Is the Double Ninth Festival a traditional festival in China?

Double Ninth Festival is a traditional festival in China, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month every year. The number of "Nine" is the number of Yang in the Book of Changes, and the number of Yang in "Nine Nine" is heavy, so it is called "Double Ninth Festival". It is also called "Double Ninth Festival" because the sun and the moon meet in September. Nine returns to the original, starting with one yuan. The ancients thought the Double Ninth Festival was an auspicious day. In ancient times, there were customs such as climbing mountains to pray, visiting chrysanthemums in autumn, wearing dogwood, offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors, and holding banquets to pray for longevity. So far, it has added the connotation of respecting the elderly, feasting on the day of Chongyang, and being grateful for respecting the elderly. Appreciating autumn and thanking the elderly are two important themes of today's Double Ninth Festival. [ 1][2][3][4][5]

The Double Ninth Festival originated from the worship of astronomical phenomena, which began in ancient times, became popular in the Western Han Dynasty and reached its peak after the Tang Dynasty. According to the existing historical data and textual research, there was an autumn harvest to worship the heavens and ancestors in ancient times. "Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals" records the ancient people's activities of offering sacrifices to the heavenly emperor and ancestors to thank them for their kindness when the crops were harvested in September. This is the original form of the Double Ninth Festival as an autumn harvest sacrifice activity. Tang dynasty is an important period of traditional festivals and customs, and its main parts have been passed down to this day. Chongyang ancestor worship has a history of thousands of years, and it is an ancient folk custom with far-reaching significance. Double Ninth Festival, New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day and July 30th are also called the four traditional ancestral festivals in China. [4][5][6][7][8]

In the historical development and evolution, the Double Ninth Festival combines various folk customs and carries rich cultural connotations. In the folk concept, "nine" is the largest number, which means longevity and maintains people's wishes for the health and longevity of the elderly. On May 20th, 2006, the Double Ninth Festival was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in the State Council. [ 1][9][ 10]

In 20 12, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, which was revised and passed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), stipulated that the ninth day of the ninth lunar month was the Day for the Elderly.

Double Ninth Festival

The origin of the name "Chongyang" was named after "Yang is nine" in the ancient book I Ching. In the Book of Changes, "six" is defined as a negative number, and "nine" is defined as a positive number and "extreme number", which means that the height of the sky is "nine times". "Nine" is the Lao Yang, that is, the number of anodes. The two anodes are weighed together. Ninety-nine unification, one yuan start, Vientiane renewal. Therefore, the ancients thought that the Double Ninth Festival was an auspicious day to celebrate. In ancient times, there was a custom of drinking to pray for longevity. On the ninth day of September, the sun and the months meet on the ninth day, which means "double ninth", so it is called "double ninth". At the same time, because of the combination of two positive numbers, it is also called "Double Ninth Festival". In Ming Dynasty, Zhang Dai wrote "Sailing at Night" and said: "Nine is the yang number, and its day coincides with the moon, so it is called the Double Ninth Festival."

Ancestor festival

Double Ninth Festival, New Year's Eve, Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and July 30th are all traditional festivals in China, and ancestor worship is a major theme of major festivals. China was an agricultural society with agricultural civilization in ancient times, and attached great importance to the experience of ancestors. Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has been courteous to its ancestors, and has the custom of offering sacrifices to their ancestors on holidays to show filial piety and not forget their roots.

Height Ascending Festival

In ancient times, people had the custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival, so the Double Ninth Festival was also called "Mountaineering Festival". The custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival stems from the climate characteristics at this time and the ancient people's worship of mountains. The "farewell to green" of mountain climbing is also a solar term from nature. The "sending green" of climbing the mountain on the Double Ninth Festival corresponds to the "outing" of the ancients in the third spring.

Respect ancient festivals

In modern times, the ninth day of September has been given a new meaning. Because "nine" is the largest number in the number, it is homophonic for nine years, so nine followed by nine is the Double Ninth Festival, which contains metaphors of longevity and dignity. In the folk concept, because "nine" is the largest number, and "nine nine" and "dragon" are homophonic, it is endowed with the meaning of longevity, health and longevity.