What are the customs and traditions of the Double Ninth Festival? Who is the Double Ninth Festival to commemorate?

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is an important traditional festival in China-the Double Ninth Festival. Because the moon and the sun are heavy, it is also called the Double Ninth Festival. Because in traditional culture, nine is the number of yang, the sun and the moon are combined with yang, and two yang is the most important, so it is called Chongyang. The formation and development of the Double Ninth Festival has a history of more than 2,000 years, and the title of "Double Ninth Festival" dates back to the Warring States Period.

During the Double Ninth Festival, there are many folk customs and traditions, mainly the following five;

First, insert Evodia rutaecarpa

In ancient times, the Double Ninth Festival had the custom of inserting dogwood, so September 9 was also called dogwood Festival. Cornus officinalis, as a kind of medicine, can make wine to preserve health and get rid of diseases. Cornus officinalis has a strong aroma, and has the functions of expelling parasites, removing dampness, expelling wind, promoting digestion and resolving food stagnation, and treating cold and heat. People like to wear dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival in order to take refuge and eliminate disasters. In Wang Wei's "Shanjiesi Shandong Brothers", two holiday customs, mountain climbing and dogwood planting, are recorded. Zack Zhang also mentioned in his poem "No.9 Xiangzhou North Pavilion": "There is a dogwood festival in western Chu and a circus in southern Huai."

Second, drink chrysanthemum wine.

There is a custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival. Chrysanthemum wine is a fine wine brewed with chrysanthemum as raw material. It is recorded in Miscellanies of Xijing that when chrysanthemums are in full bloom every year, the stems and leaves of chrysanthemums are collected and mixed with millet, which will not mature until September 9 of the following year.

Brewing chrysanthemum wine was popular as early as the Han and Wei Dynasties. Chrysanthemum wine is a good product to prolong life, which has the effects of improving eyesight, nourishing liver qi, calming stomach, benefiting blood, lowering blood pressure, treating dizziness and losing weight. According to folklore, drinking chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival can also ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters.

Third, climb high and look far.

Every year on the Double Ninth Festival, there is a common custom among the people, that is, on this day, ordinary people will go out to climb high and look far. Why climb the mountain? There are two kinds of statements:

First, the ancients thought that nine was Lao Yang, and the anode would change. September 9th is the number of months and days in Lao Yang, which is unlucky. Therefore, it has evolved into a festival custom that people climb high and look far on this day, avoid the unknown and live longer.

The second is the Double Ninth Festival, which coincides with the bumper harvest and autumn harvest. People enter the slack season and go up the mountain to collect wild fruits, medicinal materials and plant raw materials. This kind of gathering activity on the mountain, also called "small autumn harvest", has gradually evolved into a holiday custom of climbing high and looking far.

Fourth, appreciate chrysanthemums.

During the Double Ninth Festival, all kinds of chrysanthemums are in full bloom, so watching chrysanthemums becomes an important part of the festival. The festival custom of enjoying chrysanthemums is said to have originated from Tao Yuanming. After he retired to the countryside, Tao Yuanming was famous for his seclusion, writing poems, drinking and loving chrysanthemums. Later generations followed his example and hoped that his scenery would be close to Tao Yuanming, so they had the custom of enjoying chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival.

Five, eat Chongyang cake

The representative holiday food of Double Ninth Festival is Double Ninth Cake. Chongyang cake, originally intended to celebrate the bumper harvest and taste fresh grain, later evolved into the custom of eating Chongyang cake on the Double Ninth Festival. Because "Gao" and "Gao" are homophonic, people take the auspicious meaning of climbing step by step, hoping to climb step by step after eating Chongyang cake, and even get rid of illness and strengthen their health.

Who is the Double Ninth Festival to commemorate?

The Double Ninth Festival commemorates Huan Jing. He stabbed the devil with his sword and benefited the people.

Wu Junzhi, a native of the Southern Dynasties, wrote in the book Qi He Xu: According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man named Huanjing in runan county, and a great plague suddenly occurred, which led to the death of Huanjing's parents, so he went to the southeast mountain to learn from his teacher, and the immortal Fei Changfang gave Huanjing a dragon sword to subdue the demon. Huan Jing gets up early and goes to bed late, wears a Dai Yue, studies hard and practices hard.

One day, Fei Changfang said, "On September 9, the plague will come again, so you can go back and kill pests." And gave him a bag of dogwood leaves and a bottle of chrysanthemum wine, so that the elders in their hometown could climb high to avoid disaster. So he left and went back to his hometown. On September 9, he led his wife, children and fellow villagers to a nearby mountain. Take the leaves of Cornus officinalis to everyone, but the plague demon is afraid to go near. Then pour out the chrysanthemum wine, and everyone took a sip to avoid catching the plague. He fought the plague demon and finally killed it. Up to now, people on both sides of the Ruhe River are still telling stories about climbing mountains to avoid disasters and waving swords and stabbing demons on September 9.

Since then, people celebrate the Double Ninth Festival and have the custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival. Many important books, such as Beginners in the Tang Dynasty and Taiping Yu Lan in the Song Dynasty, all recounted this story in Wu Jun's "Continuation of Qi and Harmony of Things", arguing that the custom of women tying dogwood bags on their arms to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters came from this.

The origin of 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. Written records about the custom of the Double Ninth Festival were first found in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, which recorded the custom of ancient people offering sacrifices to heaven, earth and ancestors on the ninth day of September. In the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang's favorite concubine Qi's personal maid was Jia. Mrs. Qi's rivalry for favor made her bear a grudge, and she was taken hostage and tortured to death. After Mrs. Qi died, Jia was expelled from the palace and married Duan Ru, a Fufeng man. She told Duan about the customs of celebrating festivals in some courts. It is mentioned that every September, people in the palace should wear dogwood, eat tent bait and drink chrysanthemum wine to keep healthy and live longer. In this way, the custom of the Double Ninth Festival was introduced to people. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the custom of appreciating chrysanthemums and drinking alcohol appeared on the Double Ninth Festival. During the reign of Tang Dezong, the Double Ninth Festival was officially designated as a legal holiday and was listed as one of the "Three Orders Festival".