Appreciate the beautiful chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemum, also called yellow flower, belongs to Compositae and has many varieties. China is the hometown of chrysanthemum, and it has been common to cultivate chrysanthemum since ancient times. Chrysanthemum is a long-lived flower, which is praised by scholars as an unyielding symbol of chrysanthemum appreciation cream, so people love and praise it, so large-scale chrysanthemum exhibitions are often held. Chrysanthemum exhibition is naturally held in Chongyang, because the relationship between chrysanthemum and Chongyang is too deep; So Chongyang is also called Chrysanthemum Festival, and Chrysanthemum is also called Jiuhua. Chrysanthemum viewing has become an indispensable part of the Double Ninth Festival. In the Song Dynasty, "Chuluhua in Tokyo" Volume 8: "In September, everyone enjoys chrysanthemums, and there are several kinds. Its yellow and white pistils are called "Wanning Chrysanthemum", pink ones are called "Peach Blossom Chrysanthemum", white ones are called "Muxiangju", yellow ones are called "Jinling Chrysanthemum" and pure white ones are called "Xirong Chrysanthemum". It's everywhere.

In the Ming Dynasty, Tao Anmeng recorded: "Yanzhou Shaoshen attacked the palace. Chrysanthemum viewing day, its table, its kang, its lamp, its stove, its plate, its box, its pot corner, its viewer, its cup plate, its pot, its cup, its mattress and its wine; Its pasta, its clothes pattern, all chrysanthemum people light candles at night and steam them dry, and the color is more than several layers. When the banquet is over, take off the reed curtain and expose it. "

Appreciating chrysanthemums in the Qing Dynasty, such as "Records of Yanjing at the Age of Years": "Those who spend nine flowers are chrysanthemums. On the Double Ninth Festival, a rich house with nine flowers and a hundred pots is a spacious building decorated with a front porch and a light back porch (the front porch is high and the back porch is low, and the front porch is low and the back porch is high). Those who pile up on all sides are called' Jiuhua Pagoda'. " In Jia Qinglu, I recorded the activities of enjoying chrysanthemums in Suzhou, saying, "When the chrysanthemums first opened, the farmers of Huahu dried hundreds of pots (ancient vessels with big bellies and small mouths) and carried them into the city. People buy bottles for washing, or a set of five or seven utensils, and put cooked silk in the stalk, which can really suppress the back. Or pile hundreds of pots for players in Guangting Building. Crepe paper is a mountain, no, chrysanthemum mountain. And the teahouse is particularly prosperous. " There are also records of chrysanthemum appreciation in other books, such as Jin Ping Mei and Six Chapters of a Floating Life. Today, during the Double Ninth Festival, large-scale chrysanthemum exhibitions are still organized in major parks, and chrysanthemums are tied into various animals, plants and figures, which are very beautiful.

Climb the peak

One of the most important festival activities in Chongyang is mountain climbing. Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival is also called "ascensiontide". There is no uniform rule for climbing mountains. Generally, we climb mountains and towers.

Climbing mountains as early as the Western Han Dynasty, it was recorded in the Annals of Chang 'an that people visited the Han capital on September 9th. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was a famous story that "the hat fell from Longshan". According to the Book of Jin Meng Family Biography, on the Double Ninth Festival in September, Huan Wen, a fu of the Jin Dynasty, and Meng Jia, a general who joined the army, boarded Longshan (now a mountain in the northwest of jiangling county, Hubei Province). Meng Jia saw the mountain scenery and didn't know that his hat was blown away by the wind. Huan Wen let people write a composition to laugh at him, and he didn't show weakness. His essay defense was once a much-told story.

Wu Jun, a native of the Southern Dynasties, recorded a magical story in "Continuation of Qi and Harmony": Runan people visited the scenery and traveled with Fei Changfang. Fei Changfang asked his family to make crimson sacs on the Double Ninth Festival, tie the arm of Cornus officinalis, climb mountains and drink chrysanthemum wine to avoid disaster. Huan Jing complied and escaped the disaster. This story vividly reflects people's psychology of avoiding evil spirits and disasters during the Double Ninth Festival.

Of course, people climb mountains not only to climb mountains, but also to see the red leaves and wild flowers on the mountains and enjoy them by drinking and eating meat. This combination of climbing mountains and picnics is more attractive. For example, Sun Simiao in the Sui Dynasty said in the "Thousand Yue Jinfang Orders": "On the Double Ninth Festival, you must watch the wine and climb the mountain, and enjoy the autumn ambition with a feast. Wine must take dogwood and chrysanthemum, and you must drink it. " Remember that the customs of the Sui Dynasty are similar to those of later generations. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Meng Liang Lu published in five years: "The sun and the moon fly, hoping for Chongyang. ..... is the day when' Meng Jia went to Longshan to drop his hat and Yuanming went to Dongli to enjoy chrysanthemums', which is the story. " The first film of Han Yuanji's "The First Nine Days of Shuidiao Song" in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Today I am more important than nine, and I can't stand chrysanthemums. Try to find a high place and take a photo of Cui Wei hand in hand. Let your eyes shine on the pale cliffs of Wan Ren. Clouds will protect the frost at dawn, and you will know that I am coming with you. The ancient temple is leaning against bamboo, and the cornices are extremely sharp. " This paper describes the charm of chrysanthemum appreciation in Chongyang.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Beijing area climbed quite high. "Yanjing Age" said: "The capital is called Chongyang September 9. On the ninth day of September, people carry pots and water chestnuts and climb high when they go out. There are Tianning Temple, Taoranting and Sophora japonica in the south, thrips and purification fields in the north and eight places in the far west. Poetry drinking, barbecue cake sharing, seeking a moment of fun. " No matter the literati, they all like to have a picnic and barbecue on the mountain after climbing. Some rich people take curtains, barbecues, chariots and horses, musical instruments, climb platforms and slopes, set curtains, set tables and chairs, eat fried mutton or instant-boiled mutton, sing operas, listen to songs and watch dances. For example, Empress Dowager Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty climbed mountains, had picnics and barbecues in Taohua Mountain in the east of Beihai every year, and set up a blue cloth fence to prevent idle people from peeping. There are also many climbers in Yuyuantan Diaoyutai and other places. There are also mountain climbing in the imperial garden of the Forbidden City.

Another example is Guangzhou, where there are more tourists climbing Baiyun Mountain than Yang, and drinking and writing poems is very lively and influential to this day. In Shanghai, there are no hills nearby, so it is also very lively to take the Feng Dan Tower in the south of Shanghai and the rockery in Yuyuan Garden as places to climb elegant collections. In the Republic of China, I simply boarded a 24-story international hotel. Modern Beijing Xiangshan, Shandong Niu Shan, Jiangxi Nanchang Wangtengting, etc. It is also a high-altitude holiday resort. Wang Tengting, in particular, is famous all over the world because Wang Bo wrote "Preface to Wang Tengting" on the pavilion during the Double Ninth Festival in the Tang Dynasty. As for the Dai Li Tai on Longshan Mountain in Jiangling, Hubei Province, the Dai Li in memory of Meng Jia in the Jin Dynasty also attracted many tourists.

Because the Double Ninth Festival is an autumn festival, flowers and trees begin to wither after the festival, so there is a saying that the double ninth festival is called "tattoo", which corresponds to the saying that the spring outing in March is called "outing". In the Qing Dynasty, Pan Rongbi wrote in Ji Sheng during the reign of Emperor Jing: "(Chongyang) has a cure and drinks in the suburbs all day, which is called' tattoo'." This is also a poetic name.

There are different opinions about the origin of climbing custom:

One theory may come from the worship of mountain gods in ancient times, thinking that mountain gods can save people from disasters. Therefore, people should go to the mountains to play on the Double Ninth Festival to avoid disaster. Maybe it started as a sacrifice to the mountain gods for good luck, and then it gradually became an entertainment. (In ancient times, it was thought that "nine is Lao Yang, and the anode must change". On September 9th, Lao Yang's figures were in the same month and the same day, which was unlucky. Therefore, a series of activities to avoid evil and seek longevity have evolved, which is not the number of "suitable longevity" that Wei Wendi Cao Pi said. This is the viewpoint in Five Chopsticks, which is produced by Ming metabolism.

By the Double Ninth Festival, the autumn harvest has passed and farming is relatively idle. At this time, Shan Ye's wild fruits and medicinal materials are in the mature season, and farmers have gone up the mountain to collect wild fruits, medicinal materials and plant raw materials for sideline production. This kind of gathering in the mountains is called "small autumn harvest" by farmers. The custom of climbing mountains may have evolved from this at first. As for the day of Chongyang, it was later. That means treating it as a symbol from the beginning to publicize its function, just as it is suitable for planting trees in spring, so people hold an Arbor Day. In addition, during the Double Ninth Festival, the weather is sunny and the temperature is cool, which is suitable for climbing high and looking far.

Pei dogwood praised chrysanthemum

The Double Ninth Festival has the custom of worshipping Cornus officinalis, so it is also called "Cornus officinalis Festival". Cornus officinalis is an important symbol of the Double Ninth Festival. People also like to wear chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival. Cornus officinalis is nicknamed "evil-ward Weng" and chrysanthemum is also called "longevity-prolonging guest". Peidogwood

Cornus officinalis is a kind of fruit that can be used as medicine. Because the quality of Cornus officinalis produced in Wudi (now in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces) is the best, it is also called Evodia rutaecarpa, also called Moongum or Dwarf. It is a small evergreen tree, which can grow to more than ten feet high, with pinnate compound leaves and green and white flowers in early summer, as strong as pepper seeds. Mature after autumn. The fruit is yellow when tender and purple when ripe, which has the effects of warming the middle warmer, relieving pain and regulating qi. Cornus officinalis leaves can also cure cholera, and roots can kill insects. Compendium of Materia Medica says it is spicy and fragrant, warm in nature, and can cure cold and drive away poison. The ancients believed that wearing dogwood could ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters.

The custom of worshipping dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. People think that inserting dogwood in the Double Ninth Festival can take refuge and eliminate disasters. Or wear it on your arm, or make a sachet, put the dogwood in it, called a dogwood bag, and some are inserted in your head. Most of them are worn by women and children, and in some places, men also wear them. Ge Hong's Miscellanies of the Western Classics in the Jin Dynasty recorded that Kaunus participated in the Double Ninth Festival. Besides wearing dogwood, people also wear chrysanthemums. This happened in the Tang Dynasty and has been popular since ancient times. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of Beijing Double Ninth Festival was to stick chrysanthemum branches and leaves on doors and windows, "to get rid of evil and filth, and to make money into treasure". This is the vulgarization of the chrysanthemum on the head. In the Song Dynasty, some people cut ribbons into dogwood and chrysanthemum and gave them to each other.

In fact, the dogwood of Chongyang is similar to the realgar and calamus of Dragon Boat Festival, with the purpose of expelling insects and preventing moth. Because it was Koharu in October after the Double Ninth Festival, the weather warmed up for a while; Some time before Chongyang, the autumn rain was wet, the autumn heat had not subsided, and clothes were easy to get moldy. This time is when osmanthus flowers are in full bloom, so people call it "osmanthus steaming", so it is necessary to prevent insects at this time. Cornus officinalis is a little poisonous and can kill insects. This is how the custom of making dogwood capsules came about.

However, after the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the custom of Peidogwood gradually became scarce. The reason for the change is probably the shift of the center of gravity of the Double Ninth Festival. In early people's time life, Chongyang emphasized avoiding evil spirits and eliminating disasters. With the improvement of people's living conditions, people not only pay attention to the current real life, but also give more expectations to the future life and pray for longevity and continuity. Therefore, the status of "longevity-prolonging guest" (chrysanthemum) has finally overshadowed the "evil urn" (dogwood).

kite

Putting paper owls is the main custom of Huizhou people to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival. In other words, the folk Double Ninth Festival in Huizhou is mainly characterized by paper flying kites. This habit is not only described in folk songs circulating in Huizhou, but also described in Guangxu's Huizhou Fu Zhi. kite

Paper harriers are kites now, too. Kite is the title after the Five Dynasties. Five dynasties ago, the north used to call it a "paper kite" and the south used to call it a "kite". The appellation of "paper kite" in Huizhou obviously retains the ancient appellation of five dynasties ago, and has the flavor of "a mixture of north and south".

Kites began to appear in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the earliest types were birds. Legend has it that it was a public disaster (Luban). He "cut bamboo into cranes and flew them" and "made a wooden kite to see Song Cheng". The "bamboo magpie" and "wooden kite" here are the prototypes of kites. But there was no paper at that time, so it could only be made of bamboo. The notes of the Qing Dynasty said that "Han Xin led a hundred thousand troops to besiege Xiang Yu in Gai, made kites out of cowhide, and the piper played homesick songs, and the 8,000 disciples of the Chu army were scattered". The kites in the Han Dynasty mentioned here are only kites made of cowhide. After the advent of papermaking in Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty, paper kites appeared, and names such as "paper kite" and "kite" appeared. The appearance of the name "kite" was recorded in the Five Dynasties. In Xuncao Record, it said: "Kite, that is, paper kite, is also called wind kite. At the beginning of the Five Dynasties, Ye Li made a paper kite in the palace, guiding the way to collect wind for the play, and then taking bamboo as the flute of the kite head, so that the wind entered the bamboo and sounded like A Zheng, which was called a kite. " After the Tang Dynasty, kites prevailed, and Tomb-Sweeping Day was designated as the Kite Festival. After the Song Dynasty, kites became popular among ordinary people. Since then, the shape of kites is no longer limited to birds such as magpies, kites and harriers, but insects, fish and gods. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, kite making has become a very exquisite handicraft art.

Huizhou folk paper owls have changed their original appearance, mostly with a square plane and a tail, and their shapes are similar to those of the door gods and deities attached to the folk, so it is suspected that they are a simplification of the god kite. In Huizhou folk, rubella is extremely simple to produce. Take a curved bamboo and a vertical bamboo, take a square piece of paper, attach a tail and adjust the line, and then fly. There is a kind of square paper with no tail, which is slightly larger and called "Grandma Owl", which is named after its slow and steady flight.

In addition, other shapes of paper owls are occasionally found.

On the Double Ninth Festival, people often fly kites in the street and on high benches in the wild. Both children and adults are spectacular.

According to the traditional custom of our country, flying kites is mostly in Qingming. The paper owl on Chongyang is a unique folk custom in Huizhou. The reason is hard to know. However, judging from the southern climate of Huizhou, the time seems to be quite suitable. Before and after the rainy season in Tomb-Sweeping Day, the spring rain continued. This time is obviously not suitable for paper owls. However, it is crisp in autumn and windy around the Double Ninth Festival, so people have to climb mountains and do outdoor activities according to traditional customs. Putting paper owls at this time is suitable for the right time and place.

Eat Chongyang cake

Besides drinking dogwood, chrysanthemum wine and eating chrysanthemum, Chongyang has many ways of eating, the most famous of which is eating cakes. It is especially windy to eat Chongyang cake in the north. Chongyang cake

According to Xijing Miscellanies, in the Han Dynasty, September 9th was the custom of eating Peng bait, which was the original Double Ninth Festival cake. The bait is an ancient cake. "Zhou Li" has bait for sacrifice or banquet. There were millet cakes in the Han Dynasty, which may not be far from today's cakes. Peng bait, presumably similar to millet cake and so on. In the Song Dynasty, eating Chongyang cake was popular. Cake is homophonic with Gao, and eating cake is for good luck, so it is favored by people.

Chongyang cake, also known as flower cake, chrysanthemum cake and five-color cake, can be made at will, including "coarse flower cake", "fine flower cake" and "money flower cake".

Stick some coriander leaves as a sign, and put some rough dried fruits such as olives, dates and walnuts in the middle; There are three or two layers of fine flower cakes, each with fine candied dried fruits, such as preserved apples, peaches, apricots and dates. Money flower cake is basically the same as fine flower cake, but smaller, just like "money", which is mostly the food of the upper nobility.

It is said that in the early years, people did not put dates and chestnuts on flour cakes, or sticky cakes made of steamed glutinous rice and yellow wheat, which looked like "gold-plated" and "silver-plated" flower cakes.

There are poems describing the making of Chongyang cake:

Cai Yun:

The bonfire is ringing and the machine is busy at night.

As soon as the weaver drinks Gordon's wine,

It's still a storm,

The smell of steamed jujube cakes is everywhere in the shop.

It was the original intention of the ancients to make cakes at dawn on September 9. The child put a cake on his head and said a word in his mouth, wishing the child all the best. Exquisite Chongyang cake should be made into nine layers, like a pagoda, with two lambs on it, which conforms to the meaning of Chongyang (sheep). Some people even put red paper flags on Chongyang cakes and light candles. This probably means "lighting a lamp" and "eating cakes" instead of "climbing", and using a red paper flag instead of dogwood. At present, there is still no fixed variety of Chongyang cake, and the soft cakes eaten around Chongyang Festival are called Chongyang cakes.

Chongyang cake is not only eaten at home, but also fed to relatives and friends, called "sending cake"; I also invited my married daughter to have a cake at home and called it "Ying Ning".

Drink chrysanthemum wine

Chrysanthemum, a famous flower in China, is also a famous flower with long life. During the first frost, only this kind of grass flourished. Because of its unique character, chrysanthemum has become a symbol of vitality.

As early as Qu Yuan's pen, there was a saying that "the autumn chrysanthemum leaves the English for dinner", that is, eating chrysanthemum petals. Chrysanthemum wine existed in the Han Dynasty. Wei Shi once gave chrysanthemum to Zhong Wu in Chongyang, wishing him a long life. Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty recorded in Bao Puzi that there was a family in Nanyang Mountain, Henan Province, who lived a long life because of drinking the sweet valley water full of chrysanthemums. In Liang's "Picking Chrysanthemums", there is a saying that "under the east fence of picking chrysanthemums, picking pearls tells each other, and the morning dew is wet", which is also a move of picking chrysanthemums to make wine. Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was still very popular, and it was still recorded in Gao Lian's Eight Chapters of Respect for Life in the Ming Dynasty. This is a popular health drink.

On the Double Ninth Festival, China has the traditional custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine. Chrysanthemum wine, in ancient times, was regarded as the "auspicious wine" that Chongyang must drink to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings.

Chrysanthemum wine brewing in China was popular as early as the Han and Wei Dynasties. According to "Miscellanies of Xijing", "Chrysanthemums are suitable, stems and leaves are harvested, and miscellaneous millet is brewed. If you cook it on September 9 next year, you can drink it immediately, so it is called chrysanthemum wine. "

Tao Yuanming of Jin Dynasty also said that "wine can cure all diseases and chrysanthemum can cure aging". Later, drinking chrysanthemum wine gradually became a folk custom, especially on the Double Ninth Festival. "The Chronicle of Jingchu" records that "on September 9th, Pei Yun ate lotus ears and drank chrysanthemum wine, and lived a long life."

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was added with a variety of herbs, and the effect was better. The preparation method comprises juicing Flos Chrysanthemi, brewing with yeast and rice, or adding Radix Rehmanniae, Radix Angelicae Sinensis and Fructus Lycii.

Chrysanthemum wine has high medicinal value, because it can disperse wind and heat, nourish liver and improve eyesight, diminish inflammation and detoxify. Li Shizhen, a medical scientist in the Ming Dynasty, pointed out that chrysanthemum has the efficacy of "treating head wind, clearing eyes and ears, removing fistula and treating all diseases".

In ancient times, chrysanthemum wine was specially brewed for the Double Ninth Festival in the first year. On September 9th, the budding chrysanthemums and a little green branches and leaves were picked, mixed with grain for brewing, and then used together to make wine for drinking on September 9th of the following year. It is said that drinking this wine can prolong life. From a medical point of view, chrysanthemum wine can improve eyesight, cure dizziness, lower blood pressure, lose weight, lose weight, tonify liver qi, regulate stomach and nourish blood. This is a festive season, autumn is crisp, chrysanthemums are in full bloom, and the windows are golden. In addition to climbing the mountain and inserting dogwood, relatives and friends also invited each other to drink chrysanthemum wine and enjoy yellow flowers. They really had a good time. Poets, in particular, admire chrysanthemums, drink wine and recite poems as a reward, leaving many good sentences for future generations.

Because of chrysanthemum wine, Chongyang became bacchanalia who offered sacrifices to Dionysus. For example, according to the introduction of "Shandong Folk Double Ninth Festival", Shandong Brewery worships the god of jars on the Double Ninth Festival, and the god of jars is Du Kang. In Maotai Town, Renhuai County, Guizhou Province, medicinal materials are used to make wine every year. Legend has it that good wine is brewed because of the strength of 1999 Yang. Whenever the wine is brewed for the first time, the boss lights incense sticks at the place where the "God of Du Kang's Ancestor" is affixed, and places offerings to pray for the smooth brewing (see "Folklore of China Taking Britain"). In Ningyuan, Hunan Province, on September 9th every year, "chong yang wine must compete for wine celebration". These customs show that Chongyang has a deep relationship with wine.