The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the traditional Double Ninth Festival of the Chinese nation. Folks also call it "Climbing Festival", "Chrysanthemum Festival", "Dogwood Festival" or "Girls' Festival". Regarding the origin of "Double Ninth Festival", it is generally believed that the "Book of Changes" uses the yang line as nine, and "nine" is the largest yang number. On September 9, the sun and the moon are in conjunction with the yang, and the two nines overlap, so it is called "Double Ninth Festival" , also called "Chongjiu".
The ancients often compared "Shangsi" with "Double Ninth Festival". That is, "March 3rd" and "September 9th" are the corresponding Spring and Autumn Festivals. There are "outing" spring outings on the Shangsi Festival and "ciqing" autumn outings on the Double Ninth Festival. According to legend, this festival has been celebrated since very early. As a festival, the Double Ninth Festival is generally believed to originate from the legend of "Huan Jing's Refuge" during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Liang Wujun of the Southern Dynasties recorded in "Xu Qi Xie Ji Nine Days Climbing High": "Huan Jing of Runan accompanied Fei Changfang on a study tour during the Double Ninth Festival, and the Changfang said: 'On September 9th, there will be a disaster in your home. It is appropriate to When he went away in a hurry, he ordered his family members to make red bags, hold dogwood to tie their arms, climb high, and drink chrysanthemum wine. This disaster could be eliminated. Jing Ruyan came back to the mountain in the evening and saw chickens, dogs, cattle, and sheep suddenly dying. On the day when Fang heard about it, he said, "This can be replaced." In today's world, people climb high to drink on the ninth day, and women bring dogwood bags with them. From then on, it became a custom for people to climb high to avoid epidemics on September 9th.
From a calendar perspective, September is also called the Black Moon and the Chrysanthemum Moon. Black means black. In September, the Yin Qi invades the cold, the grass and trees fall yellow, and the chrysanthemums are proud of frost. There are two solar terms in the month: "Cold Dew" and "Frost Descent". The weather turns from cool to cold. If people are exposed to night fog or morning dew, the chill will refresh their hearts, so it is called "Cold Dew". After the cold dew, the weather becomes colder and the dew begins to form thin layers. Frost, so it is called "Frost Descent". The body's immune system needs to adapt to the alternation of hot and cold weather in nature, otherwise it will easily lead to disease. A farmer's proverb says, "A clear winter will come if there is no rain on the Double Ninth Festival." Therefore, on the Double Ninth Festival, people adopt a variety of activities to celebrate, including climbing high to overlook, eating Double Ninth cakes, viewing chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine, planting dogwood trees, etc. . It not only contains a kind of good wish of our ancestors for life, that is, to avoid disasters, maintain health and longevity, but also the accumulation of life experience passed down from generation to generation. As we all know, the crisp air in autumn is better than the spring scenery. Climbing high and overlooking the distance makes you feel relaxed and happy. It is a very good way to exercise. At the same time, chrysanthemum can be used as medicine to clear the liver, improve eyesight, cure dizziness, and lower blood pressure. Cornus officinalis can repel mosquitoes and kill insects, and can be used as medicine to treat vomiting and diarrhea.
Climbing high to overlook the distance and having picnics and picnics are the central contents of the Double Ninth Festival. Its original meaning is to avoid disaster. At the same time, high mountains, which are different from plains, are magical places in the minds of primitive residents. Climbing to high places and being far away from the world means being close to the gods, and it is easier to obtain blessings. Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival is also called the "Climbing Festival". Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of the Wei Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period, clearly wrote about the Double Ninth Festival banquet in "The Book of Nine Days and Zhong Yao": "As the years go by, the ninth day of September suddenly returns. Nine is the yang number, and the sun and the moon correspond to each other. , the common people named it, thinking it is suitable for a long time, so it is good to enjoy a banquet. "Sun Simiao's "Qian Jin Fang Yue Ling" also said: "On the Double Ninth Festival, one must climb high with food and wine to enjoy the feast. Qiu Zhi. Drinking wine must be mixed with dogwood and chrysanthemum, and you will return drunk. "In ancient times, people often climbed high to worship gods. When visiting the countryside in autumn, they often climbed high. Climbing high can not only pray for blessings and avoid disasters, but also provide entertainment and fitness, and make your body and mind happy.
There is also the custom of eating "Double Ninth Cake" in various places. Double Ninth Cake is also called flower cake, chrysanthemum cake, and five-color cake. There is no set method for making it and it is more random. The custom of eating cakes in September originated very early. In the Han Dynasty, it was called "Yi" or "Peng Yi". "Shuowen Jiezi": "Bait, powder cake." The raw material of bait is rice flour. There are two types of rice flour: rice flour and millet flour. Millet is sticky. The two are combined and steamed together to make bait. Millet is the first of the five grains. In ancient times, it was a good food for entertaining guests and offering sacrifices. It matures in September and is a seasonal delicacy. There is also a description in "Miscellaneous Notes of Xijing" about "eating bait to ward off evil spirits". After the Six Dynasties, it was renamed "cake" because "cake" and "gao" are homophonic, symbolizing upward, progress, promotion, etc. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was quite popular to eat cakes during the Double Ninth Festival. In the Tang Dynasty, it was called "Ma Ge Cake", and in the Song Dynasty, it was already called "Chongyang Cake". Wu Zimu recorded in "Meng Liang Lu": "On this day, there are many shops selling sugar-coated steamed cakes with pork, mutton and duck as silk clusters, and small colorful flags clustered around them. It is called 'Double Ninth Cake'." Lu Yuanming's "Double Ninth Cake" The folk customs of the Song Dynasty are recorded in the Miscellaneous Notes of the Years: "At dawn on September 9th, a piece of cake is placed on the forehead of the children, and they mutter a word, wishing them, 'May everything go well for them', three times." This is what the ancients did in September. The original intention of cake. The special Double Ninth Festival cake should be made into nine layers, like a pagoda, with two lambs on top, in line with the meaning of Double Ninth Festival (sheep). Some people also put a small red flag on the Double Ninth Festival cake and light candles. This probably means replacing dogwood with a small red flag, and replacing "climbing high" with "lighting a lamp" and "eating a cake". Because the cake surface has various decorations, it was often called "flower cake" after the Ming and Qing Dynasties. 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.
During the Double Ninth Festival, there is also the custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine, appreciating chrysanthemums and hairpin chrysanthemums. September is the time when chrysanthemums are proud of the frost. There is a poem by Huang Chao: "When autumn comes on September 8, I will kill all the flowers after they bloom." In "when the frost falls, only this grass is lush", the chrysanthemums are not afraid of the wind and frost. , becoming a symbol of high quality. It is said that enjoying chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine during the Double Ninth Festival originated from Tao Yuanming, a great poet of the Jin Dynasty. Chrysanthemum is one of the Four Gentlemen of Flowers loved by ancient Chinese literati. Tao Yuanming loved the seclusion and nobility of chrysanthemums, and often used chrysanthemums to express his aspirations: "Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, I can leisurely see the Nanshan Mountains." He said in the preface to the poem "Nine Days of Leisure": " When I am living leisurely, I love the name of Chongjiu. The garden is full of autumn chrysanthemums, and I hold the wine in my hands and drink Jiuhua in my heart. He loves drinking wine and admiring chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival. Later generations followed suit and it became a custom.
The method of making chrysanthemum wine in the Jin Dynasty is: "Pick chrysanthemum stems and leaves, mix it with rice to make wine, and use it when it is ripe in September of the Eight Immortals' birthday celebration year." The chrysanthemum wine in the Ming Dynasty is made from "decoction of chamomile flowers, with the same song , rice wine. Or add Rehmannia glutinosa, Angelica sinensis and other medicines." Li Shizhen, the medical sage of the Ming Dynasty, said that chrysanthemum wine has the effect of "curing head wind, improving ears and eyes, removing impotence and numbness, and eliminating all diseases". People also wear chrysanthemums on their heads. The poem "Climbing the Mountain in Nine Days" by Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty goes: "It is rare to smile in this world, and you must return with your head full of chrysanthemums." In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of the Double Ninth Festival in Beijing was to stick chrysanthemum branches and leaves on the doors and windows. , "to remove evil and evil and attract good luck." In the war-torn revolutionary era, Mao Zedong still enjoyed admiring chrysanthemums during the Double Ninth Festival. He wrote the lyrics "Picking Mulberries·Double Ninth Festival": "Life is easy, but it is hard to grow old. Every year there is a Double Ninth Festival, and now it is a Double Ninth Festival. The yellow flowers on the battlefield are especially fragrant." Once a year, the autumn wind is strong, not as good as the spring scenery, but better than the spring scenery, and the sky is covered with frost."
Planting dogwood is also one of the important celebrations of the Double Ninth Festival. Wang Wei, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote in his poem "Remembering the Brothers from Shandong on September 9th": "I am a stranger in a foreign land, and I miss my relatives even more during the holidays. I know that my brothers have climbed to a high place, and there is one less person planted with dogwood trees everywhere." Dogwood, also known as " "Yuejiao" or "Ai Zi" is a small evergreen tree with a trunk that can grow to more than ten feet tall. Its leaves are pinnately compound. It blooms with small green-white flowers in early summer and is as strong as pepper seeds; it matures in autumn. The fruit is yellow when young and turns purple when ripe. "Compendium of Materia Medica" says that it has a spicy and fragrant smell, is warm in nature, and can cure colds and expel toxins. "Miscellaneous Five Elements Book" says that planting "white poplar and dogwood three roots" next to the house will increase longevity and eliminate troubles." "Hang dogwood in the house, and ghosts will not enter." The ancients believed that planting dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival can drive away wind and evil spirits. The method is to insert it on the head or wear a dogwood bag.
The Double Ninth Festival is also a day when married daughters return to their parents’ homes to visit their relatives, so the Double Ninth Festival is also called “Daughter’s Day”. As the saying goes, "On September 9th, move back to your daughter and rest your hands." Liu Tong of the Ming Dynasty's "Scenery of the Imperial Capital": "On the ninth day of September, the parents' homes will welcome their daughters to Guining and eat flower cakes." Guining means that a married daughter returns to her parents. Flower cakes are made with dried fruits mixed in and decorated. Double Ninth Festival cake with flag. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Pan Rongbi's "Records of Successes in the Imperial Capital" also recorded: "Flowers and cakes were extremely popular during the Double Ninth Festival in the capital... People in the city competed to buy them for their families and as gifts for relatives and friends... A house with a daughter would give the gift of wine to Ning. Parents, it is also a festival for daughters."
In addition, Double Ninth also means "long life, health and longevity", and Double Ninth Festival is also known as Birthday Festival and Respect for the Aged Festival. In 1989, our country designated the ninth day of the ninth lunar month as the "Old Man's Day". Agencies, groups, streets, villages and towns across the country often hold various forms of celebrations and commemorations at this time, organizing autumn outings for the elderly to enjoy the scenery, have fun by the water, or climb mountains and keep fit, "old people and old people" , to promote the good customs of respecting, loving and caring for the elderly in the whole society; many families will also support their elderly elders to go to the countryside for activities, or specially prepare some delicious food for the elderly to accompany them to spend their own festivals. Express filial piety and gratitude to the elderly.