Double Ninth Festival, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, is called "Double Ninth Festival". People have the custom of climbing on that day, so Double Ninth Festival is also called "Climbing Festival". There are also sayings such as Double Ninth Festival, cornus and Chrysanthemum Festival. Because the homonym of "Jiujiu" on the ninth day of September is "for a long time" and has a long-lasting meaning, ancestor worship and activities to respect the elderly are often carried out on this day.
The Double Ninth Festival and the three festivals of "Chu", "Qing" and "Yu" are also the four major festivals for ancestor worship in traditional festivals in China. 20 12 years 128 February, the law clearly defines the ninth day of the ninth lunar month as the festival for the elderly.
Second, the custom of eating on the Double Ninth Festival:
1, eat Chongyang cake
According to historical records, the muffins made by the ancients a few days before and after the Double Ninth Festival are called Double Ninth Cake, also known as Flower Cake, Chrysanthemum Cake and Five-color Cake. Stick some coriander leaves as a sign, and put rough dried fruits such as olives, dates and walnuts in the middle; There are three or two layers of fine flower cake, and each layer is sandwiched with fine candied dried fruits, such as preserved apples, peaches, apricots and dates. Money flower cake is basically the same as fine flower cake, but it is smaller, like "money", and it is mostly the food of the upper-class nobles.
It is said that in the early years, people didn't put dates and chestnuts on the dough cakes, or steamed sticky cakes made of glutinous rice and yellow wheat, which looked like flower cakes with "gold on" and "silver on".
According to "Miscellanies of Xijing", in the Han Dynasty, it was the custom of eating Peng bait on September 9, that is, the original Chongyang cake. Bait is the cake of ancient times. "Zhou Li" carries bait for sacrifice or eating at banquets. There were millet cakes in the Han Dynasty, which may not be far from today's cakes. Peng bait, presumably similar to millet cake and so on. By the song dynasty, the wind of eating double ninth festival cake was flourishing. Cake is homophonic with Gao, and eating cake is for auspicious meaning, so it is favored by people.
2. Drink chrysanthemum wine
Chrysanthemum, a famous flower in China, is also a famous flower with long life. At the time of first frost, only this grass flourished. Because of its unique character, chrysanthemum became a symbol of vitality.
As early as Qu Yuan's pen, there was a saying that "the autumn chrysanthemum at an evening meal fell into the English", that is, eating chrysanthemum petals. Chrysanthemum wine existed in Han dynasty. In Wei Dynasty, Cao Wu once gave chrysanthemum to Zhong Dance in Chongyang, wishing him a long life. In Bao Pu Zi, Ge Hong of Jin Dynasty recorded that a family in Nanyang Mountain, Henan Province, lived longer because they drank the sweet valley water full of chrysanthemums. In Jian Wendi Liang's "Picking Chrysanthemums", there is a saying that "picking chrysanthemums and pearls in the basket is mutually appealing, and the dew is wet in the morning", and it is also a move of picking chrysanthemums to make wine. Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was still popular, and it was still recorded in Gao Lian's Eight Notes on Zunsheng in the Ming Dynasty. It was a popular fitness drink.
On the Double Ninth Festival, China has the traditional custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine. Chrysanthemum wine, in ancient times, was regarded as a "auspicious wine" that Chongyang must drink to dispel disasters and pray for blessings.
3. Eat a rake
Eating harrows is another food custom of the Double Ninth Festival in southwest China. Harrows are divided into soft and sweet, hard and salty. Its practice is to put the washed glutinous rice into a boiling pot, bring it to a boil, steam it in a cage, mash it in a mortar and knead it into a ball. When eating, stir-fry sesame seeds, mash them into fine powder, rub the harrow into strips, pull them into small pieces, and mix them with sesame seeds and sugar. Its taste is sweet and palatable, and it is called "soft rake" (warm food is the best). Hard harrow, also known as "oil harrow", is made by steaming glutinous rice, not mashing it, rubbing it into a ball on a table, rolling it, putting some salt and pepper powder to make a "stuffing core", rolling it into strips and slicing it, and frying it in an oil pan. It is golden and beautiful in color, salty, crispy and memorable.
4. Eat crabs
In some parts of our country, there is a custom of eating crabs on the Double Ninth Festival. Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, crabs in the north are fat. As the saying goes: "In September, the navel is pointed in October, and drinking chrysanthemums with claws is a day." The crab caught in the Double Ninth Festival is the top grade, very vigorous, full of fat and fat, and famous all over the world.