The Chongyang Festival is the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, and the Chongyang Festival is an autumn festival.
The ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar is the traditional Chinese festival of Chung Yeung. It is also known as "Denggao Festival", "Chrysanthemum Festival", "Cornus Festival" or "Daughter's Festival". On the "Chongyang" origin, generally believe that the "I Ching" "to Yang lines for nine", "nine" for the largest number of Yang, September 9, the sun and the moon and Yang, the two nine heavy, it is called "Chongyang", also known as "heavy nine".
The ancients often "on the Si" and "Chongyang". That is, "March 3" and "September 9" as the corresponding spring and autumn festivals, on the Si, "trekking" spring tours, Chongyang "resignation of the green "Autumn tour, according to legend, from a very early start this festival. Chrysanthemum Festival as a festival El, generally believed to have originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty "Huanjing refuge" legend. Southern Liang Wu Jun "renewed Qi Harmony - nine days to ascend" recorded: "Ru Nan Huan Jing with Fei Changfang traveled for many years, Changfang said: 'September 9, your home when there is a disaster, it is desirable to go in a hurry, so that the family members to do the Jiang bag, full of cornelian cherry to tie the arm, ascent, drink chrysanthemum wine, this disaster can be removed.' Jing, as he said, the family climbed the mountain. Evening return, see chickens, dogs, cows and sheep, a violent death. Changfang heard the day: 'This can be replaced.' Today, the world nine days to climb the mountain and drink wine, women with cornelian cherry bladder, cover began here." Since then, it has become a custom for people to climb up on September 9 to avoid the epidemic.
Customs of the Chongyang Festival
The festival is the centerpiece of the Chongyang Festival. Its original significance was to escape from calamities.
At the same time, the mountains, which are different from the plain river, belong to the magical place in the concept of the primitive inhabitants. Climbing to the high place, far away from the world, means that it is close to the God of heaven, and it is easy to get blessings. Therefore, the Chongyang Festival is also called the "Festival of Ascending Heights". During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Pi, the Emperor of Wei Dynasty, in "Nine Days and Zhong Yao Book", has clearly written about the drinking feast of Chung Yeung: "The years go by and the months come and go, and suddenly it is the ninth day of the ninth month. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon should be in the same place. The common people honored its name and thought that it was suitable for a long time, so they used it to enjoy the banquet." Sun Simiao "Qian Jin Fang Monthly Order" also said: "Chongyang Day, must be dishes and wine to climb the high and distant, for the time of the feast of the tour to enjoy, in order to smooth the autumn Zhi. Wine must pick cornelian cherry, chrysanthemum to pan, that is, drunk and return." In ancient times, worship of the gods, more climbing, fall to the countryside, also more climbing. Climbing high, not only can pray for blessings to avoid disasters, but also entertainment and fitness, physical and mental pleasure.
All over the world, there is also the custom of eating "Chongyang cake". Chrysanthemum cake, also known as flower cake, chrysanthemum cake, five-color cake, the system is not fixed, more random. September eating cake custom originated very early, the Han Dynasty called "bait", "Peng bait". Said. Wen Jiezi": "bait, powder cake also." Bait is the raw material of rice flour, rice flour, rice flour and corn flour two kinds of corn has viscous, the two and together, combined steam that is bait. Millet for the first of the five grains, in ancient times is the hospitality and rituals of the good, ripe in September, is the seasonal food. There is also an account of "eating pong bait to pull out evil spirits"
in "Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital". After the Six Dynasties, renamed "cake", because the "cake" and "high" resonance, symbolizing upward, progress, high rise. Tang and Song dynasty festival eating cake is quite popular, Tang said "Ma Ge cake", Song has been accustomed to call "Chongyang cake". Wu Zimu wrote in Mengliang Records: "On this day, all the people in the store, steamed cake with sugar flour, on the pork and duck for the silk tuodin, inserted a small colorful flag cluster, the name of the day 'Chrysanthemum Cake'." Lv Yuanming, "Miscellaneous Records of the Times and Years", recorded in the Song Dynasty folk custom: "in September 9 let daybreak, with a piece of cake on the children's forehead, the mouth read the words, wishing the day, 'I wish the children a hundred things are high', as three sounds." This is the original intention of the ancient September cake. The cake should be made into nine layers, like the shape of the pagoda, the top of the two little sheep, in line with the meaning of Chongyang (sheep).
Some also inserted -'b red flag on the Chongyang cake, and light candles and lamps. This is probably a small red flag instead of cornelian cherry, with "light", "eat cake" instead of "high" meaning. Because the cake surface has a variety of decorations, after the Ming and Qing Dynasties and more known as "flower cake". Today's Chongyang cake, there is still no fixed varieties, all over the Chongyang Festival to eat the fluffy cakes are called Chongyang cake.
The Chrysanthemum Festival also has the custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine, enjoying chrysanthemums and hairpin chrysanthemums. September is the time when chrysanthemums are proud of the frost, and Huang Chao wrote a poem that reads, "When autumn comes on September 8, I will kill all the flowers after they bloom." The chrysanthemum flower, which defies the wind and frost, has become a symbol of high quality and purity. It is rumored that the Chrysanthemum Appreciation and Chrysanthemum Wine Drinking in Chrysanthemum Festival originated from Tao Yuanming, a great poet in Jin Dynasty. Chrysanthemum is one of the four gentlemen of the ancient Chinese literati's favorite flowers. Tao Yuanming loved chrysanthemum's seclusion and purity, and often used chrysanthemum to express his ambition: "Picking chrysanthemums under the East Fence, and seeing the South Mountain in a leisurely manner."
The Chongyang Festival legend
Legend has it that in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Ru River, there is a plague demon, every time as long as it appears, the family will be sick, there are a lot of people killed, the people really suffer from the plague demon of the ravages of the plague 0 and a plague outbreak, this time taking away the youth of Hengjing's parents, and he himself almost cut off his life. After recovering from his illness, he left his beloved wife and his folks, and resolved to go out to visit the immortals and learn the art of ridding the people of the plague. Hengjing traveled all over the world to find a master, and finally found out that there was an oldest mountain in the east, where there was an immortal with infinite magic power. Hengjing, undaunted by dangers and long distances, was guided by a crane, and finally found the mountain and the immortal with magical magic power. Moved by his spirit, the immortal finally took Hengjing in and taught him the art of demon-slaying and gave him a demon-slaying sword. Hengjing was so impressed by his spirit that he finally took him in and taught him the art of demon-slaying sword and gave him a demon-slaying sword.
One day, the fairy chief called Hengjing and said, "Tomorrow is the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth lunar month, and the plague demon is going to come out to do evil again, now you have learned the magic power, you can go back to do away with the evil for the people." He gave Hengjing a packet of juju leaves and a cup of chrysanthemum wine, and taught Hengjing how to avoid the evil spirits, so that Hengjing rode a crane to his home.
Hengjing returned to his hometown, and on the morning of the ninth day of the ninth month, he led the townspeople to a nearby mountain, and gave each of them a piece of jujuying leaf and a cup of chrysanthemum wine to prepare for the subduing of the plague demon. To noon, the plague demon rushed out of the Ru River, just pounced to the mountain, suddenly smelled a burst of juju Ying Qi incense and chrysanthemum wine wine, it will stop, the face suddenly changed, this time the constant King holding a demon sword chased down the mountain, a few rounds of the plague demon stabbed to death under the sword. From then on, the custom of ascending the mountain to avoid the epidemic on the ninth day of the ninth month was passed down year after year. Wu Jun, a native of Liang, recorded this in his book "Qi Harmony Records". Later, the Chung Yeung Festival ascending to the heights was seen as an activity to avoid disasters, and was passed down as a custom.