One of the most important festivities of the Chrysanthemum Festival is climbing high. Therefore, the Chongyang Festival is also known as the "Festival of Ascension". There is no standardized rule on where to go, but generally it is to climb high mountains and towers.
Of course, people are not only climbing, but also to view the mountain leaves and wildflowers, and drink and eat meat, enjoy some, so that the combination of climbing and wild feast, more attractive. Such as Sui Sun Simiao "Qianjin Fang - month": "Chung Yeung day, will be to see the wine to climb high and far away, for the time of the banquet tour ornamental, in order to enjoy the fall. Wine must pick cornelian cherry, chrysanthemum to pan, that is, drunk and return." Remember the Sui dynasty customs, has been similar to later generations. In the Southern Song Dynasty's "Dream Sorghum Records" Volume 5: "The sun and moon shuttle fly, turn to look forward to the Chung Yeung. ...... is the day of 'Mengjia climbed Longshan drop hat, Yuanming to the east hedge to enjoy chrysanthemum', is exactly the story." Han Yuanji of the Southern Song Dynasty, "Song of Water - Nine Days," the first piece: "Today I am the ninth day of the year, not to be ashamed of the chrysanthemum blossoms. Try to find a high place, hand in hand to take the show on Cuiwei. Putting eyes on the pale cliffs of ten thousand measures, cloud protection dawn frost into the array, know that I come with you. Ancient temple leaning on the bamboo, flying threshold absolute tip E." Describes the rhyme of chrysanthemum appreciation and scenery of the Chung Yeung Festival.
Since Chung Yeung is an autumn festival, the grass and trees begin to wither after the festival, so some people call the Chung Yeung Festival picnic "Quitting the Green", which corresponds to the saying of "Treading the Green" for spring tour in March. Qing Pan Rong ah "imperial capital years and times record" records: "(Chung Yeung) have to rule to see with a drink in the countryside of each door to drink all day, called 'resignation of the green'." This is also a rather poetic name.
2. Wearing Cornus - Hairpin Chrysanthemum
The Chrysanthemum Festival is also known as the Cornus Festival because of the custom of wearing a cornelian cherry on the day of the Chrysanthemum Festival. Cornus officinalis is an important symbol of the Chrysanthemum Festival. People also like to wear chrysanthemums at the festival. Cornus corniculatus is also known as the "Evil Weng", and chrysanthemum is also known as the "longevity guest".
Cornelian cherry is a fruit that can be used as traditional Chinese medicine, because the cornelian cherry produced in Wu (now Jiangsu and Zhejiang) is the best quality, and therefore also called Cornus officinalis, also known as the Yue Pepper or Ai Zi, which is a kind of small evergreen tree, the tree can grow to more than ten feet high, the leaves for the pinnately compound leaves, the green and white flowers in the early summer, the fruits look like peppercorns; ripe in the fall. The fruit is yellow when young, and becomes purple-red when ripe. It has the effect of warming the middle, relieving pain, and regulating qi. Cornus leaf can also cure cholera, and the root can kill insects. The Compendium of Materia Medica says that it has a pungent and aromatic odor and is warm and hot in nature, so it can cure cold and expel poison. Ancient people believe that wearing cornelian cherry can ward off evil spirits and disasters.
3. Releasing Paper Harriers
Releasing paper harriers is the main custom of the Chongyang Festival in Huizhou. In other words, the Huizhou folk over the Chrysanthemum Festival is mainly characterized by the release of paper harriers. In addition to the ballads circulating in Huizhou, the Guangxu "Huizhou Prefecture" also has a record of this custom.
The paper harrier is also the kite now. Kite is the title after the Five Dynasties, before the Five Dynasties, the north is used to call "paper kite", the south is mostly called "harrier", Huizhou's "paper harrier" title is obviously retained before the Five Dynasties, the old name, and the "paper harrier". ancient name, and there is a "north-south mix" flavor.
4. Eat Chrysanthemum cake
Chrysanthemum diet, in addition to the aforementioned drinking dogwood, chrysanthemum wine, eat chrysanthemum food, there are a number of, the most famous is to eat cake. In the north, the wind of eating cakes is especially prevalent.
According to the "Xijing Miscellany", the Han Dynasty, there has been a September 9 to eat the custom of pong bait, that is, the original Chongyang cake. Bait, that is, the ancient cake. Zhouli" bait used as a sacrifice or eaten at banquets. The Han Dynasty also recorded a millet cake, may not be far from today's cake. Peng bait, must also be similar to the millet cake and so on. To the Song Dynasty, eat Chung Yeung cake style flourished. Cake and high harmony, eat cake is to take the meaning of good luck, and therefore favored by the people.
Chongyang cake, also known as flower cake, chrysanthemum cake, five-color cake, the system is not fixed, more random, there are "brown flower cake", "fine flower cake" and "money flower cake.
Stick some coriander leaves as a sign, the middle of the green fruit, small jujube, walnuts and other brown dried fruits; fine flower cake 3 layers, 2 layers, each layer of the middle of the candied fruits are sandwiched between the thin, such as dried apples, dried peaches, apricots, dates, and so on; money and fine flower cake cake and basically the same, but smaller, as the "money", mostly from the upper class of the House of Lords, the people of the United States, the people of the United States. It is said that in the early years, no one used to make cakes with hair. It is said that, in the early years, not at home with the hairy cake sandwiched between dates, chestnut fruit, or river rice, yellow rice flour steamed into a sticky cake, like "on the gold", "under the silver" of the flower cake.
5. Drinking chrysanthemum wine
Chrysanthemum, is China's famous flower, is also a famous flower of longevity. At the time of the "frost, only this grass flourishes", chrysanthemum has become a symbol of vitality due to its unique character.
As early as in Qu Yuan's writing, there has been "eating autumn chrysanthemums in the fall of the Ying" sentence, that is, serving chrysanthemum petals. In the Han Dynasty, there was already chrysanthemum wine. Cao Wu in the Wei Dynasty had given chrysanthemums to Zhong Zhuan in the Chongyang Festival, wishing him a long life. Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty wrote in his book "Hug Park Zi" about a family in the mountains of Nanyang, Henan Province, who prolonged their lives by drinking sweet valley water with chrysanthemums growing all over it. In Emperor Jianwen's "Chrysanthemum Picking", there is a sentence "We call each other to pick chrysanthemum beads in baskets, and the dew is wet and stains the roses", which is also the act of picking chrysanthemums for brewing wine. Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was still prevalent, and in the Ming Dynasty, Gao Lian's "Zunsheng Bazian" still recorded that it was a prevalent fitness drink. During the Chrysanthemum Festival, China has the traditional custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine. Chrysanthemum wine, in ancient times, was regarded as the "auspicious wine" that must be drunk on the day of Chung Yeung to get rid of disasters and pray for blessings.
6. Appreciate chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum, also known as the yellow flower, belongs to the family of chrysanthemums, with many varieties. Our country is the hometown of chrysanthemum, since ancient cultivation of chrysanthemum is very common. Chrysanthemum is the flower of longevity, but also for the literary people praised as a symbol of frost unyielding, so people love it, praise it, so often held large-scale chrysanthemum exhibition. Chrysanthemum exhibition is naturally held in Chung Yeung, because the relationship between chrysanthemum and Chung Yeung is too deep; therefore, Chung Yeung is also known as Chrysanthemum Festival, and chrysanthemum is also known as the nine flowers. Appreciating chrysanthemums has also become an integral part of Chongyang Festival customs. In the Song Dynasty, "Tokyo Dreaming Records" Volume 8: "In September, there are several kinds of chrysanthemums to be enjoyed under the Chrysanthemum Festival. The yellow and white stamens of the lotus room said 'Wanling chrysanthemum', pink said 'peach blossom chrysanthemum', white and sandalwood heart said 'wood fragrance chrysanthemum', yellow and rounded 'Jinling chrysanthemum', pure white and big. ', pure white and large said 'hi yung chrysanthemum'. Nowhere else."