Eating Double Ninth Cake on the Double Ninth Festival is said to be derived from climbing high. The ancients believed that during the Double Ninth Festival, the weather dropped and the earth's air rose, and the two airs of heaven and earth intersected, and unhealthy air permeated the air. In order to avoid contact with unhealthy energies, one must climb high mountains to avoid the evil energies of Chongjiu. People who cannot climb high or don’t want to climb high during the Double Ninth Festival eat cakes at home. The word "cake" has the same pronunciation as "高", which means "step by step" and "everything is high".

Four theories about Double Ninth Cake

Why is it popular to eat "Double Ninth Cake" during the Double Ninth Festival? There are about four theories:

One is to dispel evil and avoid disasters . Xie Zhaozhi of the Ming Dynasty recorded in "Wuzazu": "At dawn on September 9th, putting a piece of cake on the forehead of the children can welcome good fortune and good luck, and ward off disasters and avoid evil"; the second is the meaning of "climbing high". "Eating cakes" replaces "climbing high"; the third is an act of respecting the elderly. There is a popular saying in Jiangnan: "If you don't eat cakes on the Double Ninth Festival, you will tell others when you are old"; the fourth is a blessing, "eating cakes on the Double Ninth Festival means you will be high in everything".

The legend of eating Double Ninth Cake during the Double Ninth Festival

Legend,

Kang Hai, the number one scholar in the Ming Dynasty, was a Shaanxi martial artist. After he took the provincial examination in mid-August, he fell ill in Chang'an. After the results were released in August, the good news was delivered to Wugong, but Kang Hai had not yet arrived home. If there was no one at home to pay the reward, the reward would not go away until Kang Hai came back. By the time Kang Hai recovered from his illness and returned home, it was already the Double Ninth Festival. At this time, he sent a newspaper, gave him a reward, and steamed a pot of cakes for him to use as dry food for his return journey. I steamed some more cakes and distributed them to the neighbors. Because this cake was used to celebrate Kang Haizhong's first prize, families with children who went to school would also steam the cake and distribute it during the Double Ninth Festival to bring good luck. This is how the custom of eating cakes on the Double Ninth Festival spread