The Double Ninth Festival is also called "Festival for the Elderly" because it is homophonic with "Nine Nine", which is the largest number in the number and means longevity.
The Double Ninth Festival was mentioned in Chu Ci during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Qu Yuan's Journey wrote: "Set Chongyang into the Emperor's Palace and see the capital of Qing Dynasty ten days later." The "Double Ninth Festival" here refers to the sky, not just festivals. In Nine Days Zhong You written by Cao Pi, Wei Wendi in the Three Kingdoms period, it was clearly written that the Double Ninth Festival: "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. It is well known and considered suitable for a long time, so it is a feast. "
Tao Yuanming, a scholar in Jin Dynasty, said in the preface to the poem "Idle for Nine Days": "I am idle and love the name of Nine. Autumn chrysanthemums are full of gardens, but they are sad, empty for Jiuhua, and precious words are like gold. " Chrysanthemum and wine are mentioned here at the same time. Probably in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a custom of drinking and enjoying chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival. In the Tang Dynasty, Chongyang was officially designated as a folk festival.
The origin of the Double Ninth Festival comes from a fairy tale in Taoism:
According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a plague demon in Ruhe. As soon as it appears, every family will get sick and even die every day. It's terrible that people in this area have been ravaged by plague demons.
At that time, there was a young man named Hengjing in runan county. One year, the plague took away his parents and he almost died himself. After Hengjing recovered from her illness, she bid farewell to her beloved wife and fellow villagers, and decided to go out to study art in immortals, so as to kill pests for the people. After going through difficulties and obstacles, Hengjing finally found a magical fairy on an ancient mountain. Immortal was moved by his tireless efforts and the spirit of eliminating evils for the people, and decided to accept him as a disciple, give him a demon-reducing sword, and secretly teach him how to do it. Hengjing forgot to eat and sleep, practiced hard day and night, and finally developed an extraordinary martial arts.
One 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. Now that you have learned your skills, you should go back and kill the people! " . At this time, the immortal gave Hengjing a pack of dogwood leaves and a bottle of chrysanthemum wine, and gave him the secret of exorcism, so that Hengjing could ride a crane home immediately.
Hengjing returned to his hometown. On the morning of September 9, according to the instructions of the immortal, he led the villagers to a nearby mountain and gave everyone a dogwood leaf and a cup of chrysanthemum wine. At noon, the wind roared, the north wind suddenly rose and it was dark. With a few piercing screams, the plague demon rushed out of the Ruhe River and rushed to the foot of the mountain. At this moment, Mo Wen suddenly smelled the strange smell of Cornus officinalis and the mellow fragrance of chrysanthemum wine, and his face suddenly changed, shaking all over, and he dared not go any further. Just then, Heng Jing rushed down the hill with a demon sword in his hand. After several rounds of fierce fighting, Hengjing stabbed Mo Wen to death and wiped out the plague. Since then, the custom of climbing mountains on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month has been passed down.
The main customs of the Double Ninth Festival are as follows:
Climbing: In ancient times, Chongyang had the folk custom of climbing, so the Double Ninth Festival was also called "Climbing Festival". According to legend, this custom began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are many climbing poems written by scholars in the Tang Dynasty, most of which are the custom of writing the Double Ninth Festival. Du Fu's Seven Laws "Ascending the Mountain" is a famous article about climbing the mountain in Chongyang. There is no uniform rule for climbing mountains. Generally, we climb mountains and towers. There is also the custom of eating "Chongyang cake". In the Ming Dynasty, on the Double Ninth Festival in September, people in the palace would eat flower cakes together to celebrate, and the emperor himself would climb the Long Live Mountain to celebrate his autumn ambition. This custom has been passed down to the Qing Dynasty.
Eating Chongyang cake: According to historical records, Chongyang cake is also called flower cake, chrysanthemum cake and five-color cake, which 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 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.
Enjoy chrysanthemum and drink chrysanthemum wine: Double Ninth Festival is the golden autumn season of the year, and chrysanthemums are in full bloom. It is said that appreciating chrysanthemum and drinking chrysanthemum wine originated from Tao Yuanming, a great poet in Jin Dynasty. Tao Yuanming is famous for his seclusion, his poems, his wine and his love for chrysanthemums. Later generations have followed suit, so Chongyang has the custom of enjoying chrysanthemums. In the old days, literati and officialdom also combined chrysanthemum appreciation with banquets in order to get close to Tao Yuanming. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng was the capital, and chrysanthemum appreciation on Chongyang was popular. At that time, there were many varieties and shapes of chrysanthemums. People also call September of the lunar calendar "Chrysanthemum Month". On the Double Ninth Festival, when chrysanthemums are in full bloom in Ao Shuang, viewing chrysanthemums has become an important part of the festival. After the Qing dynasty, the habit of enjoying chrysanthemums was particularly prosperous, and it was not limited to September 9, but it was the most prosperous around the Double Ninth Festival.
Inserting dogwood and chrysanthemum: The custom of inserting dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival has been very common in the Tang Dynasty. The ancients thought that inserting Evodia rutaecarpa on the Double Ninth Festival could take refuge and eliminate disasters. Or wear it on your arm, or make a sachet and put it in it, or wear it on 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 "eliminate evil and filth, and make money and 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.