The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival. Because in the ancient Book of Changes, "six" is defined as the yin number and "nine" as the yang number, on September 9th, the sun and the moon are combined with yang, and the two nine are heavy, so it is called Chongyang, also called Double Ninth. The ancients thought it was an auspicious day to celebrate, and this festival was celebrated from a very early age.

The activities to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival are colorful and romantic, which generally include traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high into the distance, watching chrysanthemums, inserting dogwoods all over the place, eating double ninth festival cakes, drinking chrysanthemum wine and other activities.

Double Ninth Festival, because it is homophonic with "for a long time", and nine is the largest number in numbers, has the meaning of long life. Moreover, autumn is also the golden season for a year's harvest, and the Double Ninth Festival has far-reaching implications. People have always had special feelings for this festival. There are many excellent poems in Tang poetry and Song poetry to congratulate Double Ninth Festival and chant chrysanthemums.

Today's Double Ninth Festival has been given a new meaning. In 1989, China designated September 9th as the festival for the elderly, which skillfully combined tradition with modernity and became a festival for respecting, loving and helping the elderly. At this time, all organs, organizations and streets in the country often organize old people who have retired from their jobs to enjoy the scenery in autumn, or to have fun near the water or climb mountains to keep fit, so that their bodies and minds can be bathed in the embrace of nature; The younger generation of many families will also help the elderly elders to go to the suburbs for activities or prepare some delicious food for the elderly.

The Origin of Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival was mentioned in Chu Ci as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Qu Yuan's "Journey" wrote: "Set the Chongyang into the Emperor's Palace, and start to see the Qing capital after ten days." The "Double Ninth Festival" here refers to the sky, not just festivals. In the Book of Nine Days and Zhong You written by Cao Pi, the Emperor of Wei Wen in the Three Kingdoms period, it was clearly written that the feast was held in Chongyang: "The year is coming to the moon, and then it suddenly comes back to September 9. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon are in harmony. It is well-known and thinks that it is suitable for a long time, so it is a feast. "

Tao Yuanming, a scholar in the Jin Dynasty, said in the preface to the poem "Nine Days of Idleness": "I am idle and love the name of nine. Autumn chrysanthemum is full of gardens, but it is awkward, and it is empty for Jiuhua, and it is cherished in words. " Chrysanthemum and wine are mentioned here at the same time. Probably in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, drinking and enjoying chrysanthemums were practiced on Double Ninth Festival. In the Tang Dynasty, Chongyang was officially designated as a folk festival.

In the Ming Dynasty, in September, on the Double Ninth Festival, the palace would eat flower cakes together to celebrate, and the emperor would personally climb the Long Live Mountain to celebrate his autumn ambition. This custom has been spread to the Qing Dynasty.

Legend of Double Ninth Festival

Like most traditional festivals, the Double Ninth Festival has ancient legends.

According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a plague demon in Ruhe River. As soon as it appeared, people in every family fell ill and died every day, and the people in this area were ravaged by the plague demon.

A plague killed young Hengjing's parents, and he almost died of illness himself. After recovering from his illness, he bid farewell to his beloved wife and fellow villagers, and decided to go out to visit immortals to learn art and get rid of plague demons for the people. Heng Jing visited teachers everywhere and visited famous scholars all over the world. Finally, he found out that there is the oldest mountain in the East. On the mountain, there is an immortal with boundless magic power. Under the guidance of the crane, Heng Jing finally found the mountain and found the immortal with magical magic power. The immortal was moved by his spirit, and finally took Heng Jing in, taught him the sword of demon reduction, and gave him a sword of demon reduction. Hengjing forgot to eat, sleep and practice hard, and finally developed an extraordinary martial arts.

On this day, the immortal called Heng Jing to him and said, "Tomorrow is the ninth day of September, and the plague demon will come out to do evil again. You have learned your skills, so you should go back and kill the people." Xian Chang gave Heng Jing a pack of cornus leaves and a cup of chrysanthemum wine, and secretly taught him how to ward off evil spirits, so that Heng Jing could ride a crane home.

Heng Jing returned to his hometown. On the morning of the ninth day of September, he led the villagers to a nearby mountain according to the fairy's instructions, and gave each person a piece of cornus leaf and a cup of chrysanthemum wine, ready to subdue the evil spirit. At noon, with several strange calls, Wen Mo rushed out of Ruhe River, but just as Wen Mo jumped down the mountain, he suddenly smelled the strange fragrance of cornus and the alcohol of chrysanthemum, and stopped abruptly, and his face suddenly changed. At this moment, Heng Jing chased Wen Mo down the mountain with a demon-reducing sword in his hand, and stabbed him to death in a few rounds. Since then, the custom of climbing high to avoid epidemic on the ninth day of September has been handed down year after year. Wu Jun, a Liang native, once recorded this in his book "Continuation of Qi and Harmony".

Later, people regarded the custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival as an activity to avoid disasters. In addition, in the traditional concept of people in the Central Plains, double ninth still means long life, health and longevity, so the Double Ninth Festival was later established as the festival for the aged.

The custom of double ninth festival

Autumn is cool, osmanthus is fragrant, and the Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month is full of activities and interests, including climbing mountains, enjoying chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine, eating Chongyang cake, inserting dogwood and so on.

ascend a height

In ancient times, there was a folk custom of climbing in Chongyang, so the Double Ninth Festival was also called "Climbing Festival". According to legend, this custom began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are many climbing poems written by scholars in Tang Dynasty, most of which are the custom of writing the Double Ninth Festival. Du Fu's seven laws "Ascending the Mountain" is a famous article about climbing the mountain in Chongyang. There is no uniform rule for climbing, but generally climbing mountains and towers. There is also the custom of eating "Chongyang cake".

Eat Chongyang cake

According to historical records, Chongyang cake, also known as flower cake, chrysanthemum cake and five-color cake, is made randomly. At dawn on September 9, it was the original intention of the ancients to make cakes in September, with a piece of cake on their children's heads and saying something in their mouths, wishing their children all the best. The exquisite Chongyang cake should be made into nine layers, like a pagoda, with two lambs on it to conform to the meaning of Chongyang (sheep). Some even put a little red paper flag on the Chongyang cake and light candles. This probably means "lighting a lamp" and "eating cake" instead of "climbing", and using a little red paper flag instead of cornus. Nowadays, there are still no fixed varieties of Chongyang cakes, and the soft cakes eaten in various places on the Double Ninth Festival are called Chongyang cakes.

Enjoy chrysanthemum and drink chrysanthemum wine

The Double Ninth Festival is the golden autumn season of the year, and chrysanthemums are in full bloom. It is said that enjoying chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine originated from Tao Yuanming, a great poet in the Jin Dynasty. Tao Yuanming is famous for his seclusion, his poetry, his wine and his love for chrysanthemums. Later generations have followed suit, so there is a custom of appreciating chrysanthemums in Chongyang. In the old days, literati and officialdom also combined chrysanthemum appreciation with banquets in order to get closer to Tao Yuanming. In the Northern Song Dynasty, when Kaifeng was the capital of the capital, chrysanthemum appreciation in Chongyang was popular. At that time, there were many varieties of chrysanthemums in various forms. People also call September of the lunar calendar "Chrysanthemum Moon". In the Double Ninth Festival, when chrysanthemums are in full bloom in Ao Shuang, watching chrysanthemums has become an important part of the festival. After the Qing Dynasty, the habit of enjoying chrysanthemums was particularly prosperous, and it was not limited to September 9, but it was still the most prosperous around the Double Ninth Festival. 、

Evodia rutaecarpa and chrysanthemum morifolium

The custom of inserting Evodia rutaecarpa on the Double Ninth Festival was very common in the Tang Dynasty. The ancients thought that inserting Evodia rutaecarpa on the Double Ninth Festival could take refuge and eliminate disasters. Or wear it on the arm, or make a sachet and put cornus in it, or put it on your head. Most of them are worn by women and children, and in some places, men also wear them. Cornus's attendance at the Double Ninth Festival was recorded in Ge Hong's Miscellanies of the Western Classics in the Jin Dynasty. Besides wearing cornus, people also wear chrysanthemums. This has been the case in the Tang Dynasty, and it has been popular throughout the ages. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of the Double Ninth Festival in Beijing was to stick chrysanthemum branches and leaves on the doors and windows, "to remove evil and filth to attract good luck". This is the vulgarization of the chrysanthemum on the head. In the Song Dynasty, there were also people who cut colored ribbons into cornus and chrysanthemums to give to each other.

The custom of celebrating the Double Ninth Festival in various places

In addition to the above common customs, there are some unique festivals in various places.

During the official harvest season of the Double Ninth Festival in northern Shaanxi, there was a song that said, "In September, there will be nine double ninth festivals, so harvest is busy in autumn. Millet, millet, go up and go up. " The Double Ninth Festival in northern Shaanxi is in the evening, and the day is a whole day of harvesting and threshing. At night, on the treetops, people like to enjoy buckwheat noodles and boiled mutton. After dinner, people go out of their homes in twos and threes, climb the nearby hills, light the fire, talk about the land, and wait until the chickens crow before going home. When climbing mountains at night, many people pick some wild chrysanthemums and put them on their daughters' heads at home to ward off evil spirits.

In Puxian, Fujian, people follow the old custom of steaming nine layers of Chongyang rice fruit. In ancient China, there was a custom of "eating bait" for Chongyang, which means cakes and rice fruit today. In the Song Dynasty, the Jade Candle Collection says, "Those who eat chrysanthemum wine for nine days will reap millet and glutinous rice at that time, so that they can taste new things because of their sticky taste, and thus become a habit." Song Zuqian, a Puxian poet in the early Qing Dynasty, said in "Minjiu Qu": "I was shocked to hear that the festival was near Chongyang, and I picked up wild incense with my basket in my hand. The jade pestle is smashed into green powder and wet, and the pearls are called lang taste. " Since modern times, people have transformed rice fruit into a distinctive nine-fold rice fruit. Wash the high-quality late rice with clear water, soak it for 2 hours, take it out and drain it, mix it with water and grind it into slurry, add alum (dissolved in water) and stir it, add red sugar (boiled with water to make a concentrated sugar solution), then put it on a steamer, spread a clean cooking cloth, then scoop in rice pulp for nine times, steam it for a few minutes and then cook it out, and apply peanut oil to the rice flour. This rice fruit is divided into nine layers, which can be uncovered and cut into water chestnuts. The four sides are distinct and translucent. It is sweet, soft and palatable, and does not stick to the teeth. It is the best gift for Chongyang to respect the elderly.

In some places, people also have the opportunity to climb the mountain in Chongyang, to sweep the ancestral graves and commemorate their ancestors. Puxian people worship their ancestors in Chongyang more than Qingming, so there is a saying that March is a small Qingming and the ninth is a big Qingming. Due to the coastal area of Puxian, the ninth day of September is also the anniversary of Mazu's ascension to heaven. Villagers often go to the Tianhou Ancestral Temple and Palace Temple in Mazu Tempel or Hong Kong, Meizhou, for blessing.

After the founding of New China, the activities of the Double Ninth Festival enriched the new content. 1989, China's double ninth festival was designated as the festival for the elderly. On this first day, all localities should organize the elderly to climb mountains and have an autumn outing, broaden their horizons, exchange feelings, exercise, and cultivate people's noble character of returning to nature and loving the great mountains and rivers of the motherland.

Poems of Double Ninth Festival

Picking mulberry seeds for Chongyang

Mao Zedong

Life is easy to get old, but it's hard to get old.

Today, it is Chongyang, and the yellow flowers in the battlefield are particularly fragrant.

The annual autumn wind is strong, unlike spring,

It's better than spring, and it's like Wan Li frost on a vast river.

On the Mountain Holiday Thinking of My Brothers in Shandong

(Tang) Wang Wei

A lonely stranger in a strange land I am cast, I miss my family all the more on every festive day.

Think of the brothers body boarded up high, will also because of less than I have a regret.

Climb the mountain on the 9 th

(Tang) Du Mu

The river reflected the autumn shadow geese just south fly, about friends with the wine with the Flagon hill.

The world is troubled with a smile, and the chrysanthemum blooms when it is in full bloom.

However, I will pay for the festival as much as I can, and I will not hate it when I board.

Life is short history, after all, why, like qi jinggong to tears in the eyes.

It will be on September 10 th.

(Tang) Li Bai

Climb the mountain yesterday, and lift it again today.

Chrysanthemum is too bitter, and it's a double ninth festival.

On September 9th, Xuanwu Mountain was visited.

(Tang) Lu Zhaolin

Looking at the mountains and rivers on September 9, I hope to accumulate wind and smoke.

In another country, drinking golden flower wine, Wan Li shares the same sorrow with Hongyan.

Shuzhong Jiuri

(Tang) Wang Bo

On September 9, at Wangxiangtai, he took a seat in a farewell cup.

Human feelings are tired of suffering in the south, and Hongyan is from the north.

Nine-day work

(Tang) Wang Jin

Don't compare the border with Kyoto, the frost grass has withered in August.

I wonder if there will be chrysanthemums in the wine today.

Jiuri

(Tang) Yang Heng

Yellow flowers and purple chrysanthemums fall by the fence, and picking chrysanthemums is full of wine and loving fragrance.

I can't bear to look forward to my hometown today, but I am forced to join the crowd.

On the ninth day of Fenghe, I was lucky to climb to Linwei Pavilion.

Weianshi

On the ninth festival, you have to make a move.

The golden wind flutters the chrysanthemum, and the jade dew weeps the dogwood branches.

Looking at eight miles away, there are seven wonders in astronomy.

Deep in the face should be just around the corner, so do not forget the danger.

Zuihuayin

(Song) Li Qingzhao

The mist is thick and the clouds are sad forever, and the brain sells the golden beast.

In the double ninth festival, lying in the pillow, in the middle of the night, the cold of the body has just been soaked.

Drinking wine in the eastern fence until after dusk, the faint yellow chrysanthemum fragrance overflowing with double sleeves.

Don't be ecstasy, curtain rolls west wind, people are thinner than yellow flowers!

Yu Chang 'an returned to Yangzhou to visit Weishan Pavilion on September 9th.

(Southern Dynasty Chen) Jiang Zong

My heart went south to the cloud, but the body came back from north to south in the fall.

How many flowers are there under the fence in my hometown today?

Indulge in Dongfeng Chongjiu

(Yuan) Guan Hanqing

The poem on the red leaves let it bear the emotion withstanding the royal trench, the people of the chrysanthemum lie in the song upstairs.

The shadows of geese are thin in the sky, and the moon is thin when it sets.

In the cold autumn, the willows are chilling and sad.

Who will teach white clothes to deliver wine?

Jiuri

(Ming) Vincent

After three years, I was not at home when I opened it.

What time is today's wine, and suddenly it is a flower for the old garden.

Wild clouds connect trees, and wild geese gather sand in cold weather.

Boarding infinite meaning, where is Wangjing China.