival, people have the custom of wearing Cornus officinalis or inserting Cornus officinalis when climbing high and looking far. They can also give Cornus officinalis as a gift to relatives and friends to ward off evil spirits, seek good luck and prolong life.
Step 5 climb high
On the day of the Double Ninth Festival, there is a common custom among the people, that is, people should go out and look far on this day. In ancient times, people worshipped mountain gods, thinking that "the anode of the old sun will change in 1999", so on September 9, they went to the mountain to climb high and look far, worshiping mountain gods for good luck, and later it gradually evolved into an entertainment activity.
Autumn in September, the sky is crisp, this season, climbing high and looking far can achieve the purpose of refreshing, fitness and recuperation. As for the places to wait, there are no special regulations. Generally, we climb mountains and climb towers.
Today, China also designated the ninth day of the ninth lunar month as the festival for the elderly, advocating the whole society to establish an atmosphere of respecting, loving and helping the elderly. In 2006, the Double Ninth Festival was listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage by the State Council.