What festival is the Double Ninth Festival?

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 a positive number in the Book of Changes, and the two positive numbers of "Nine Nine" are heavy, so it is called "Chongyang"; It is also called "Double Ninth Festival", because both the date and the month conform to nine. Returning to the truth of 1999, the ancients thought that 1999 Chongyang was an auspicious day. In ancient times, there were folk customs such as climbing mountains to pray for blessings, enjoying chrysanthemums in autumn, wearing dogwood, drinking alcohol to worship ancestors and praying 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. Climbing mountains and enjoying autumn and giving thanks and respecting the elderly are two important themes of today's Double Ninth Festival.

The Double Ninth Festival originated from the worship of astronomical phenomena, which began in ancient times, spread in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished after the Tang Dynasty. According to the existing historical data and textual research, in ancient times, there were activities of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors in the autumn and the season; According to Lu's "Spring and Autumn Annals", when the crops were harvested in September, the ancients offered sacrifices to the heavenly emperor and ancestors to thank them for their kindness. This is the original form of the Double Ninth Festival as an autumn harvest sacrifice activity. The Tang Dynasty is an important period when traditional festival customs are mixed and shaped, and its main part has been passed down to this day. Chongyang ancestor worship has lasted for thousands of years and 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.

In the historical development and evolution, the Double Ninth Festival is a mixture of various folk customs, bearing rich cultural connotations. In the folk concept, "nine" is the largest number, which means longevity, and it places 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.

The origin of the name "Chongyang" in the Double Ninth Festival is named after "Yang is nine" in the ancient book Yijing. In the Book of Changes, "six" is defined as yin number, "nine" is defined as yang number, and "extreme number" means that the height of the sky is "nine times". "Nine" is the Lao Yang, which is the anode number. The two anode numbers are combined, 1999 is unified, one yuan starts, and Vientiane is updated. Therefore, the ancients thought that Chongyang 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 every month meet on the ninth day, which means "the weight of 29", so it is called "double ninth". At the same time, the two yang numbers are combined, so it is called "double ninth". In the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Dai wrote "Night Flight": "Nine is the yang number, and its day coincides with the month, so it is called' Chongyang'.

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 a farming society and agricultural civilization in ancient times, and attached great importance to the experience of ancestors. Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has the concept of courtesy and respect for ancestors, and has the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors on holidays to show filial piety and not forget their roots.

The Double Ninth Festival has the custom of climbing, so it is also called "Climbing Festival". The climbing custom of Chongyang originated from the climate characteristics at this time and the worship of mountains by the ancients. Climbing is also a solar term originated from nature, and climbing on the Double Ninth Festival corresponds to the spring outing of ancient people in spring and March.