The Double Ninth Festival is also called the Festival for the Elderly. Because the ancient Book of Changes defined "six" as yin number and "nine" as yang number, on September 9, the sun and the moon merged into one, so it was called Chongyang, also known as Double Ninth Festival. The ancients thought it was an auspicious day to celebrate, and they began to celebrate it from a very young age. The activities to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival are colorful and romantic, which generally include traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high and looking far, watching chrysanthemums, planting dogwood everywhere, eating double ninth festival cakes, drinking chrysanthemum wine and other activities. Double Ninth Festival, because it is homophonic with "long", and nine is the largest number in the number, which means long life. Moreover, autumn is also the golden season of harvest in a year, and the Double Ninth Festival has far-reaching influence. People have always had special feelings for this festival. There are many excellent poems in Tang poetry and Song poetry to congratulate the Double Ninth Festival and chant chrysanthemums. The Double Ninth Festival is a traditional festival that combines various folk customs. At the same time, unlike the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, it is a unique festival of the Han nationality. Double Ninth Festival is an annual festival. In the Lunar New Year season in China, there are seven repeated figures, such as the first lunar month (Spring Festival), February 2nd, March 3rd, May 5th (Dragon Boat Festival), June 6th, July 7th (Chinese Valentine's Day) and September 9th, which have become custom festivals one after another. On September 9, the sun and the moon merged into one, so it occupies an important position among the 20-year-olds and is the most admired mysterious number in faith. First of all, there is a custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival. Autumn in September, the sky is crisp. In this season, climbing the mountain and overlooking it can achieve the purpose of relaxing body and mind, keeping fit and getting rid of diseases. The custom of eating Chongyang cake is related to mountain climbing. Gaohe cake is homophonic. As a holiday food, it was originally to celebrate the harvest of autumn grain and taste new grain. Later, people had the auspicious meaning of climbing high and eating cakes step by step. The Double Ninth Festival has always had the custom of enjoying chrysanthemums, so it has been called Chrysanthemum Festival since ancient times. 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. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms, it has become fashionable for Chongyang parties to drink and enjoy chrysanthemums and recite poems. In the ancient customs of Han nationality, chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity. The custom of inserting Evodia rutaecarpa was popular in ancient times, so it is also called Cornus Festival. As a medicine, Cornus officinalis can make wine, strengthen the body and get rid of diseases. The Double Ninth Festival was formed as early as the Warring States Period. In the Tang Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival was officially designated as a folk festival, which has been inherited ever since. In the folk concept, the Double Ninth Festival is homophonic with "Nine Nine", which means longevity, health and longevity. From 65438 to 0989, China designated the ninth day of the ninth lunar month as the festival for the elderly, and advocated the whole society to establish the atmosphere of respecting, loving and helping the elderly. Double Ninth Festival has a new meaning. The origin of the Double Ninth Festival [Edit this paragraph] The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival. Because in the ancient Book of Changes, "six" was defined as yin number, and "nine" was defined as yang number. On September 9, the sun and the moon combined with yang, and 29 was the most important, so it was called Chongyang, also called Chongyang. The name of "Double Ninth Festival" was recorded in the Three Kingdoms period. According to xelloss's "Nine Days and Zhong You Book", "Year to month, suddenly September 9th. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon coincide. It is well known and considered suitable for a long time, so it is a feast. " Double Ninth Festival is a festival with a long history. Due to its long history, the formation of the festival is not easy to investigate. Therefore, there are different opinions about the origin of the Double Ninth Festival: First, the origin of the Double Ninth Festival can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. "Lu Chunqiu Qiu Ji Ji" says: "In September, the family was ordered to slaughter, and the fields were prepared for harvest, and five important things were listed. The Tibetan emperor's book is collected in the holy warehouse, and I only respect it. " "It's the day, Great Emperor. I'll taste the sacrifice and tell the son of heaven." It can be seen that at that time, when the crops were harvested in autumn and September, there were activities of offering sacrifices to the emperor and ancestors to thank them for their kindness. Jia, the imperial secretary in Xijing Miscellanies of the Han Dynasty, said: "On September 9, Pei Yun ate the bait and drank chrysanthemum wine, and the clouds made people live longer." According to legend, since then, there has been the custom of seeking longevity on the Double Ninth Festival. This is influenced by the ancient wizards (later Taoist priests) who pursued immortality and collected drugs to take. At the same time, there are also large-scale banquet activities, which developed from the Qingfeng banquet in the pre-Qin period. The Chronicle of Jingchu Age said: "On September 9th, four people got together for a picnic." Duke Du of Sui wrote: "I don't know when the banquet on September 9 started, and it hasn't changed since I was stationed in the Song Dynasty." Longevity and feast form the basis of the Double Ninth Festival. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Pi, the Emperor of Wei Wen, wrote in Nine Days and Zhong You: "From the year to the month, I suddenly returned to September 9. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon coincide. Compared with its name, it is suitable for a long time, so it is a feast. " It can be seen that holiday customs have been finalized. The theme of the Double Ninth Festival is to seek longevity, wear dogwood, brew chrysanthemum wine, enjoy chrysanthemums, make wine and offer sacrifices to the gods. Spread to this day, it has increased the connotation of respecting the elderly and is more meaningful. In addition, there are hiking picnics and various games. Secondly, one of the prototypes of the Double Ninth Festival is the ancient fire sacrifice ceremony. As a symbol of ancient seasonal stars, the "Fire of September" (Antares) retired, and it was called "Fire of September" in summer. The retreat of Mars not only made the ancients who had always regarded Mars as a symbol of seasonal production and life lose the coordinates of time, but also made the ancients who regarded fire as a god feel inexplicable fear. The dormancy of Vulcan means the arrival of the long East. Therefore, although the situation of ancient sacrificial ceremonies in Inner Fire is obscure, we can still find some traces of ancient customs from the utensils of the Double Ninth Festival in later generations. For example, in some places in the south of the Yangtze River, there is a custom of offering sacrifices to stoves on Chongyang, which is the fire god at home, thus showing the clues of offering sacrifices to "fire" in ancient September. The ancients regarded Chongyang, Shangsi or cold food, September 9 and March 3 as the corresponding spring and autumn festivals. Liu Hanxin's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing said: "Go to the third grade in March, play games with girls in September, and then climb the mountain." The correspondence among thinking, cold food and Chongyang is based on the appearance of "fire". With the progress of people's livelihood science and technology, people have a new understanding of time, and the "fire calendar" has given way to the general calendar. The ritual of sacrificing fire in September declined, but people still have special feelings about the natural climate change caused by the decline of yang in September, so the ancient custom of climbing mountains and avoiding it still spread to cities, although the world has a new explanation. Chongyang has become a landmark building in people's life after the return of Xia Dong. If thinking and cold food are the Spring Festival when people go out to swim after a long winter, then Chongyang is a ceremonial autumn outing when autumn cold comes and people are about to live in seclusion, so there is thinking "outing" and Chongyang's "farewell". The custom of Double Ninth Festival revolves around people's feelings in this season. Legend of Double Ninth Festival [Edit this paragraph] Wu Junzhi, a native of A Liang in the Southern Dynasties, recorded in "Continued Harmony": According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man named Huan Jing in runan county who suddenly suffered from a great plague and his parents died of illness, so he went to Zhong Nanshan to learn from his teacher, and the fairy Fei Changfang gave Huan Jing a dragon sword to subdue demons. Huan Jing gets up early and goes to bed late, wears a Dai Yue, studies hard and practices hard. One day, Fei Changfang said, "On September 9, the plague will come again, so you can go back and kill pests." And gave him a bag of dogwood leaves and a bottle of chrysanthemum wine, so that the elders in their hometown could climb high to avoid disaster. So he left and went back to his hometown. On September 9, he led his wife, children and fellow villagers to a nearby mountain. Take the leaves of Cornus officinalis to everyone, but the plague demon is afraid to go near. Then pour out the chrysanthemum wine, and everyone took a sip to avoid catching the plague. He fought the plague demon and finally killed it. Up to now, people on both sides of the Ruhe River are still telling stories about climbing mountains to avoid disasters and waving swords and stabbing demons on September 9. Since then, people celebrate the Double Ninth Festival and have the custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival. Many important books, such as "Beginners" in the Tang Dynasty and "A View of Taiping" in the Song Dynasty, all recounted this story in Wu Jun's "Continuing Qi and Combining Things", arguing that the custom of women wearing dogwood bags on their arms to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters came from this. Like most traditional festivals, the Double Ninth Festival has ancient legends. According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a plague demon in Ruhe. As soon as it appeared, people in every household fell ill and died every day, and people in this area were ravaged by plague demons. A plague killed the parents of the teenager Hengjing, and he almost died of illness himself. After he recovered from his illness, he bid farewell to his beloved wife and fellow villagers and decided to go abroad to study fairy arts to rid the people of the plague. Heng Jing visited teachers everywhere and famous scholars all over the world. Finally, he found an oldest mountain in the east. There is a miraculous fairy on the mountain. Under the guidance of the crane, Hengjing finally found the mountain and the immortal with magical power. The immortal was moved by his spirit, and finally took in Heng Jing, taught him the sword to subdue the demon, and gave him a sword to subdue the demon. Hengjing forgot to eat, sleep and practice hard, and finally became an extraordinary martial art. On this day, the immortal called Heng Jing to his side and said, "Tomorrow is the ninth day of September, and the plague god will come out to do evil again. When you learn the skill, you should go back and kill the people. " Xianchang gave Hengjing a pack of dogwood leaves and a cup of chrysanthemum wine, and secretly taught him how to ward off evil spirits and let Hengjing ride a crane home. Hengjing returned to his hometown. On the morning of the ninth day of September, according to the fairy's instructions, he led the villagers to a nearby mountain and gave everyone a dogwood leaf and a cup of chrysanthemum wine to prepare for subduing the evil spirits. At noon, with several strange calls, Mo Wen rushed out of the Ruhe River, but just as Mo Wen jumped down the mountain, he suddenly smelled the strange fragrance of Cornus officinalis and the alcohol smell of Chrysanthemum, and his face suddenly changed. At this time, Heng Jing chased Mo Wen down the mountain with a demon sword in his hand, and stabbed him to death in a few rounds. Since then, the custom of climbing mountains on the ninth day of September to avoid epidemics has been handed down year after year. Wu Yun, a native of A Liang, recorded this point in his book Qi and He Xu. The original text is as follows: Runan Huanjing and Fei Changfang traveled together for many years. Chang Fang said, "On September 9, there will be disaster in your home. It is advisable to leave in a hurry and let the family make their own crimson bags, hold dogwood, tie their arms, and climb high to drink chrysanthemum wine. This disaster can be eliminated. " Picturesque scenery, family climbing mountains. The same is true at night, when chickens, dogs, cattle and sheep suddenly die. The eldest room listened: "This can be exchanged." Today, people climb mountains and drink on the 9th, and women take the bag of Cornus officinalis, so the cover begins here. Later, people regarded the custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival as an activity to avoid disasters. In addition, in the traditional concept of people in the Central Plains, the Double Ninth Festival still means longevity, health and longevity, so the Double Ninth Festival was later established as the festival for the elderly. Gan Bao's "Sou Shen Ji" says: There is a man in Quanjiao County of Huainan who married Xie Jia in the same county. Because Xie Jia is a rich boy, her mother-in-law is cruel, cruel and abusive, forcing her to do heavy housework and often being scolded and beaten. Shi Ding finally couldn't bear it, and hanged himself on the Double Ninth Festival. After his death, he hugged Wu Zhu tightly and said, "A wife works hard every day and can't rest. Please don't let your husband's family work again on the Double Ninth Festival. " . Therefore, Jiangnan people give women a rest every year on the Double Ninth Festival, which is called "rest day". This woman named Shi Ding built a shrine for offering sacrifices, named Dinggu Temple. After the Double Ninth Festival, parents will take their married daughters home to eat flower cakes. In the Ming Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival was even called "Daughter's Day". Liu Hanxin's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing records that after killing Mrs. Qi, the beloved concubine of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang, Mrs. Qi's maid Jia was also expelled from the palace and married Duan Ru, a man who helped the wind. When chatting, she mentioned that when she was in the imperial court, she wore dogwood, ate tent bait and drank chrysanthemum wine every September 9 to ward off evil spirits and prolong life. Shen Quanqi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote the poem "Nine-Day Pavilion Night Banquet Should Be Long": "Wei Jurui, a gift to the capsule ... celebrates the ninth anniversary every year, and the sun and the moon are long". Wang Bo Biography of Old Tang Dynasty records that Wang Bo's Preface to Wang Tengting was written on the Double Ninth Festival. At that time, Wang Bo's father served as the Toe Cross, and Wang Bo went to visit his father. On September 9th, when I visited Nanchang, Taoist Yan of Hongzhou hosted a banquet for the guests and their subordinates in the rebuilding museum. He wanted to show off the talent of his son-in-law Wu, so he took out a pen and paper in advance and invited the guests to write a preface. All the guests knew his intentions, and no one dared to do so. Unexpectedly, Wang Bo didn't know Zhou's intention in advance, so he picked up a pen and paper without humility. Zhou Mu was very angry at first, and immediately sent someone to watch Wang Bo's writing. Who knows that Wang Bo is brilliant, and his long-accumulated emotions are completely vented. The more articles he writes, the better. When he wrote down the words "The sunset is lonely in Qi Fei, and the autumn water is * * * the sky is one color", he couldn't help but marvel! From then on, Wang Bo became famous in the field of poetry.