What are the customs of the Double Ninth Festival?

Double Ninth Festival refers to the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, which is a traditional folk festival in China. The number "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".

The ancients thought the Double Ninth Festival was an auspicious day. In ancient times, there were folk customs such as climbing mountains to pray, enjoying chrysanthemums in autumn, wearing dogwood, offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors, and drinking to pray 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.

Traditional customs of Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival is similar to the "spring outing" on the third day of March, when the whole family goes out. On this day, all relatives will go out to enjoy the autumn, climb high and overlook, see chrysanthemums and so on.

Gordon Chongyang 1

There is a custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival. Autumn is coming, cold air is heading south, rain is decreasing, and the weather is fine. In September and autumn, the air is crisp and the temperature is neither too cold nor too hot, which is just suitable for traveling. Climbing high and looking far in this season can achieve the purpose of strengthening the body and eliminating all diseases. The ancients had the custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival for a long time. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Wang Wei wrote in "Mountain Holiday Thinking of Shandong Brothers": Being in a foreign land, I miss my relatives twice every festive season. When I think of my brothers' bodies climbing high, I will feel a little regret for not being able to reach me. There is also a saying in Nanjing, "Come to Niutou in spring, Qixia in Qiu Lai", which means to go hiking in Niushou Mountain in spring and climb Qixia Mountain in autumn.

Step 2 eat Chongyang cake

Chongyang cake, also known as "flower cake", "chrysanthemum cake" and "hair cake", is a traditional food for the Double Ninth Festival. Five-color Caiqi Yang is inserted in the cake, and two sheep are printed on the cake, which means "Double Ninth Festival". Some places put a cake on the child's forehead at dawn on September 9, and said something in his mouth, wishing the child all the best. In other places, cakes are given as birthday gifts, which also means longevity and promotion step by step.

3. Daughter's Day

In some places, the Double Ninth Festival is also called Daughter's Day. On this day, the married daughter will go back to her mother's house to eat flower cakes, and her mother's house will also send cakes to her daughter and grandson, which means that she will be promoted step by step. In addition to eating Chongyang cake, some areas also eat mutton noodles. The homonym of "sheep" and "yang" should be the allusion of the Double Ninth Festival. Mutton is warm, invigorating qi and tonifying deficiency, and it can be eaten in autumn, and it also has the effect of preventing cold and tonifying deficiency.

Step 4 enjoy chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemum is a famous flower in China. It is plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, and it is one of the four gentlemen in flowers. Because chrysanthemum has a noble and simple character, it is a famous sentence of Tao Yuanming in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "Pick chrysanthemums under the hedge and see Nanshan leisurely." Meng Haoran also wrote in the Tang Dynasty: "I'll come back after Shan Ye holiday and chrysanthemum season."

Step 5 drink chrysanthemum wine

In ancient times, chrysanthemum wine was specially brewed for the Double Ninth Festival in the first year. On September 9th, pick fresh chrysanthemums and a little green branches and leaves, mix them with the grain to be brewed, and then use them together to make wine, and drink them on September 9th of the following year. It is said that drinking this wine can prolong life. This is a festive season, autumn is crisp, chrysanthemums are in full bloom, and the windows are golden. In addition to climbing the mountain and inserting dogwood, relatives and friends also invited each other to drink chrysanthemum wine and enjoy chrysanthemums. They really had a good time. Poets, in particular, admire chrysanthemums, drink wine and recite poems as a reward, leaving many good sentences for future generations. Chrysanthemum contains health ingredients. Drinking chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival is a traditional custom in China. Chrysanthemum wine, in ancient times, was regarded as "auspicious wine" that must be drunk on the Double Ninth Festival to pray for good luck and eliminate disasters.

6. Pei dogwood chrysanthemum

The custom of worshipping dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. People think that inserting dogwood in the Double Ninth Festival can take refuge and eliminate disasters. Or wear it on your arm, or make it into a sachet, and put Cornus officinalis in it, which is called a Cornus officinalis sachet. Besides wearing dogwood, women also have the custom of wearing chrysanthemums on their heads. This happened in the Tang Dynasty and has been popular since ancient times. In ancient times, there was a custom of inserting dogwood in Double Ninth Festival, so it was also called dogwood Festival. As a medicine, Cornus officinalis can make wine, strengthen the body and get rid of diseases. Evodia rutaecarpa and chrysanthemum were very common in the Tang Dynasty. 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. Therefore, people like to wear dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival to ward off evil spirits and seek good luck.

7. Recreation and sports activities

In ancient times, some nomadic people continued hunting, archery and horse racing on the Double Ninth Festival. Because it is windy in autumn, flying kites is also an important activity in the Double Ninth Festival, and the significance of flying kites is also to ward off evil spirits and drive away epidemics.