Information about the Double Ninth Festival (1)
The Double Ninth Festival, also known as "Taking Autumn", is a traditional festival of the Han nationality. Celebrating the Double Ninth Festival generally includes activities such as traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high to overlook, viewing chrysanthemums, planting dogwood trees, eating Double Ninth cakes, and drinking chrysanthemum wine.
The ninth day of the ninth lunar month every year is also one of the four traditional ancestor worship festivals in China. The Double Ninth Festival has been formed as early as the Warring States Period. In the Tang Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival was officially designated as a folk festival, and has been followed by all dynasties ever since. The Double Ninth Festival and the "Spring Outing" on the third day of March are both the whole family members. On the Double Ninth Festival, all relatives must climb up together to "avoid disasters."
Information about the Double Ninth Festival (2)
Folklore activities
Climbing the Double Ninth Festival The Double Ninth Festival is a traditional Han festival that combines a variety of folk customs. Celebrating the Double Ninth Festival generally includes activities such as traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high to overlook, viewing chrysanthemums, planting dogwood trees, eating Double Ninth cakes, and drinking chrysanthemum wine.
Climbing
The Double Ninth Festival first has the custom of climbing. In the golden autumn of September, the sky is high and the air is crisp. Climbing high in this season can achieve the purpose of feeling relaxed and happy, keeping fit and curing diseases.
Information about the Double Ninth Festival (3)
Eating Double Ninth Cake
According to historical records, the Double Ninth Cake is also called flower cake, chrysanthemum cake, and five-color cake. There is no fixed method, it is more arbitrary. At dawn on September 9th, people put a piece of cake on their children's foreheads and muttered something, wishing their children all the best. This was the original intention of the ancients to make cakes in September. The special Double Ninth Festival cake should be made into nine layers, like a pagoda, with two lambs on top to match the meaning of Double Ninth Festival (sheep). Some people also put a small red paper flag on the Double Ninth Festival cake and light candles. This probably means replacing "climbing" with "lighting up lamps" and "eating cakes", and replacing dogwood with small red paper flags. ( ) Today, there is still no fixed variety of Double Ninth Cake. The soft cakes eaten during the Double Ninth Festival in various places are called Double Ninth Cake.
Appreciating chrysanthemums
Appreciating chrysanthemums, drinking wine, and playing chess on the Double Ninth Festival has always been a custom of appreciating chrysanthemums, so it was also called the Chrysanthemum Festival in ancient times. The ninth month of the lunar calendar is commonly known as the chrysanthemum month. A chrysanthemum conference is held during the festival, and crowds of people come to enjoy the chrysanthemums. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms, it has become fashionable to gather for drinking, appreciating chrysanthemums and composing poems on the Double Ninth Festival. In ancient Han customs, chrysanthemums symbolize longevity.
Information about the Double Ninth Festival (4)
Drinking chrysanthemum wine
During the Double Ninth Festival, China has the traditional custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine. Chrysanthemum wine was regarded as an "auspicious wine" that must be drunk during the Double Ninth Festival in ancient times to ward off disasters and pray for blessings.
Chrysanthemum wine has been around since the Han Dynasty. During the Wei Dynasty, Cao Pi once presented chrysanthemums to Zhong Yao on the Double Ninth Festival to wish him longevity. Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty recorded in "Baopuzi" that people in the mountains of Nanyang, Henan, lived longer because they drank the water from the sweet valley full of chrysanthemums. In the "Chrysanthemum Picking Chapter" written by Emperor Wen of the Liang Dynasty, there is a sentence: "We call each other and carry baskets to pick chrysanthemum beads. When the dew comes in the morning, we will be wet and wet." This is also the practice of picking chrysanthemums to make wine. Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was still popular. It was still recorded in Gao Lian's "Eight Notes of Zunsheng" in the Ming Dynasty. It was a popular fitness drink.
Putting dogwoods
In ancient times, the custom of planting dogwoods was still popular, so it is also called the Dogwood Festival. Cornus officinalis is used as medicine and can be used to make wine to nourish the body and cure diseases. Planting dogwood and hairpin chrysanthemums has been very common in the Tang Dynasty. Cornus officinalis has a strong fragrance and has the functions of repelling insects, removing dampness, and driving away wind evil. It can also eliminate accumulated food and treat cold and heat. Folks believe that the ninth day of September is also a day of misfortune and disaster, so people like to wear dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival to ward off evil and seek good luck. Therefore, Cornus officinalis is also known as the "evil warder".