Introduction to the origin and customs of Chongyang Festival

A: Chongyang Festival: a traditional Chinese festival, the festival for the early ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar. "nine" number in the "I Ching" for the number of Yang, "nine nine" two Yang number of heavy, so it is called "Chongyang"; because the day and the month are nine, so it is also known as the The sun and the moon coincide with nine, so it is also known as the "nine". Nine nine to the true, the beginning of a yuan, the ancients believe that the nine suns are auspicious days. Ancient folk in the Chongyang Festival have climbed high to pray for blessings, autumn tour to enjoy chrysanthemums, wear dogwood, worship God and ancestor and drink feasts to pray for longevity and other customs. Nowadays, it has added the connotation of honoring the elderly, enjoying feasts and honoring the elderly on the day of the Chung Yeung Festival. The two important themes of the Chrysanthemum Festival today are the appreciation of the autumn and the thanksgiving and respect for the elderly.

The Chrysanthemum Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena, which began in ancient times, was popularized in the Western Han Dynasty, and flourished after the Tang Dynasty. According to the existing historical materials and evidence, in ancient times, there are in the seasonal autumn harvest held in the sky, ancestor worship activities; Lu Shi Chunqiu - seasonal autumn record, the ancients in the September harvest of crops to sacrifice to the emperor, ancestor worship, in order to thank the emperor of the heavens, ancestor benevolence of the activities. This is the original form of the Chongyang Festival as an autumn harvest festival. The Tang Dynasty was an important period in which traditional festival customs were kneaded and finalized, and the main part of them has been passed down to the present day. Chrysanthemum ancestor worship folklore has been followed for thousands of years, and is an ancient folklore with profound significance. The Chrysanthemum Festival is one of the four major traditional festivals for ancestor worship in China, along with the New Year's Eve, Qingming Festival and Bon Festival.

The Chrysanthemum Festival is a festival of ascending the heights, wearing cornelian cherry, sunbathing in autumn, eating Chrysanthemum cakes, enjoying chrysanthemums, resigning from the Qing Dynasty, enjoying banquets and praying for longevity, drinking chrysanthemum wine, and releasing paper cranes.

Adventure

The custom of ascending the heights on the Chongyang Festival has a long history. Ancient folk custom in the Chongyang Festival, so the Chongyang Festival is also known as the "Festival of heights". Chrysanthemum climbing custom from this time the climate characteristics and the ancient worship of mountains. Climbing to "quit the green" is also from the nature of the festival, Chung Yeung Festival climbing "quit the green" and the ancients in the spring of March spring tour "trekking" corresponds to. According to the literature, the custom of "climbing the mountain to pray for blessings" was popular in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. There is no uniform regulation on the location of climbing high, and the place to climb high is roughly divided into climbing high mountains, climbing high buildings, or climbing high platforms. The origin of the custom of the high roughly four: one is from the ancient worship of the mountains; the second is from the "clear gas up, turbid gas sinking" climate; the third is from the high "resignation of the Qing"; the fourth is from the attachment of a ridiculous legend "Huanjing climbed the mountain to avoid disaster.

Wearing Cornus

Anciently, the custom of inserting cornelian cherry into the cornelian cherry was practiced, which is why it is also called Cornelian cherry festival. Cornus officinalis is a kind of fruit that can be used as traditional Chinese medicine, because of the best quality of the cornelian cherry produced in the Wu-Yue land (today's Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas), and thus also called Wu Cornus officinalis. Ancient people believed that inserting cornelian cherry into the mountains on the Chongyang Festival could drive away insects and dampness, and expel wind and evil spirits. So they wore the cornelian cherry on the arm or ground up in a bag of incense, and inserted in the head. Mostly women and children wear, some places men also wear. Cornus officinalis is used as medicine and can be used to make wine to nourish the body and dispel diseases. Cornus officinalis and chrysanthemum hairpin were already common in the Tang Dynasty. Cornus officinalis has a strong flavor, has the effect of brightening the eyes, waking up the brain, getting rid of fire, driving away worms, removing dampness, driving away the wind, and can eliminate the accumulation of food, treating cold and heat. Insert cornelian cherry and other ancient custom is folk mountaineering to drive away the wind and evil behavior, Chongyang Festival Qing Qi upward, turbid gas sinking, people with natural medicine cornelian cherry and other adjustments to the health of the body to adapt to the natural climate change.

Sunshine Autumn

The Chongyang Festival is the best time to enjoy the autumn, and there are still some mountain villages in southern China that have preserved the characteristics of "sunshine autumn". Go to the countryside to enjoy folklore, see the sunshine autumn, has become a fashion of rural tourism. "Sunshine autumn" is a typical agricultural phenomenon, with strong regional characteristics. In Hunan, Guangxi, Anhui, Jiangxi and other villagers living in mountainous areas, due to the complex terrain, the village flat land is very little, had to use the front and back of the house and their own windowsill roof racks sun, hanging sunshine crops, over time has evolved into a traditional agricultural phenomenon. This villagers drying crops of the special way of life and the scene, and gradually became a painter, photographers chasing the creation of material, and shaping the poetic "sunshine autumn" name.

Eating Chrysanthemum Cake

According to historical records, the Chrysanthemum Cake is also known as the Flower Cake, the Chrysanthemum Cake, and the Five Color Cake, and is made in an undetermined and arbitrary manner. September 9 when the sky is bright, to piece of cake on the forehead of the children, the mouth read the words, wishing the children all things high, is the ancient people in September for the cake of the original intention. The delicate Chongyang cake to be made into nine layers, like a pagoda, the top is also made into two small sheep, in line with the meaning of Chongyang (sheep). Some also inserted a small red paper flag (instead of cornelian cherry), and light candles on the cake. This is probably the meaning of "light", "eat cake" instead of "ascend". Today's Chongyang cake, there is still no fixed variety, all over the fluffy cakes eaten on the Chongyang Festival are called Chongyang cake.

Appreciation of chrysanthemums

The Chrysanthemum Festival is also known as the Chrysanthemum Festival because of the custom of appreciating chrysanthemums on Chrysanthemum Day. The custom of chrysanthemum appreciation originates from chrysanthemum culture. Chrysanthemum is a natural flower, because of its colorful and frosty blossoms and the formation of chrysanthemum appreciation chrysanthemum culture. Since the Three Kingdoms, Wei and Jin Dynasties, it has become fashionable to gather and drink wine at the Chrysanthemum Festival, and to enjoy chrysanthemums and write poems. In ancient Chinese custom, chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity. Chrysanthemum is the flower of longevity, and it is also praised by the literati as a symbol of unyieldingness in the face of frost.

Queen's Day

Ancient Chinese long Chongyang and Shangsi (or Qingming) as the corresponding Spring and Autumn festivals. If the last is a long winter after people out of the room to swim festival, then the sun is about in the autumn cold to the new, people are about to live in seclusion of the ritual significance of the autumn tour, so the folk have the Qingming Festival, "trekking", Chongyang Festival, "resignation of the green" custom.

Praying for longevity

The custom of praying for longevity at the Chung Yeung Festival was first documented in the literature of the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty "Xijing Miscellaneous Records" recorded: "September 9, wear dogwood, eat pong bait, drink chrysanthemum wine, cloud people long life." The Jing Chu chronicle: "September 9, the four people and the wild drinking feast." Sui Du Gongzhan note cloud: "September 9 banquet, unknown from what generation, but since the station to Song has not changed." The addition of praying for longevity and drinking feasts on top of sacrificing to heaven and ancestors formed the basis of the Chongyang Festival. The large-scale drinking and banqueting activities during the Chung Yeung Festival were actually developed from the pre-Qin ritual banquets for celebrating the harvest. To this day, the custom of honoring the elderly and praying for longevity is still popular in some places.

Drinking Chrysanthemum Wine

Chrysanthemum Appreciation, Drinking Wine, and Playing Games on the Day of Chrysanthemums

Drinking Chrysanthemum Wine: Due to the unique character of chrysanthemums, chrysanthemums have become a symbol of vitality. Chrysanthemum contains nutritious ingredients, and Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty recorded in his "Hug Park Zi" that people in the mountains of Nanyang gained longevity by drinking the sweet valley water with chrysanthemums growing all over it. Drinking chrysanthemum wine during the Chung Yeung Festival is a traditional Chinese custom. In ancient times, chrysanthemum wine was regarded as the "lucky wine" that must be drunk on the Chung Yeung Festival to get rid of disasters and pray for good fortune. Chrysanthemum wine is a medicinal wine with a slightly bitter taste, which can make one's eyes clear and wake up the brain, and has the auspicious meaning of getting rid of calamities and praying for blessings.

Chrysanthemum wine has been seen in the Han Dynasty. After that, there were still stories of giving chrysanthemums to wish for longevity and picking chrysanthemums to make wine. For example, Cao Pi, the Emperor of Wei, gave chrysanthemums to Zhong Cao on the Day of the Chrysanthemum Festival (wishing him longevity), and the Emperor of Liang, "Caiju", had the sentence of "Xianghou lifting the basket to pick chrysanthemums and dipping the dew wetness into Luo's cowardice", which was an example of picking chrysanthemums to make wine. Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was still popular, and in the Ming Dynasty, Gao Lian's "Zunsheng Bazian" still recorded that it was a popular fitness drink.

Paper kites

Paper kites are one of the main customs of the Chung Yeung Festival in the south. The folk festival of Chongyang is mainly characterized by flying paper kites (kites). The Guangxu "Huizhou Prefecture Zhi" has also recorded. In the folk tradition, in addition to ascending the heights, flying paper kites is also a feature of the Chongyang Festival. As to why people want to fly paper kites (kites) in Chongyang, in addition to Chongyang sky high clouds, light wind and sunshine, paper kites can easily ride the wind on the climatic reasons, there are also some between the witch and yarrow say, in the unthinking is quite interesting. Legend has it that when the sun is released paper kite is to "put bad luck", paper kite flying higher and farther away, the bad luck also fly far away, and even more, but also special will break the line, so that the kite disappeared in the clouds outside the sky. Another kind of explanation is that the Chung Yeung release paper kite is "put auspicious", "put fortune", the paper kite fly the better, the more intense the fortune, the paper kite not only can't break the line, but also do everything possible to protect it, because if the line breaks, the If the silk thread is broken, the "good luck" and "good fortune" will also float away.