The origin of the Double Ninth Festival can be traced back to the early Han Dynasty. According to legend, after the wife Qi, the beloved concubine of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang, was destroyed, Jia, the maid-in-waiting who served Mrs Qi, was also driven out of the palace and married the poor. Jia made a rumor: in the palace, you should wear dogwood, eat tent bait and drink chrysanthemum wine on September 9 every year, so that you can live longer. Later, this custom spread to the people.
The custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival. In ancient times, people had the custom of climbing mountains on this day, so the Double Ninth Festival was also called "Mountain Climbing Festival".
This custom originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man named Huan Jing who studied Taoism with the alchemist Fei Changfang. One day, Fei Changfang told him that there would be a disaster in his hometown on the ninth day of September, and he should go home immediately. Only by letting the villagers tie a purple bag on their arms, insert dogwood in it, and then all go out to climb mountains and drink chrysanthemum wine can this catastrophe be avoided. Huan Jing listened to his master's words and invited all his hometown people out to drink on the ninth day of September. When I came home at night, I found all the chickens, dogs, cows and sheep dead. Fei Changfang said that these animals are in trouble for their hometown people. Since then, the custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine on Chongyang Mountain has spread to this day.
With the passage of time, the superstitious color of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival has gradually faded, and climbing is no longer to avoid disasters, but to become one of people's colorful entertainment activities. The ninth day of September is a season of crisp autumn and beautiful scenery. At this time, it is refreshing and beneficial to physical and mental health. Many places now hold mountaineering meetings during this period.
Appreciate chrysanthemums. The Double Ninth Festival is also about enjoying chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine, which is said to have originated from Tao Yuanming. Tao Yuanming is famous for his seclusion, poetry and wine, and also for his love of chrysanthemums. Later generations are all effective, so Chongyang has the wind of enjoying chrysanthemums. In the old days, in order to get closer to Tao Yuanming, the literati often combined chrysanthemum appreciation with feasting. In the Northern Song Dynasty, chrysanthemum appreciation in Chongyang was very popular in Kaifeng, Kyoto, when there were many kinds of chrysanthemums. After the Qing Dynasty, the custom of appreciating chrysanthemums became more prosperous. Although it is not limited to the ninth day of September, it is still the most prosperous around the Double Ninth Festival.
On the ninth day of September, it is the time when chrysanthemum crabs are fat. Chrysanthemum clusters, scrambling to open, very attractive. People love not only its beautiful appearance, but also its strong temperament. In the cold wind of late autumn, only chrysanthemums compete to open, adding vitality and colorful colors to autumn. It is also the case that the custom of appreciating chrysanthemums has been preserved. In the bleak late autumn, chrysanthemum parties and exhibitions will be held in some local parks. That school is not a scene of bright spring, which attracts many tourists to stop and watch.
Drink chrysanthemum wine. Drinking chrysanthemum wine is a myth, saying that drinking chrysanthemum wine can ward off evil spirits. Chrysanthemums bloom in the autumn frost, fresh and fragrant. People think it is a good product to prolong life. When chrysanthemums are in bud, people will pick the buds, stems and leaves together and brew them with millet until the ninth Double Ninth Festival in early September of the following year.
The custom of inserting dogwood into Evodia rutaecarpa and chrysanthemum on the Double Ninth Festival was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. The ancients thought that inserting Evodia rutaecarpa into the Double Ninth Festival could keep out the cold and avoid disaster, or wear it on the arm, or make it into a sachet to put Cornus officinalis, or wear it on the head. Most of them are worn by women and children, and some places are also worn by adult men. Besides wearing dogwood, people also have the custom of wearing chrysanthemums. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of Beijing Double Ninth Festival was to stick chrysanthemum branches and leaves on doors and windows, "to get rid of evil and filth, and to make money into treasure". This is the vulgarization of the chrysanthemum on the head. In the Song Dynasty, some people cut ribbons into dogwood and chrysanthemum and gave them to each other.
Eat Chongyang cake and drink chong yang wine. Double Ninth Cake is the food of Double Ninth Festival, just like eating Yuanxiao on Lantern Festival and mooncakes on Mid-Autumn Festival. Chongyang Cake is steamed with flour and dates, chestnuts or other dried fruits, with Caiqi Yang on it. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, eating Chongyang cake was very particular. The cake should be made into nine layers in the shape of a pagoda with two lambs on it, which is in line with the meaning of Chongyang (sheep). In the early morning of the ninth day of September, the elders sliced the Chongyang cake and put it on the foreheads of their minor children. They also said, "May my children do well in everything." This is the homonym of "cake" and "high", which is used to express the ardent wishes of the elders to the younger generation. People think that climbing to eat cakes on the Double Ninth Festival indicates a step-by-step promotion in the future.