What festival is September 9th?

September 9th is the Double Ninth Festival. Double Ninth Festival is a traditional festival in China, which is celebrated 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. The Double Ninth Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the harvest sacrifice in ancient autumn and season. The ancients offered sacrifices to the emperor and ancestors in September when the crops were abundant to thank them for their kindness.

The Double Ninth Festival, New Year's Eve, Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival and July 30th are all traditional ancestor worship festivals in China, and ancestor worship is a major theme. 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.

Eating Chongyang cake: According to historical records, Chongyang cake is also called flower cake, chrysanthemum cake and five-color cake, which is made randomly. It was the original intention of the ancients to make cakes at dawn on September 9. The child put a cake on his head and said a word in his mouth, wishing the child all the best. Exquisite Chongyang cake should be made into nine layers, like a pagoda, with two lambs on it, which conforms to the meaning of Chongyang (sheep).

Some people even put red paper flags (instead of dogwood) on Chongyang cakes and light candles. This probably means "lighting a lamp" and "eating a cake", not "climbing". At present, there is still no fixed variety of Chongyang cake, and the soft cakes eaten around Chongyang Festival are called Chongyang cakes.