What are the customs of the Double Ninth Festival?

Brief introduction of double ninth festival

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival. Because in the ancient Book of Changes, "six" was defined as yin number, and "nine" was defined as yang number. On September 9, the sun and the moon combined with yang, and 29 was the most important, so it was called Chongyang, also called Chongyang. The ancients thought it was an auspicious day to celebrate, and this festival was celebrated from a very young age. The activities to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival are colorful and romantic, which generally include traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high and looking far, watching chrysanthemums, planting dogwood everywhere, eating double ninth festival cakes, drinking chrysanthemum wine and other activities. Double Ninth Festival, because it is homophonic with "long", and nine is the largest number in the number, which means long life. Moreover, autumn is also the golden season of harvest in a year, and the Double Ninth Festival has far-reaching influence. People have always had special feelings for this festival. There are many excellent poems in Tang poetry and Song poetry to congratulate the Double Ninth Festival and chant chrysanthemums. Today's Double Ninth Festival has been given a new meaning. 1989, China designated September 9th every year as the festival for the elderly (respect for the elderly), which skillfully combined tradition with modernity and became a festival to respect, love and help the elderly. At this time, organs, organizations and streets all over the country often organize retired old people to enjoy the scenery in autumn, or play near the water, or climb mountains to keep fit, so that their bodies and minds can be bathed in the embrace of nature; The younger generation of many families will also help the elderly to go to the suburbs or prepare some delicious food for the elderly.

The origin of Double Ninth Festival

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival. Because in the ancient Book of Changes, "six" was defined as yin number, and "nine" was defined as yang number. On September 9, the sun and the moon combined with yang, and 29 was the most important, so it was called Chongyang, also called Chongyang. The name of "Double Ninth Festival" was recorded in the Three Kingdoms period. According to xelloss's "Nine Days and Zhong You Book", "Year to month, suddenly September 9th. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon coincide. It is well known and considered suitable for a long time, so it is a feast. "

Double Ninth Festival is a festival with a long history. Due to its long history, the formation of the festival is not easy to investigate. Therefore, there are different opinions about the origin of the Double Ninth Festival:

First of all:

The origin of Chongyang can be traced back to before the pre-Qin period. "Lu Chunqiu Qiu Ji Ji" says: "In September, the family was ordered to slaughter, and the fields were prepared for harvest, and five important things were listed. The Tibetan emperor's book is collected in the holy warehouse, and I only respect it. " "It's the day, Great Emperor. I'll taste the sacrifice and tell the son of heaven." It can be seen that at that time, when the crops were harvested in autumn and September, there were activities of offering sacrifices to the emperor and ancestors to thank them for their kindness.

Jia, the imperial secretary in Xijing Miscellanies of the Han Dynasty, said: "On September 9, Pei Yun ate the bait and drank chrysanthemum wine, and the clouds made people live longer." According to legend, since then, there has been the custom of seeking longevity on the Double Ninth Festival. This is influenced by the ancient wizards (later Taoist priests) who pursued immortality and collected drugs to take. At the same time, there are also large-scale banquet activities, which developed from the Qingfeng banquet in the pre-Qin period. The Chronicle of Jingchu Age said: "On September 9th, four people got together for a picnic." Duke Du of Sui wrote: "I don't know when the banquet on September 9 started, and it hasn't changed since I was stationed in the Song Dynasty." Longevity and feast form the basis of the Double Ninth Festival.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Pi, the Emperor of Wei Wen, wrote in Nine Days and Zhong You: "From the year to the month, I suddenly returned to September 9. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon coincide. Compared with its name, it is suitable for a long time, so it is a feast. " It can be seen that holiday customs have been finalized. The theme of the Double Ninth Festival is to seek longevity, wear dogwood, brew chrysanthemum wine, enjoy chrysanthemums, make wine and offer sacrifices to the gods. Spread to this day, it has increased the connotation of respecting the elderly and is more meaningful. In addition, there are hiking picnics and various games.

Second:

One of the prototypes of the Double Ninth Festival is the ancient fire sacrifice ceremony.

As a symbol of ancient seasonal stars, the "Fire of September" (Antares) retired, and it was called "Fire of September" in summer. The retreat of Mars not only made the ancients who had always regarded Mars as a symbol of seasonal production and life lose the coordinates of time, but also made the ancients who regarded fire as a god feel inexplicable fear. The dormancy of Vulcan means the arrival of the long East. Therefore, although the situation of ancient sacrificial ceremonies in Inner Fire is obscure, we can still find some traces of ancient customs from the utensils of the Double Ninth Festival in later generations. For example, in some places in the south of the Yangtze River, there is a custom of offering sacrifices to stoves on Chongyang, which is the fire god at home, thus showing the clues of offering sacrifices to "fire" in ancient September. The ancients regarded Chongyang, Shangsi or cold food, September 9 and March 3 as the corresponding spring and autumn festivals. Liu Hanxin's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing said: "Go to the third grade in March, play games with girls in September, and then climb the mountain." The correspondence among thinking, cold food and Chongyang is based on the appearance of "fire".

With the progress of people's livelihood science and technology, people have a new understanding of time, and the "fire calendar" has given way to the general calendar. The ritual of sacrificing fire in September declined, but people still have special feelings about the natural climate change caused by the decline of yang in September, so the ancient custom of climbing mountains and avoiding it still spread to cities, although the world has a new explanation.

Chongyang has become a landmark building in people's life after the return of Xia Dong. If thinking and cold food are the Spring Festival when people go out to swim after a long winter, then Chongyang is a ceremonial autumn outing when autumn cold comes and people are about to live in seclusion, so there is thinking "outing" and Chongyang's "farewell". The custom of Double Ninth Festival revolves around people's feelings in this season.

Legend of Double Ninth Festival

Wu Junzhi, a Southern Dynasty man, 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 learn from his teacher, and Fei Changfang, a fairy, gave Huanjing a dragon sword to subdue demons. 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. Like most traditional festivals, the Double Ninth Festival has ancient legends. According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a plague demon in Ruhe. As soon as it appeared, people in every household fell ill and died every day, and people in this area were ravaged by plague demons. A plague killed the parents of the teenager Hengjing, and he almost died of illness himself. After he recovered from his illness, he bid farewell to his beloved wife and fellow villagers and decided to go abroad to study fairy arts to rid the people of the plague. Heng Jing visited teachers everywhere and famous scholars all over the world. Finally, he found an oldest mountain in the east. There is a miraculous fairy on the mountain. Under the guidance of the crane, Hengjing finally found the mountain and the immortal with magical power. The immortal was moved by his spirit, and finally took in Heng Jing, taught him the sword to subdue the demon, and gave him a sword to subdue the demon. Hengjing forgot to eat, sleep and practice hard, and finally became an extraordinary martial art. On this day, the immortal called Heng Jing to his side and said, "Tomorrow is the ninth day of September, and the plague god will come out to do evil again. When you learn the skill, you should go back and kill the people. " Xianchang gave Hengjing a pack of dogwood leaves and a cup of chrysanthemum wine, and secretly taught him how to ward off evil spirits and let Hengjing ride a crane home. Hengjing returned to his hometown. On the morning of the ninth day of September, according to the fairy's instructions, he led the villagers to a nearby mountain and gave everyone a dogwood leaf and a cup of chrysanthemum wine to prepare for subduing the evil spirits. At noon, with several strange calls, Mo Wen rushed out of the Ruhe River, but just as Mo Wen jumped down the mountain, he suddenly smelled the strange fragrance of Cornus officinalis and the alcohol smell of Chrysanthemum, and his face suddenly changed. At this time, Heng Jing chased Mo Wen down the mountain with a demon sword in his hand, and stabbed him to death in a few rounds. Since then, the custom of climbing mountains on the ninth day of September to avoid epidemics has been handed down year after year. Wu Yun, a native of A Liang, recorded this point in his book Qi and He Xu. The original text is as follows: Runan Huanjing and Fei Changfang traveled together for many years. Chang Fang said, "On September 9, 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. Later, people regarded the custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival as an activity to avoid disasters. In addition, in the traditional concept of people in the Central Plains, the Double Ninth Festival still means longevity, health and longevity, so the Double Ninth Festival was later established as the festival for the elderly. Gan Bao's Search for Ji Shen says: There is a Shi Ding in Quanjiao County, Huainan, who married Xie Jia in the same county. Because Xie Jia is a rich man, her mother-in-law is vicious and cruel.