Why did ancient people advocate nine and multiples of nine?

1, because in ancient times, "nine" was the largest number.

Ancient emperors were called "Ninth Five-Year Plan", the Forbidden City was called "Nine Days in the Palace Que", and court objects were mostly named after "Nine", such as kowloon cup and Kowloon Column.

Nine is used to express various words: nine days, nine grades, nine heavies, nine streams, nine clouds and so on. Numbers derived from multiples of nine are also highly regarded by people, such as eighteen arhats, eighteen martial arts and eighteen levels of hell; Thirty-six plans; Confucius saints changed seventy-two, and the Monkey King changed seventy-two; Liangshan one hundred single eight will, bell one hundred and eight ring, etc.

It is said that in ancient times, odd numbers were yang, even numbers were yin, odd numbers symbolized heaven and even numbers symbolized earth. Nine is the extreme number in the positive number, and the mantissa of the largest number does not exceed nine.

Therefore, nine is regarded as a symbol of heaven: nine layers of talent-nine days; Extremely high-beyond the cloud nine; Deep-under the grave, and so on.

2. Hakka worships Nine.

It is homophonic with "Nine", so Hakka people regard "Nine" as a symbol of "good luck" and have the custom of "worshipping Nine".

When Hakkas build new houses, they usually choose dates related to the ninth festival, such as the ninth and eighteenth day of the first lunar month. The number of floors and rooms in the completed building is also a multiple of 9, which means that we can live together for a long time.

"Nine" is particularly important in the wedding ceremony of Hakkas. When men and women meet and exchange invitations, they usually choose dates related to Nine. The mantissa of the engagement fee should be "nine", such as 1.999 yuan. The wedding team should also make up nine people, and all gifts should be nine parties for good luck.

For Hakkas' birthdays, they have to make 865, 438+0 or 360 birthday pins, and all the dishes they use are "three, six and nine", such as three fresh soup, stewed dog meat (nine dogs), leek tofu, Chongyang (99) birthday cake and so on.

Because nine and leeks are homophonic, children should eat leeks when they drop out of school. Hakka folk songs also use nine leeks, such as: "Swallows cross Jiujiang with mud, and my sister sent Lang abroad to grow leeks on September 9. These two people have a long friendship.

"The Hakka people's attention to Nine is also reflected in the fact that they regard the ninth day of the first month as an auspicious day. After the Spring Festival, people who go out to work or do business will not leave home until the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, expecting good luck and prosperity in the new year.

Extended data:

In ancient China, nine was the extreme number of positive numbers, that is, the largest singular number, so the number nine was often used to attach emperors, and things related to emperors were also related to nine. The position of the emperor is called the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The emperor called it the Ninth Five-Year Plan.

Also related to the nine are:

Bronzes have "Jiuding", and emperors should also have "Jiuqing" around them.

The palace of life is equipped with "nine-level clock politics" and the capital has nine doors.

There are 9990 and a half houses in the Forbidden City.

Tiananmen Gate is nine rooms wide and nine rooms deep.

The gates of the Forbidden City and the imperial home forest and palace in China are decorated with "nine nails", and each door has nine vertical and horizontal doornails, ***8 1 nail.

In the Qing Dynasty, the princes of Mongolian ministries customized eight white horses and one white camel to the emperor every year, which was called "Nine White Tributes". The rest of the tributes are also calculated by the number of "nine". For example, in the thirteenth year of Kangxi, it was stipulated to celebrate Horqin and other flags every year, and * * * entered the twelve "Nine", counting sheep 108 and milk wine 108 bottles; Ordos and other flags, * * * into nine "nine", counting sheep 8 1 only, milk wine 8 1 bottle.

In the past, when temples were built, the weight of the Buddha was also nine, or 8 1 kg or 72 kg; The number of Buddha statues is also nine. For example, in the 45th year of Qianlong, to celebrate the 70th birthday of the emperor, * * * produced 2299 "Nine" Buddha statues, totaling 2069 1 Buddha statues.

The New Year's Day banquet in the Qing court included fruits, preserves and snacks, with a total of 99 varieties.

On the birthday of the Qing emperor, there should be large-scale entertainment activities, acrobatics, spring lanterns and so on. And there should be "99", that is, 8 1 program called "99 Daqing Festival".

There are nine foods, entertainment programs and tributes for the birthday banquet of the Qing emperor and the Spring Festival banquet, as well as the celebration of the "holy birthday" by courtiers, which means that I wish you a natural death. Over time, the number nine was monopolized by the emperor, and ordinary people, including dignitaries, rice, oil and salt, could not be counted as nine.

Baidu Encyclopedia: Nine