First of all:

The origin of Chongyang can be traced back to before the pre-Qin period. "Lu Chunqiu Qiu Ji Ji" says: "In September, the family was ordered to slaughter, and the fields were prepared for harvest, and five important things were listed. The Tibetan emperor's book is collected in the holy warehouse, and I only respect it. " "It's the day, Great Emperor. I'll taste the sacrifice and tell the son of heaven." It can be seen that at that time, when the crops were harvested in autumn and September, there were activities of offering sacrifices to the emperor and ancestors to thank them for their kindness.

Jia, the imperial secretary in Xijing Miscellanies of the Han Dynasty, said: "On September 9, Pei Yun ate the bait and drank chrysanthemum wine, and the clouds made people live longer." According to legend, since then, there has been the custom of seeking longevity on the Double Ninth Festival. This is influenced by the ancient wizards (later Taoist priests) who pursued immortality and collected drugs to take. At the same time, there are also large-scale banquet activities, which developed from the Qingfeng banquet in the pre-Qin period. The Chronicle of Jingchu Age said: "On September 9th, four people got together for a picnic." Duke Du of Sui wrote: "I don't know when the banquet on September 9 started, and it hasn't changed since I was stationed in the Song Dynasty." Longevity and feast form the basis of the Double Ninth Festival. The poem "Tucun Village in Yangfu Mountain and the Banquet for the Elderly" wrote: "Jiujiang Village has lunch, chrysanthemums are served, and birthdays are celebrated. Next year will be healthier than this year, * * * save youth. " The activities such as banquets for the elderly, drinking chrysanthemum wine and wishing health were described.

Second:

One of the prototypes of the Double Ninth Festival is the ancient fire sacrifice ceremony.

As a symbol of ancient seasonal stars, the "September Fire" retired, and it was called "September Fire" in summer. The retirement of Mars not only made the ancients who had always regarded Mars as a symbol of seasonal production and life lose the coordinates of time, but also made the ancients who worshipped fire feel inexplicable fear. The dormancy of Vulcan means a long winter. Therefore, in the "internal fire" season, just like it, although the situation of ancient sacrificial ceremonies is obscure, we can still find some traces of ancient customs from the utensils of the Double Ninth Festival in later generations. For example, in some places in the south of the Yangtze River, there is a custom of offering sacrifices to stoves on Chongyang, which is the fire god at home, thus showing the clues of offering sacrifices to "fire" in ancient September. The ancients regarded Chongyang, Shangsi or cold food, September 9 and March 3 as the corresponding spring and autumn festivals. Liu Hanxin's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing said: "Go to the third grade in March, play games with girls in September, and then climb the mountain." The correspondence among thinking, cold food and Chongyang is based on the appearance of "fire".

With the progress of people's livelihood science and technology, people have a new understanding of time, and the "fire calendar" has given way to the general calendar. The ritual of sacrificing fire in September declined, but people still have special feelings about the natural climate change caused by the decline of yang in September, so the ancient custom of climbing mountains and avoiding it still spread to cities, although the world has a new explanation.

Chongyang has become a landmark building in people's life after the return of Xia Dong. If thinking and cold food are the Spring Festival when people go out to swim after a long winter, then Chongyang is a ceremonial autumn outing when autumn cold comes and people are about to live in seclusion, so there is thinking "outing" and Chongyang's "farewell". The custom of Double Ninth Festival revolves around people's feelings in this season.

evolutionary process

The Double Ninth Festival has a history of more than two thousand years. The name of "Double Ninth Festival" was recorded in the Three Kingdoms period. According to Cao Pi's "Nine Days and Zhong You Book", it says: "From year to month, September 9 suddenly comes again. Nine is the number of yang, and the sun and the moon coincide. It is well known and considered suitable for a long time, so it is a feast. "

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a custom of enjoying chrysanthemums and drinking alcohol.

In the Tang Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival was designated as an official festival. From then on, the court and the people celebrated the Double Ninth Festival together, and various activities were carried out during the festival.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival in September, the palace would celebrate with flower cakes, and the emperor would personally climb the Long Live Mountain to celebrate his autumn ambition.

In the Qing Dynasty, this custom still prevailed.

Since the 1980s, some places in China have designated the ninth day of September in the summer calendar as the festival for the elderly, advocating the whole society to establish an atmosphere of respecting, loving and helping the elderly. 1989, the China government designated this day as "Day for the Elderly" and "Day for Respecting the Elderly".

folk-custom activities

Double Ninth Festival is a traditional festival of Han nationality, which combines various folk customs. Celebrating the Double Ninth Festival generally includes traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high and looking far, watching chrysanthemums, planting dogwood all over, eating double ninth cake, drinking chrysanthemum wine and other activities. Double Ninth Festival, because it is homophonic with "long", and nine is the largest number in the number, which means long life. Moreover, autumn is also the golden season of harvest in a year, and the Double Ninth Festival has far-reaching influence. People have always had special feelings for this festival. There are many excellent poems in Tang poetry and Song poetry to congratulate the Double Ninth Festival and chant chrysanthemums.

Climb the peak

First of all, there is a custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival. Autumn in September, the sky is crisp. In this season, climbing the mountain and overlooking it can achieve the purpose of relaxing body and mind, keeping fit and getting rid of diseases.

Eat Chongyang cake

The custom of eating Chongyang cake is related to mountain climbing. Gaohe cake is homophonic. As a holiday food, it was originally to celebrate the harvest of autumn grain and taste new grain. After that, the people have the auspicious meaning of climbing to eat cakes and climbing step by step. Appreciate the beautiful chrysanthemums

Appreciate the beautiful chrysanthemums

The Double Ninth Festival has always had the custom of enjoying chrysanthemums, so it has been called Chrysanthemum Festival since ancient times. September of the lunar calendar, commonly known as Chrysanthemum Month, holds a chrysanthemum party on holidays, and people from all over the city go to the meeting to enjoy chrysanthemums. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms, it has become fashionable for Chongyang parties to drink and enjoy chrysanthemums and recite poems. In the ancient customs of Han nationality, chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity.

Drink chrysanthemum wine

On the Double Ninth Festival, China has the traditional custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine. Chrysanthemum wine, in ancient times, was regarded as the "auspicious wine" that Chongyang must drink to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings.

Chrysanthemum wine existed in the Han Dynasty. In Wei Dynasty, Cao Pi once presented chrysanthemums to Zhong You in Chongyang, wishing him a long life. Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty recorded in Bao Puzi that there was a family in Nanyang Mountain, Henan Province, who lived a long life because of drinking the sweet valley water full of chrysanthemums. In Liang's "Picking Chrysanthemums", there is a saying that "under the east fence of picking chrysanthemums, picking pearls tells each other that the morning dew is wet", which is also a move of picking chrysanthemums to make wine. Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was still very popular, and it was still recorded in Gao Lian's Eight Chapters of Respect for Life in the Ming Dynasty. This is a popular health drink.

Peidogwood

The custom of inserting Evodia rutaecarpa was popular in ancient times, so it is also called Cornus Festival. As a medicine, Cornus officinalis can make wine, strengthen the body and get rid of diseases. Evodia rutaecarpa and chrysanthemum were very common in the Tang Dynasty. Cornus officinalis has a strong aroma, and has the functions of expelling parasites, removing dampness, expelling wind, promoting digestion and resolving food stagnation, and treating cold and heat. People think that September 9 is also a day of disaster, so people like to wear dogwood to ward off evil spirits and seek good luck on the Double Ninth Festival. Therefore, Cornus officinalis is also called "evil spirit".