The significance of the Chongyang Festival is: honoring the elderly and ancestors as well as giving thanks. The customs of the festival include: wearing dogwoods, inserting chrysanthemums, climbing up to high altitudes, and drinking chrysanthemum wine.

The Chongyang Festival is one of the traditional Chinese festivals, and it is also a festival of filial piety and respect for the elderly. On this day, people hold various celebrations, the most representative of which are wearing dogwood and inserting chrysanthemums.

The wearing of cornelian cherry is one of the oldest customs of the Chrysanthemum Festival. According to Ge Hong's "Miscellaneous Records of the Western Scriptures" of the Jin Dynasty, the custom of wearing cornelian cherry on the Chrysanthemum Festival has a history of more than 1,000 years. Cornus officinalis is a kind of herb that people wear on the Chongyang Festival to pray for peace and health.

Besides wearing cornelian cherry, there is also the custom of arranging chrysanthemums on the Chongyang Festival. The tradition has been in place since the Tang Dynasty and has prevailed through the ages. During the Qing Dynasty, the custom of Chongyang Festival in Beijing was to stick chrysanthemum branches and leaves on doors and windows to lift the evils and attract good luck. Chrysanthemum symbolizes high purity and elegance in Chinese culture and is one of the favorite flowers. Therefore, on the Chongyang Festival, people will decorate their homes with chrysanthemums to add to the festive atmosphere.

In addition, there are other customs on Chongyang Festival, such as climbing up to the heights and drinking chrysanthemum wine. Climbing up high is because Chongyang Festival is in autumn, which is the season of harvest, and people wish to express their joy and gratitude for the harvest by climbing up high. And the people wish to pray for peace and health by drinking chrysanthemum wine.

Origin of Chongyang Festival:

The Chongyang Festival originated from the farming culture and religious beliefs of ancient China. According to legend, the Chongyang Festival can be traced back to the Han Dynasty period. At that time, after harvesting crops in the fall, people would hold some rituals to thank heaven and earth for their gifts and ancestors for their blessings. Among these rituals, there was a ceremony called Ascending High, in which people would climb high mountains and look at the beautiful scenery from afar, praying for a good harvest and peace.

In addition, the Chongyang Festival is also associated with Taoism. According to Taoism, the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth month of the ninth lunar month is Chongyang, the day when the yang energy of heaven and earth is at its peak, and the most suitable day of the year for cultivation. Therefore, Taoists will practice and pray for blessings on this day.

With the passage of time, the Chongyang Festival gradually evolved into a festival of many customs, such as ancestor worship, honoring the elderly, ascending the heights, and enjoying chrysanthemums. During the Tang Dynasty, Chongyang Festival was officially designated as a festival, and was widely inherited and developed during the Song Dynasty.