What are the customs of the Double Ninth Festival?

Double Ninth Festival, also known as Double Ninth Festival, is named after the number of Yang in the Book of Changes. On September 9, two and nine are the most important, so it is called the Double Ninth Festival. Nine is the largest number in the number, so it is given the meaning of longevity, health and longevity. The ancients thought that Chongyang was an auspicious day to celebrate.

According to historical research, the Double Ninth Festival began in ancient times, formed in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, popularized in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished after the Tang Dynasty. There are different opinions about its origin. Up to now, the Double Ninth Festival has added the connotation of respecting the elderly, and a banquet is held on the day of the Double Ninth Festival to show gratitude and respect for the elderly. Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival is also called Gordon Festival, Chrysanthemum Festival, Cornus officinalis Festival and Respect for the Elderly Festival.

Double Ninth Festival custom:

1. Gordon

In ancient times, Chongyang had the folk custom of climbing, so Chongyang 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. There is no uniform rule for climbing mountains. Generally, we climb mountains and towers. There is also the custom of eating "Chongyang cake".

Eat Chongyang cake

Chongyang cake, also known as flower cake, chrysanthemum cake and five-color cake, is made randomly. At dawn on September 9th, put a cake on the child's head and say something in his mouth, wishing the child all the best. This is the original intention of the ancients to make cakes in September. At present, there is still no fixed variety of Chongyang cake, and the soft cakes eaten in Chongyang Festival all over the country are called Chongyang cakes.

Step 3 enjoy chrysanthemums and drink chrysanthemum wine

The 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. People also call September of the lunar calendar "Chrysanthemum Month". On the Double Ninth Festival, when chrysanthemums are in full bloom in Ao Shuang, watching 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.

Extended data:

Evodia rutaecarpa and chrysanthemum

The custom of inserting Evodia rutaecarpa in the Double Ninth Festival was very common in the Tang Dynasty. The ancients thought that inserting Evodia rutaecarpa in 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.

References:

People's Network-Inventory: the origin, customs and ancient poems of the Double Ninth Festival.