What are the customs of the Double Ninth Festival?

The Double Ninth Festival is also called the Double Ninth Festival, the Autumn Festival, and the "Autumn Festival". Because "jiujiu" and "jiujiu" have the same pronunciation, and nine is the largest number among numbers, which means longevity, the ancients believed that the Double Ninth Festival is an auspicious day worth celebrating. Customs of the Double Ninth Festival? 1. Climbing on the Double Ninth Festival?

There is a custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival. Autumn is here, the cold air moves southward, the rain decreases, and the weather is sunny. In the golden autumn of September, the autumn air is crisp and the temperature is neither cold nor hot, which is just right for traveling. In this season, climbing high and looking far away can achieve the purpose of strengthening the body and getting rid of all kinds of diseases. The ancients have long had the custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival. For example, Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Remembering Shandong Brothers on September 9th": Being alone in a foreign land is a stranger, and I miss my relatives even more during the festival. I know from a distance that where my brothers are climbing, there is one less person planted with dogwood trees. There is also a saying in Nanjing called "Niushou Mountain in Spring, Qixia Mountain in Autumn." 2. Sunbathing in the autumn?

Double Ninth Festival is the best time to enjoy the autumn. There are still some mountainous villages in southern China that retain the characteristics of "baking in the autumn". Going to the countryside to appreciate folk customs and watch the autumn sun has become a fashion in rural tourism. "Autumn sunbathing" is a typical agricultural custom with strong regional characteristics. Villagers living in mountainous areas such as Hunan, Guangxi, Anhui, and Jiangxi, due to the complex terrain and very little flat land in the village, have to use the front and back of the house and the roof of their own window sill to dry or hang their crops. Over time, it has evolved into a traditional agricultural custom. . This special lifestyle and scene of villagers drying crops has gradually become a creative material for painters and photographers, and created the poetic name "autumn sun". 3. Nine Emperors Society?

In ancient times, in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Yunnan and other places in China, the custom of ritual fighting was popular for nine consecutive days from September 1st to 9th in the lunar calendar. It was called the Nine Emperors Society. . The Nine Emperors Society originated from the worship of the stars. As the old saying goes: "The Nine Emperors Meeting on the Double Ninth Festival, the Big Dipper extends your birthday." The Nine Emperors of the Big Dipper are composed of the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper, Zuo Fu and You Bi. "The Jade Box" says: From the first to the ninth day of September, when the nine stars of the Big Dipper are prosperous, people fast. This day is better than ordinary days and has immeasurable merit. The Nine Emperors belief has a great influence, and this kind of worship gradually evolved into the custom of ritual fighting among the people. According to Hu Pu'an's "China National Customs Chronicle": In Guangdong area, many Nine Emperors Associations are built on September 9th to celebrate the ceremony. In Yunnan, ritual fighting has become a Yunnan custom and is held from the first to the ninth day of September. 4. Have a feast to pray for longevity?

On the Double Ninth Festival, there is a custom of feasting to pray for longevity, which expresses people's blessings for the health and longevity of the elderly. The custom of feasting on the Double Ninth Festival to pray for longevity has been widely spread in various places in ancient times. There are also relevant records in some literary works, such as "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes" of the Han Dynasty: "On September 9th, wearing dogwood, eating bait, drinking chrysanthemum wine, cloud people "Longevity." "Jingchu Years' Records" says: "On September 9th, all the people gathered together for a picnic." The large-scale banquet activities during the Double Ninth Festival actually developed from the harvest celebration banquet. On the basis of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, longevity and banquets are added, forming the basis of the Double Ninth Festival. Today, the customs of holding banquets to respect the elderly and drinking banquets to pray for longevity are still popular in some places in southern China. 5. Flying paper kites?

Flowing paper kites is one of the main customs of the Double Ninth Festival in the south. Folk celebrations of the Double Ninth Festival are mainly characterized by flying paper kites. Guangxu's "Huizhou Prefecture" also records it. In folk tradition, in addition to climbing mountains, flying paper kites is also a feature of the Double Ninth Festival. As for why people fly kites during the Double Ninth Festival, in addition to the climatic reason that the sky is clear and the wind is light, the kites can easily fly up the wind during the Double Ninth Festival. The scripture is quite interesting.

Legend has it that paper kites are released during the Double Ninth Festival to "release bad luck". The higher and farther the kite flies, the more bad luck will fly away. What's more, the strings have to be specially broken. Let the kite disappear beyond the sky. Another explanation is that flying paper kites on the Double Ninth Festival is "to release good luck" and "to release blessings". The better the paper kites fly, the stronger the blessings. The person who releases the paper kites not only must not break the silk thread, but must also do everything possible to protect it, because if the silk thread breaks , then "good luck" and "blessing" will also float into the distance. 6. Eat Double Ninth Cake?

According to historical records, 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 relatively random. 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, in line with the meaning of Double Ninth Festival (sheep). Some people also put a small red paper flag (instead of dogwood) on the Double Ninth Festival cake and light candles. This probably means "lighting up lamps" and "eating cakes" instead of "climbing high". Today, there is still no fixed variety of Double Ninth Cake. The soft cakes eaten on the Double Ninth Festival in various places are called Double Ninth Cake. 7. Wearing dogwood?

In ancient times, the custom of planting dogwood was still popular, so it is also called the Dogwood Festival. In the old days, Han folk festival customs were popular in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River Basin and other places. Cornus officinalis is a fruit that can be used as traditional Chinese medicine. The ancients believed that on the Double Ninth Festival, climbing mountains and planting dogwood can repel insects, dampness and wind evil. So they wore the dogwood on their arms, ground it up and put it in a sachet, and some stuck it on their heads. Most of them are worn by women and children, and in some places men also wear them. Cornus officinalis is used as medicine and can be used to make wine to nourish the body and cure diseases.

Inserting dogwood and hairpin chrysanthemums has been very common in the Tang Dynasty. Cornus officinalis has a strong fragrance and has the functions of improving eyesight, refreshing the brain, dispelling fire, repelling insects, removing dampness, and driving away wind evil. It can also eliminate accumulated food and treat cold and heat.

Ancient customs such as planting Cornus officinalis are folk behaviors to drive away wind and evil spirits when climbing mountains. During the Double Ninth Festival, clean air rises and turbid air sinks. People use natural medicines such as Cornus officinalis to adjust their health and adapt to natural climate changes.

The Double Ninth Festival is an ancient and sacred traditional Chinese festival. It symbolizes the turn of the year and commemorates parents, health, longevity, etc. The activities of different customs during the Double Ninth Festival are a way to inherit history and culture, which is not only helpful for understanding the past, but also helping to grasp the present and the future. The Double Ninth Festival is a rare traditional festival that allows us to feel the warmth of ancient culture and truly appreciate the spirit of gathering together for joy, peace and health.