"He Dang brings wine and drinks together on the Double Ninth Festival." The Double Ninth Festival is a traditional Chinese festival, also known as the Climbing Festival, the Chrysanthemum Festival, and so on. There are rich and varied customs such as basking in autumn and drinking chrysanthemum wine.

Dong Deying, a distinguished professor of Qingdao University, said that the Double Ninth Festival is on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The Double Ninth Festival contains a beautiful metaphor of long life, longevity and dignity, with the theme of exorcism and longevity.

Many customs also contain people's demands for respecting life and praying for happiness. For example, Chrysanthemum is known as "longevity guest" and "longevity guest". The ancients believed that drinking chrysanthemum wine in Chongyang could prolong life. In addition, we have to climb high to overlook, eat Chongyang Cake, and so on.

The origin of the Double Ninth Festival?

The Double Ninth Festival is on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. It is called "Double Ninth Festival".

Data picture: The picture shows the traditional Double Ninth Festival wine offering ceremony. Photographed by Lu Ming

In ancient times, people believed that the singular number was yang, and nine was yang. On September 9, the sun and the moon were heavy.

In addition, during the Double Ninth Festival, the autumn harvest in the north is basically over and the cold winter is coming. People often observe the weather on the Double Ninth Festival and pray for good weather and good harvest in the coming year.

What are the festival themes?

In the Han Dynasty, the Double Ninth Festival had already appeared. Later, Liang and Wu Jun of the Southern Dynasties mentioned in the "Continuation of Qixie Ji" that the legend of Huanjing climbing high to avoid disasters on September 9 also made the Double Ninth Festival and climbing custom widely spread.

Since the Double Ninth Festival came into being, the main themes of the festival are exorcism and longevity. However, in the early days, festival customs and life paid more attention to exorcising evil spirits, driving disasters, and protecting people, and festival beliefs were more colorful.

In the historical development, people paid more attention to the Double Ninth Festival for good luck and so on. The leisure and entertainment of the festival gradually became stronger.

Why drink chrysanthemum wine?

The custom of seeking longevity on the Double Ninth Festival has appeared since the beginning of the festival.

Data picture: The ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the Double Ninth Festival. People came to the Tengwang Pavilion Tourist Area in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, to climb high and pray for blessings. Photographed by Jiang Tao, a reporter from China News Service

In the late autumn of the lunar calendar, the grass turns from green to yellow, and chrysanthemums are blooming alone, which is an extension of life when the phenology is about to end. With a bunch of chrysanthemums, we wish "Peng Zu's life". Therefore, chrysanthemums are known as "longevity visitors" and "longevity visitors", and many poems and songs praise the theme of celebrating the Double Ninth Festival.

Ge Hong's "Xi Jing Miscellaneous Notes" recorded that in the Han Dynasty, "on September 9, people wore cornel, ate tent bait and drank chrysanthemum wine, making people live longer." The ancients believed that drinking chrysanthemum wine in Chongyang would prolong their life. In addition, relatives and friends would also give chrysanthemum wine as gifts.

Why were there two Double Ninth Festival?

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Double Ninth Festival was highly valued, and various festival customs such as climbing high to feast and wearing cornel were also more abundant. Liang Zongxun of the Southern Dynasty wrote in the Chronicle of the Age of Jingchu: "On September 9, the four people together drank and feasted in the wild."

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, all officials had official leave on the Double Ninth Festival. On the Double Ninth Festival, the emperor feasted his officials, and the common people climbed high to feast. The Double Ninth Festival custom gradually tended to leisure and entertainment.

The Double Ninth Festival in the Song Dynasty has two festivals, the big and the small. One day after the Double Ninth Festival, the feast will be held again, so it is called "Little Double Ninth Festival". Lv Yuanming's Miscellaneous Records of Age said: "There are more scholars and commoners in the capital than in Chong Jiu. One day after Chong Jiu, they will gather a feast and reward again, and call it Xiao Chongyang."

Where did the custom of drying autumn come from?

Some people believe that the custom of "basking in the autumn" on the Double Ninth Festival actually originated from the autumn sacrifice ceremony of tasting the new ancestors after the autumn harvest.

Data picture: Chongyang Cake waiting for sale. Photographed by Zhong Sheng

In terms of time, the Double Ninth Festival comes at a time when the autumn wind is blowing and the winter is approaching. The ancients are grateful for the harvest, and they are carrying out a grand sacrifice and tasting of new things, hoping to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters and prolong their lives.

In ancient times, spring and autumn sacrifices were important folk ritual activities. Until today, people still attach importance to spring and autumn sacrifices, as well as the ritual activities of tasting new ancestors. For example, in the north, the newly harvested wheat and fruits, grains and vegetables are used to offer sacrifices to ancestors in autumn.

How is Chongyang Cake made?

Chongyang Cake may originate from the custom of tasting new ancestors in September. Xijing Miscellaneous Notes mentioned that the bait was eaten on September 9. Bait and cake are synonymous. "Peng Bait" means autumn sacrifice and exorcism. The bait is made of glutinous rice, which means that you can try something new in autumn.

In the Song Dynasty, Chongyang Cake paid more attention to material configuration, modeling technology and color matching, and had a variety of patterns. According to the "Record of Dreams in Tokyo", "small ribbon cutting flags are put on top, and administrative fruits are mixed, such as pomegranate seeds, chestnut yellow, ginkgo, pine nut meat, etc." These ingredients add many folk wishes and festive colors to the Double Ninth Cake, such as "chestnut yellow", which means "smooth".

"Cake" and "high" are homophones for good luck. In addition, the "cake" is also related to the "climbing" of Chongyang. Even though there is no climbing, eating some Chongyang cakes at home can also be regarded as a festival scene.

Why does climbing high mean "farewell to autumn"?

It is said that the most original meaning of climbing high and looking into the distance is "Fu Rang". After the Double Ninth Festival, the autumn cold is coming, and the autumn harvest has been completed. People are about to enter the room for winter. Climbing high also means saying goodbye to nature, which is full of natural and life philosophy.

For those who are far away from their relatives in their hometown, climbing high and looking into the distance often evoke feelings of nostalgia for their hometown and relatives. Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Recalling Shandong Brothers on September 9" that "I am a stranger in a foreign land alone, and I miss my relatives every festival", which has been handed down for thousands of years.

Therefore, from the perspective of time and space, Chongyang Climbing has built people's belief and humanistic feelings of climbing to avoid disasters, homesickness and caring for people. The "high" on the "high" also means the "high life" of people's age. The homonym of "nine" and "long" contains the meaning of praying for longevity.

Data picture: The picture shows the hiking trails beside the alpine meadows of Jiangxi Wugong Mountain. Tourists are climbing the mountain. Photographed by Liu Lixin

What other interesting customs are there?

There are also customs such as wearing cornel and appreciating chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival.

Wearing cornel is an important festival custom of the Double Ninth Festival. According to the records of the local customs in the Zhou Dynasty of the Jin Dynasty, "On September 9, there was no shooting in the law, but there were nine. It is still popular to turn cornel into a plug this day, saying that evil will be dispelled and the early cold will be prevented."

There are many poems about wearing cornel in Tang and Song poetry. For example, Meng Haoran mentioned in his New Words on the Ninth Day that "cornel can be worn". In addition to wearing cornel, there are customs such as appreciating cornel and drinking cornel wine on the Double Ninth Festival.

Why fly a kite at this time?

It is said that the custom of flying kites on the Double Ninth Festival originated from the story of Huanjing and Fei Changfang in the Han Dynasty.

On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, Huan Jing asked Fei Changfang for medicine to eliminate evil and plague. He got lost in the mountains and forests, and then found Fei Changfang after being guided by pigeons. In order to commemorate this event, the posterity pasted pigeons with paper and sent them to the mountain with them when climbing, which means praying to remove bad luck.

According to Zhangzhou Prefecture Annals, "When climbing high in September, children fly in the wild as paper kites, which is called" flying public forks "in the dialect." However, in some places, Chongyang taboos "kite disconnection" when flying kites, and in some places, the kite is deliberately disconnected to let the kite go away. (Reporter Shangguan Yun)

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