Why did the ancients worship their ancestors on the Double Ninth Festival?

1. In September, when the crops were harvested, the ancients had activities of offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors. This is the primitive form that the ancients chose the Double Ninth Festival as a sacrificial activity in ancient times.

The Double Ninth Festival began in ancient times, formed in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, was popular in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished after the Tang Dynasty. It was officially designated as a folk festival in the Tang Dynasty and has been in use ever since. Double Ninth Festival, New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Mid-Autumn Festival are also called the four traditional festivals for ancestor worship in China.

The custom of Double Ninth Festival

1. Autumn Appreciation: 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.

2. Mountain climbing: The custom of mountain climbing on the Double Ninth Festival has a long history. There are three origins: first, the worship of mountains by the ancients; second, an alchemist named Huan Jing in Henan Province climbed mountains to avoid disasters in the Eastern Han Dynasty; third, climbed mountains.

3. Ancestor worship: The Double Ninth Festival is one of the four traditional ancestral festivals in China, and there is a tradition of ancestor worship and blessing among the people. People hold ancestor worship activities every year on the Double Ninth Festival, praying for the blessing of the gods, carrying out activities to respect the elderly and inheriting the filial piety culture.

4. Drink chrysanthemum wine: 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. The custom of flower wine originated from Tao Yuanming, a great poet in Jin Dynasty. Tao Yuanming is famous for living in seclusion, writing poems, drinking and loving chrysanthemums. Later generations took him as an example, so they had the custom of enjoying chrysanthemums on Double Ninth Festival.

5. Flying kites: Flying kites is the main custom of celebrating the Double Ninth Festival in the south. The folk Double Ninth Festival in Huizhou is characterized by flying kites. Guangxu's "Huizhou Fuzhi" is also recorded. Paper harriers are kites now, too. In the folk tradition, besides climbing mountains, flying kites is also a major feature of Lingnan area.

Extended data

The legend of the Double Ninth Festival can be found in the mythical novel Continued Harmony by Wu Jun in the Liang Dynasty: Runan Dreamland and Fei Changfang traveled together for many years, and Changfang said, "On September 9th, 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.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia double ninth festival