The Double Ninth Festival originated from the worship of astronomical phenomena, which began in ancient times, spread in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished after the Tang Dynasty. According to the existing historical data and textual research, in ancient times, there were activities of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors in the autumn and the season; According to Lu's "Spring and Autumn Annals", when the crops were harvested in September, the ancients offered sacrifices to the heavenly emperor and ancestors to thank them for their kindness. This is the original form of the Double Ninth Festival as an autumn harvest sacrifice activity. The Tang Dynasty is an important period when traditional festival customs are mixed and shaped, and its main part has been passed down to this day. Chongyang ancestor worship has lasted for thousands of years and is an ancient folk custom with far-reaching significance. Double Ninth Festival, New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day Festival and Kasahara Festival are also called the four traditional ancestral festivals in China.
The custom of climbing mountains, wearing dogwood, sunbathing in autumn, eating double ninth cake, enjoying chrysanthemums, saying goodbye, having a banquet to pray for longevity, drinking chrysanthemum wine and flying paper cranes.
Climb the peak
The custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival has a long history. In ancient times, there was the custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival, so it was also called "Climbing Festival". The climbing custom of Chongyang originated from the climate characteristics at this time and the worship of mountains by the ancients. Climbing is also a solar term originated from nature, and climbing on the Double Ninth Festival corresponds to the spring outing of ancient people in spring and March. According to documents, the custom of "climbing to pray for blessings" was popular during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. There is no uniform regulation on the place of climbing, and the place of climbing is generally divided into mountain climbing, building climbing or platform climbing. There are four origins of high customs: first, the ancients worshipped mountains; Second, it comes from the climate of "clearing the air, raising the turbidity and sinking the gas"; Thirdly, it stems from the "resignation" of climbing; Fourth, it originated from an absurd legend in the attached meeting, "climbing mountains to avoid disasters."
Peidogwood
The custom of inserting Evodia rutaecarpa was popular in ancient times, so it is also called Cornus Festival. Cornus officinalis is a kind of fruit that can be used as medicine. Because the quality of Cornus officinalis produced in Wuyuedi (now Jiangsu and Zhejiang) is the best, it is also called Evodia rutaecarpa. The ancients believed that climbing a mountain and inserting Evodia rutaecarpa on the Double Ninth Festival could repel insects, damp and pathogenic wind. So he put Cornus officinalis on his arm or in a sachet and on his head. Most of them are worn by women and children, and men in some places also wear them. As a medicine, Cornus officinalis can make wine, strengthen the body and get rid of diseases. Evodia rutaecarpa and chrysanthemum were very common in the Tang Dynasty. Cornus officinalis has a strong aroma, which has the functions of improving eyesight, refreshing brain, expelling pathogenic fire, removing dampness and expelling wind, resolving food stagnation and treating cold and heat. Ancient customs such as inserting dogwood are folk climbing to ward off wind and evil spirits. On the Double Ninth Festival, the clear sky rises and the polluted air sinks. People use natural medicine Cornus officinalis to adjust their health to adapt to the changes of natural climate.
Autumn sun
The Double Ninth Festival is the best time to enjoy autumn, and some mountain villages in the south of China still retain the characteristics of "basking in autumn". Going to the countryside to appreciate the folk customs and watch the autumn sun has become a fashion in rural tourism. "Sunbathing in autumn" is a typical agricultural custom phenomenon with strong regional characteristics. Villagers living in mountainous areas such as Hunan, Guangxi, Anhui and Jiangxi. It has become a traditional agricultural custom to use the roof in front of the house and the window sill to hang crops. This special lifestyle and scene of villagers drying crops has gradually become the material pursued and created by painters and photographers, and created a poetic name "drying autumn".
Eat Chongyang cake
According to historical records, Chongyang cake, also known as flower cake, chrysanthemum cake and five-color cake, is made randomly. 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 (instead of dogwood) on Chongyang cakes and light candles. This probably means "lighting a lamp" and "eating a cake", not "climbing". At present, there is still no fixed variety of Chongyang cake, and the soft cakes eaten around Chongyang Festival are called Chongyang cakes.
Appreciate the beautiful chrysanthemums
The Double Ninth Festival has always had the custom of enjoying chrysanthemums, so it has been called Chrysanthemum Festival since ancient times. The custom of appreciating chrysanthemums originated from chrysanthemum culture. Chrysanthemum is a natural flower. Chrysanthemum has formed chrysanthemum culture because of its colorful colors and blooming in Ao Shuang. 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 China, chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity. Chrysanthemum is the flower of longevity, and is praised by scholars as the unyielding symbol of first frost.
tattoo
The ancients regarded Chongyang and Shangsi (or Qingming) as the corresponding spring and autumn festivals. If thinking above is a festival for people to go swimming after the long winter, then Chongyang is a ceremonial autumn outing when the autumn is cold and the new is coming, and people are about to live in seclusion, so there are the folk customs of "going for an outing" in Tomb-Sweeping Day and "bidding farewell to youth" on the Double Ninth Festival.
Enjoy a feast and pray for a long life
The custom of seeking longevity on the Double Ninth Festival was first seen in the documents of Han Dynasty. It is recorded in the Miscellaneous Notes of Xijing in the Han Dynasty: "On September 9, Pei Yun ate the bait and drank chrysanthemum wine, and the clouds made people live longer." 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." On the basis of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, longevity and feasting were increased, forming the basis of the Double Ninth Festival. In fact, the large-scale banquet activities of the Double Ninth Festival developed from the harvest celebrations and sacrificial banquets in the pre-Qin period. Today, the custom of paying homage to the elderly and praying for a long life is still popular in some places.
Drink chrysanthemum wine
Chongyang enjoys chrysanthemums, drinks and plays chess.
Drink chrysanthemum wine: Chrysanthemum has become a symbol of vitality because of its unique character. Chrysanthemum contains health-preserving ingredients. In Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong's "Bao Pu Zi" recorded that people in Nanyang Mountain drank sweet valley water full of chrysanthemums and lived longer. Drinking chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival is a traditional custom in China. Chrysanthemum wine, in ancient times, was regarded as the "auspicious wine" that Chongyang must drink to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings. Chrysanthemum wine is a medicinal liquor, which tastes slightly bitter. After drinking, it can make people clear their eyes and wake up, and it has auspicious meaning of eliminating disasters and praying for blessings.
Chrysanthemum wine appeared in the Han Dynasty. Later, there were stories about sending chrysanthemums for birthday and picking chrysanthemums to brew wine. For example, Emperor Wei Wendi Cao Pi once sent chrysanthemums to Zhong You on the Double Ninth Festival (wishing him a long life), and Emperor Liang Jianwen's "Picking chrysanthemums in the basket, the morning dew is wet" is an example 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.
fly a kite
Flying kites is one of the main customs of the Double Ninth Festival in southern China. The folk Double Ninth Festival is characterized by flying kites. Guangxu's "Huizhou Fuzhi" is also recorded. In the folk tradition, besides climbing mountains, flying kites is also a major feature of the Double Ninth Festival. As for why people fly kites (kites) on the Double Ninth Festival, apart from the climatic reasons that the sky is high and the clouds are light, and the wind is light and bright, paper kites can easily ride the wind, and there are some sayings that are between wizards and witches, which are quite interesting without thinking. Legend has it that flying kites on the Double Ninth Festival is for "bad luck". The higher a kite flies, the more bad luck it takes away. What's more, in order to make the kite disappear, it is necessary to specially break this thread. Another explanation is that flying kites in Chongyang is "auspicious" and "lucky". The better the kite flies, the more blessed it is. People who fly kites not only can't break the silk thread, but also must do everything possible to protect it, because when the silk thread is broken, "auspiciousness" and "luck" will also drift away.