Regarding the origin of the custom of the Double Ninth Festival, the saying of "seclusion and constant scenery" is circulating everywhere in the Yellow River basin. Wu Jun in the Southern Dynasties recorded in Continued Harmony that there was a plague demon in Ruhe River, which appeared on the ninth day of September every year. On that day, someone in every family got sick, and the worst person died. One year on the ninth day of September, the plague took away the parents of the teenager Hengjing, and he almost died himself. Hengjing is determined to visit immortals to learn arts, so as to rid the people of the plague. Hengjing visited the teacher everywhere to find a way, and finally found a miraculous fairy. The immortal was moved by his fearless spirit, took him in, taught him to subdue demons, and gave him a sword to subdue demons. Hengjing forgot to eat, sleep and practice hard, and trained a superb martial arts. After a year of hard training, the immortal said to Hengjing, "Tomorrow is the ninth day of September, and the plague god is going to come out to do evil again. When you learn the skill, you should go back and kill the people. " Hengjing returned to her hometown on the morning of the ninth day of September, led the villagers to a nearby mountain according to the instructions of the fairy, and distributed dogwood leaves and chrysanthemum wine to everyone. At noon, with several strange cries, the plague demon rushed out of Ruhe River, but just after jumping down the mountain, the plague demon suddenly smelled the strange smell of dogwood and chrysanthemum alcohol, and it came to an abrupt end. At this time, Heng Jing chased the demon down the mountain with a demon-reducing sword and stabbed it to death. Since then, the custom of climbing mountains to avoid epidemics on the ninth day of September has been handed down. "Qi Ren Yue Ling" contains: "On the day of the Double Ninth Festival, you must climb high and overlook, with cakes and wine." The golden autumn in September is a good season when the sky is high and the clouds are light, the golden wind is cool, and you can climb high and overlook, so the Double Ninth Festival is also called the "Climbing Festival". In addition, in people's traditional concept, the Double Ninth Festival also means longevity, health and longevity, so the Double Ninth Festival was later established as the festival for the elderly.
Various customs of the Double Ninth Festival in Taiyuan, Shanxi have a long history. "Yangcheng County Records and Customs Records" in Qing Dynasty: "On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, dogwood was chosen as a tribute, followed by climbing, drinking and writing poems, and scholars competed for fun." During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were many local scholars and poets. In many of their poems, the custom of Chongyang is vividly described, such as "scholar-officials call friends, climb mountains and sing while drinking"; Buyi Buyi is to help the old and take care of the young, and the family wears dogwood to travel. In case of rain "blocking", make up when "moving".
Starting from 1982, Taiyuan held a grand temple fair three days before and after the Double Ninth Festival. One of the first things that people attending temple fairs should do is to buy winter clothes for the elderly. Then buy mead, dogwood wine and so on. And bring back some sacrificial supplies to thank the gods and exorcise evil spirits. On this day, people will hang a bag of dogwood leaves and go out to pick chrysanthemums. Every household should make a nine-story double ninth festival flower cake, and insert two sheep (homonym "Yang") or just picked dogwood or chrysanthemum. When eating, you should fry oil cakes for the elderly. On the Double Ninth Festival, lunch is very particular. A table of vegetables with meat and vegetables, both soft and hard, has rules for several dishes, among which glutinous rice persimmon and red bean sweet rice are essential. There is a local saying, "September 9th, everything is available", that is, after the autumn harvest, children specially fry oil angle (with various styles of jiaozi and triangle) for the elderly, with vegetarian and meaty stuffing. There are all kinds of dishes in the corner, salty, which means "everything". All kinds of beans, such as red beans and adzuki beans, are wrapped in the corner. After cooking, mash it with persimmon, persimmon or jujube, which is sweet and also means "all the best". The married daughter will send oil angle and fried cakes to her parents, a pair of cotton shoes and cloth socks to her father, a fragrant handkerchief or a lying rabbit to her mother (for hair care). And set the menu of meals that each family will cook for the elderly from the seventh day of September to the fifteenth day of September. Taiyuan will sing a five-day opera, the content of which is to respect the elderly, such as "killing dogs to persuade wives", which has local characteristics. In addition, there is a local custom that this day is a snowy day in winter. For people, this day likes rain and avoids sunshine. It is said that there will be more snow when it rains in winter. There is a proverb: "If you don't go to Chongyang, you will see the thirteenth winter drought."
"Nine" is the largest number in the number, which means long life, and "Nine Nine" is homophonic with "Long Life", so the Double Ninth Festival is endowed with the meaning of "Long Life, Health and Longevity". Based on this, 1989, China designated the ninth day of the ninth lunar month as the festival for the elderly. On the Double Ninth Festival, Taiyuan has always inherited the custom of respecting, respecting, loving and helping the elderly.