What is the Double Ninth Festival for?

The significance of the Double Ninth Festival is to respect ancestors, respect the elderly and be grateful. Double Ninth Festival refers to the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, which is a traditional folk festival in China.

In ancient times, there were folk customs such as climbing to pray for blessings, enjoying chrysanthemums in autumn, wearing dogwood, offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors, and feasting on the Double Ninth Festival. So far, it has added the connotation of respecting the elderly, feasting on the day of Chongyang, and being grateful for respecting the elderly.

The Double Ninth Festival appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. According to the literature, there was a custom of climbing mountains and drinking chrysanthemum wine. China people have always had special feelings for the Double Ninth Festival. There are many excellent works in Tang poetry and Song poetry to congratulate the Double Ninth Festival and chant chrysanthemums. For example, the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei's "Living in the Mountain and Thinking of Shandong Brothers" said: "Being a stranger in a foreign land, I miss my relatives twice every festive season. I know from a distance where my brother climbed, and there is one person missing from the dogwood. " Li Bai's "September 10th Event": "I climbed the mountain yesterday, and I gave it to you today. Chrysanthemum is too bitter, suffering from these two Chongyang. " The main festival activities are climbing mountains, enjoying chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine, inserting dogwood and eating cakes. Every Double Ninth Festival is a good time to climb high and overlook and relax. Double Ninth Festival, like other traditional festivals, is a family reunion festival. It is also a family member who commemorates the ancestors. Not only that, in my eyes, the Double Ninth Festival also represents people's various rich emotions.

In the Han Dynasty, the custom of celebrating the Double Ninth Festival gradually became popular. According to legend, Lady Qi, the concubine of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang, was killed, and Jia Shi, the maid in front of her, was expelled from the palace and married the poor. Jia brought the activities of Chongyang to the people. Jia told people: in the palace, on the ninth day of September every year, we should wear dogwood, eat tent bait and drink chrysanthemum wine in order to live longer. Since then, the custom of Chongyang has spread among the people.

The name of "Double Ninth Festival" was recorded in the Three Kingdoms period. According to Cao Pi's "Nine Days and Zhong You Book", it says: "From year to month, September 9 suddenly comes again. 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. "

Tao Yuanming, a scholar in Jin Dynasty, said in the preface to the poem "Idle for Nine Days": "I am idle and love the name of Nine. Autumn chrysanthemums are full of gardens, but they are sad, empty for Jiuhua, and precious words are like gold. " Chrysanthemum and wine are mentioned here at the same time. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a custom of enjoying chrysanthemums and drinking alcohol.

In the Tang Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival was designated as an official festival. From then on, the court and the people celebrated the Double Ninth Festival together, and various activities were carried out during the festival.

In the Song Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival was more lively. Dream of China in Tokyo recorded the grand occasion of the Double Ninth Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty. Legend of Wulin also records that the court in the Southern Song Dynasty "rearranged nine soldiers on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month" for the next day's entertainment.

In the Ming dynasty, the eunuchs and concubines in the palace began to eat flower cakes together to celebrate from the first day of junior high school. On the ninth Double Ninth Festival, the emperor will personally climb the Long Live Mountain to watch the victory, so as to celebrate his autumn ambition.

In the Qing Dynasty, the customs of the Ming Dynasty still prevailed. Since the 1980s, some places in China have designated September 9th in the summer calendar as the festival for the elderly, advocating the whole society to establish the atmosphere of respecting, loving and helping the elderly. 1989, the China municipal government designated the ninth day of the ninth lunar month as "Day for the Elderly" and "Day for Respecting the Elderly".

Xelloss's "Nine Days and the Book of Zhong You" came for several months and suddenly returned to September 9th. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon should be in harmony, which is a well-known custom, so it is necessary to feast for a long time. "

Legend has it that eating Chongyang cake on the Double Ninth Festival can eliminate disasters and diseases, and cultivating Cornus officinalis can climb high to avoid evil spirits. "Qi Ren Yue Ling" is the day of Chongyang, and it is a time feast to enjoy the autumn annals with cakes and wine. Use Cornus officinalis and chamomile as wine to make it wide and make you drunk away. "In the Tang Dynasty, Wang Wei's Memories of Jiuri Mountain's East Brothers in September, when people are in a foreign land, they miss their relatives every festive season. Think of the brothers' bodies being climbed high, will there be a little regret because they can't reach me? "Tao Yuanming's poems in the Jin Dynasty are like chrysanthemums in my heart. They opened on September 9, and all the guests knew what I meant, so Chongyang came together. "

Fu Cha's "Yanjing Time" in the Qing Dynasty was called September 9th of Chongyang. On September 9 of each session, people knock on the door with pots on their shoulders, go abroad, climb high and look far ... Poetry is shared with drinking, barbecues and cakes, which is a temporary pleasure. "

The Double Ninth Festival source

The Double Ninth Festival, which originated in the Warring States Period, was originally a festive day. The ancients divided everything in heaven and earth into Yin and Yang, with Yin representing darkness and Yang representing light and vitality. Odd numbers are positive and even numbers are negative. Nine is an odd number, so it belongs to Yang. On the ninth day of September, the sun and the moon meet, and the two yang are heavy, so it is called "Chongyang". On this day, it is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the sky is crisp. This is a good time to climb high and overlook and relax. At this time, many literati in the past dynasties in China climbed high and looked far, drank chrysanthemum wine and recited poems for fun, leaving countless poems. In September, when the cold winter came, people began to buy winter clothes. When they worship their ancestors, they don't forget to burn paper clothes and let them spend the winter in the underworld. As a result, the Double Ninth Festival evolved into a festival to sweep graves and burn winter clothes for ancestors.

Celebration method of Double Ninth Festival

Double Ninth Festival, like other traditional festivals, is a family reunion festival. It is also a family member who commemorates the ancestors. In Singapore, some guild halls still retain the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors on the Double Ninth Festival, which is called "Autumn Festival". On this day, others can choose more traditional ways to celebrate, such as family or friends gathering for outdoor activities, which can not only enjoy the natural scenery, but also contact the feelings between relatives and friends. On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, every day of the month is nine numbers, and the double sun is heavy, hence the name Double Ninth Festival.

As an entertainment-oriented festival, the Double Ninth Festival is characterized by climbing mountains, enjoying chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine, inserting dogwood and eating cakes. Among them, the most prominent festival activity is mountain climbing, and the custom of mountain climbing began in the Western Han Dynasty. Liu Xin's "Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing" says: "March has passed and September has passed. Women can play games and climb mountains with wedges." The author compares the ninth with the third, and points out the intention of climbing mountains to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters. Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, also described it in Ascending the Mountain on Nine Days: the ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a traditional festival in China, also known as the Double Ninth Festival and the Cornus Festival. Today's Double Ninth Festival skillfully combines traditional customs with modern civilization and has become a festival to respect, care for and help the elderly. 1989, China designated this day as the festival for the elderly every year. Every day, all localities should organize the elderly to go for an autumn outing to broaden their horizons, exchange feelings and exercise. The younger generation of many families will also help the elderly to go to the suburbs. There are many folk activities to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival, such as traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high and looking far, watching chrysanthemums, planting dogwood everywhere, eating double ninth cake and drinking chrysanthemum wine. In the folk, Cornus officinalis is an "evil-avoiding Weng" and Chrysanthemum is a "longevity-prolonging guest". The combination of the two endows Chongyang custom with auspicious signs. Chongyang is also called Chongyang because the Book of Changes defines "nine" as yang number. On September 9, two or nine days coincide, and the ancients thought it was an auspicious day to celebrate.