What is the custom of Double Ninth Festival?

Double Ninth Festival is a traditional folk festival in China, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month every year. The number of "Nine" is a positive number in the Book of Changes, and the two positive numbers of "Nine Nine" are heavy, so it is called "Chongyang"; It is also called "Double Ninth Festival", because both the date and the month conform to nine. Returning to the truth of 1999, the ancients thought that 1999 Chongyang was an auspicious day. In ancient times, there were customs such as climbing and praying for blessings on the Double Ninth Festival. Inherited to this day.

One of the customs of Double Ninth Festival: Pei Tea Language.

Inserting Evodia rutaecarpa is a symbolic custom of the Double Ninth Festival.

Cornus officinalis belongs to the subclass Rosa, a dicotyledonous plant with a wide variety. Cornus officinalis related to the Double Ninth Festival mainly refers to Evodia rutaecarpa, whose ancient name is Yuejiao.

One of the characteristics of Evodia rutaecarpa is that the greenhouse is gorgeous, giving people a strong visual aesthetic feeling; Second, it has a strong fragrance and is a good refreshing plant; Third, the medicinal value of Evodia rutaecarpa, China traditional medicine believes that Evodia rutaecarpa has the efficacy of treating colds and expelling toxins. Evodia rutaecarpa, formerly known as Evodia rutaecarpa, is called Evodia rutaecarpa because it was produced in the pre-Qin State of Wu. Why was it later called "Cornus officinalis"? It is said that there is a legend here.

According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, the weak State of Wu paid tribute to the powerful neighboring State of Chu every year. One year, an emissary was sent to the king of Chu to make medicinal materials. The ignorant king of Chu didn't know what Evodia rutaecarpa was, thinking that Wu was teasing him, he was furious and drove the emissary out of the palace for no reason.

There is a doctor named Zhu beside the king of Chu. Because he was a friend of the envoy of the State of Wu, he quickly took him home and asked him why. The envoy of the State of Wu said that Evodia rutaecarpa is a first-class medicinal material of the State of Wu, which has the functions of warming the middle warmer to relieve pain, reducing adverse reactions and stopping vomiting, and is good at treating stomach cold, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Because of this, I heard that the king of Chu had a chronic disease of stomach cold and abdominal pain, so I offered it. After hearing this, Dr. Zhu carefully preserved Evodia rutaecarpa.

The next year, the king of Chu caught a cold and his old illness recurred. His abdominal pain is like a knife, and the doctors are helpless.

When Dr. Zhu saw that the time had come, he quickly tortured Evodia rutaecarpa and gave the king of Chu temporary pain relief. The king of Chu was overjoyed and gave it to Dr. Zhu, asking what medicine it was. Dr. Zhu described the situation of medicine provided by the envoy of the State of Wu last year.

After listening to this, the king of Chu was very remorseful. He sent people to apologize to the prince with gifts and ordered people to plant Evodia rutaecarpa widely. A few years later, the plague in Chu was prevalent, and patients with abdominal pain were everywhere. Thanks to Evodia rutaecarpa, thousands of lives have been saved.

In order to thank Dr. Zhu for saving his life, the Chu people changed their name to Wu Zhuyu.

The second custom of the Double Ninth Festival: putting paper owls.

Paper harriers are kites now, too. Kite is the title after the Five Dynasties. Five dynasties ago, the north used to call it a "paper kite" and the south used to call it a "kite". The appellation of "paper kite" in Huizhou obviously retains the ancient appellation of five dynasties ago, and has the flavor of "a mixture of north and south".

Kites began to appear in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the earliest types were birds. Legend has it that it was a public disaster (Luban). He "cut bamboo into cranes and flew them" and "made a wooden kite to see Song Cheng". The "bamboo magpie" and "wooden kite" here are the prototypes of kites.

But there was no paper at that time, so it could only be made of bamboo. The notes of the Qing Dynasty said that "Han Xin led a hundred thousand troops to besiege Xiang Yu in Gai, made kites out of cowhide, and the piper played homesick songs, and the 8,000 disciples of the Chu army were scattered". The kites in the Han Dynasty mentioned here are only kites made of cowhide. After the advent of papermaking in Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty, paper kites appeared, and names such as "paper kite" and "kite" appeared.

The appearance of the name "kite" was recorded in the Five Dynasties. In Xuncao Record, it said: "Kite, that is, paper kite, is also called wind kite. At the beginning of the Five Dynasties, Ye Li made a paper kite in the palace, guiding the way to collect wind for the play, and then taking bamboo as the flute of the kite head, so that the wind entered the bamboo and sounded like A Zheng, which was called a kite. " After the Tang Dynasty, kites prevailed, and Tomb-Sweeping Day was designated as the Kite Festival. After the Song Dynasty, kites became popular among ordinary people.

Since then, the shape of kites is no longer limited to birds such as magpies, kites and harriers, but insects, fish and gods. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, kite making has become a very exquisite handicraft art.

Huizhou folk paper owls have changed their original appearance, mostly with tails, and their shapes are similar to those of the door gods and deities attached to the folk, so it is suspected that they are a simplification of the kite. In Huizhou folk, rubella is extremely simple to produce. Take a curved bamboo and a vertical bamboo, take a square piece of paper, attach a tail and adjust the line, and then fly. There is a kind of square paper with no tail, which is slightly larger and called "Grandma Owl", which is named after its slow and steady flight.

In addition, other shapes of paper owls are occasionally found.

On the Double Ninth Festival, people often fly kites in the street and on high benches in the wild. Both children and adults are spectacular.

According to the traditional custom of our country, flying kites is mostly in Qingming. The paper owl on Chongyang is a unique folk custom in Huizhou. The reason is hard to know. However, judging from the southern climate of Huizhou, the time seems to be quite suitable.

Before and after the rainy season in Tomb-Sweeping Day, the spring rain continued. This time is obviously not suitable for paper owls. However, it is crisp in autumn and windy around the Double Ninth Festival, so people have to climb mountains and do outdoor activities according to traditional customs. Putting paper owls at this time is suitable for the right time and place.

The third custom of Double Ninth Festival: Eating cakes on Double Ninth Festival.

The custom of eating cakes in September originated very early. Although the name of "cake" began at the end of the Six Dynasties, it appeared in the Han Dynasty and was called "bait" at that time. The raw material of the bait is rice flour. There are two kinds of rice noodles and millet noodles. Millet and rice are sticky, and the two are combined with "steaming bait". Millet is the length of grain, and it was a good product for entertaining guests and offering sacrifices in ancient times. In September, when millet is ripe, people try new food in time. So, first of all, they used millet sacrifice to enjoy their ancestors. The predecessor of Chongyang cake is a new product in September. This is also the origin of the autumn festival custom that people in later generations recommend God to worship their ancestors on the Double Ninth Festival.

During the Six Dynasties, the ancient custom of mountain climbing was very popular, and the custom of Double Ninth Festival was formed, so cakes naturally became seasonal food. As the nursery rhyme goes, "Liu He was injured in early July, so it is just right to eat cakes in September." ("Sui Shu. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the custom of eating cakes on Chongyang was prevalent. Marco Cake in Tang Dynasty and Chongyang Cake in Song Dynasty.

Wu described September 9th in his dream. "On this day, everyone set up stalls, steamed cakes with sugar noodles, pork, mutton and ducks as silk skewers, and Caiqi Yang skewers, which are called' Double Ninth Festival cakes'". Because there are many decorations on the surface of the cake, Chongyang cake is often called "flower cake" after the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Chongyang Flower Cake has become a holiday food in cities and villages.

1936 "Shanyin County Records" records the custom of the Double Ninth Festival: Chongyang climbs the mountain, steamed rice is a five-color cake, and the ribbon-cutting flag is for children's entertainment. Flower cakes mainly include "coarse flower cakes", "fine flower cakes" and "money flower cakes". The symbol of "coarse flower cake" is to stick some coriander leaves with rough dried fruits such as olives, jujubes and walnuts in the middle; There are three or two layers of fine flower cakes, each with fine candied dried fruits, such as preserved apples, peaches, apricots and dates. Money flower cake is basically the same as fine flower cake, but smaller, like "money", which is mostly the food of the upper nobility.

Gao is a homonym in Chinese and a symbol of growth, upward, progress and promotion. Song folk custom, at dawn on September 9, "put a piece of cake on the head of children and wish them all the best." .

Send out three sounds "(Lv Yuanming's Miscellaneous Notes at the Age of Years). Cake is not only homophonic "Gao", but also various decorations on Chongyang Cake have their own meanings. If you put a deer on the cake, it is called stone deer cake. The decorations on the cake, such as dates, chestnuts and lions, are the traditional symbols of China's blessing for children, which clearly expresses people's desire to pray for children during the autumn harvest.

Chongyang is still the day when the married daughter goes home. It is another custom of Chongyang to take the married daughter home to eat Chongyang cake. There is a saying called "September 9th, move back to the girl to have a rest." So Chongyang, like Dragon Boat Festival, is called "Daughter's Day".

The fourth custom of the Double Ninth Festival: drinking chong yang wine and 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 to wish 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, and 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.

The custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival has a long history, but there are many versions about its origin. One originated in ancient times and was created by Du Kang, and the other originated in the early Han Dynasty and the court. But in any case, it was Tao Yuanming of Jin Dynasty who closely linked chrysanthemum with wine and endowed it with cultural connotation and far-reaching influence.

Tao Yuanming loved chrysanthemum and wine all his life. He wrote in the preface to "Idle for Nine Days": "I live idle, love the name of Nine, and the autumn chrysanthemums are full of gardens, but I don't want to take wine and worry about it." After Wei and Jin Dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was also popular in Tang Dynasty.

Quan Deyu's poem "Seeing relatives and friends off to Danyang on the 9th in Jiaxing" says: "The grass reveals the cold clothes, and the mountain breeze makes the chrysanthemum fragrant". Scholars of all ages like chrysanthemum wine, which is related to its health care function on the one hand and its strong admiration for chrysanthemum humanistic style on the other.

Of course, dogwood and chrysanthemum are not completely separated. Cornus officinalis can also be eaten, and chrysanthemum can also be inserted.

For example, Dream of Liang Lu said: "In this world, chrysanthemum and dogwood float above wine and drink, dogwood is in the name of exorcism, and chrysanthemum is the guest of prolonging life. I take these two things as a festival to eliminate the evil of Yang Jiu. " In Du Mu's poem "Ascending the Mountain in Nine Days", "It is difficult to laugh in the world, and the chrysanthemum must be put in the head". It can be seen that in addition to drinking chrysanthemum wine, there is also the custom of holding chrysanthemums. Cornus officinalis is eaten not only on the head, but also on the arm, or in a sachet.

This custom later developed into various customs, such as hanging chrysanthemum branches and leaves on doors and windows on the Double Ninth Festival or sticking paper-cuts, or cutting ribbons into the shape of dogwood and chrysanthemum to give to each other.

The fifth custom of the Double Ninth Festival: Chongyang ascends the mountain.

As we all know, the custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival has a long history. But do you know the origin of this custom? There is an interesting legend about the origin of climbing the Double Ninth Festival.

According to legend, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, plague prevailed in Runan area. There was a man named Huan Jing who took Fei Changfang, a Taoist priest, as his teacher and learned the magic of eliminating disasters and saving people. One day, Fei Changfang told Huan Jing that on the ninth day of September, the god of plague attacked people again and told Huan Jing to go back and save the villagers: "On the ninth day, leave home and climb high, put Cornus officinalis in a red cloth pocket, tie it to your arm and drink chrysanthemum wine, and you can defeat the god of plague." Huan Jing went home and told all the villagers. On September 9, the Ruhe River surged and the plague demon struck. But because of the pungent chrysanthemum wine, the smell of Cornus officinalis stung the heart and made it difficult to get close. Huan Jing wielded a sword to cut the plague at the foot of the mountain. At night, people came home and found that "chickens, dogs, cattle and sheep died suddenly", and people survived because they went out to climb mountains.

Since then, Chongyang has been climbing to avoid disasters. Over time, climbing home-cooked meals has become a beautiful and elegant custom.

There are other different opinions about the origin of rock climbing custom:

One theory may come from the worship of mountain gods in ancient times, thinking that mountain gods can save people from disasters. Therefore, people should go to the mountains to play on the Double Ninth Festival to avoid disaster. Maybe it started as a sacrifice to the mountain gods for good luck, and then it gradually became an entertainment. (In ancient times, it was thought that "nine is Lao Yang, and the anode must change". On September 9th, Lao Yang's figures were in the same month and the same day, which was unlucky. Therefore, a series of activities to avoid evil and seek longevity have evolved, which is not the number of "suitable longevity" that Wei Wendi Cao Pi said. This is the viewpoint in Five Chopsticks, which is produced by Ming metabolism.

By the Double Ninth Festival, the autumn harvest has passed and farming is relatively idle. At this time, Shan Ye's wild fruits and medicinal materials are in the mature season, and farmers have gone up the mountain to collect wild fruits, medicinal materials and plant raw materials for sideline production. This kind of gathering in the mountains is called "small autumn harvest" by farmers.

The custom of climbing mountains may have evolved from this at first. As for the day of Chongyang, it was later. That means treating it as a symbol from the beginning to publicize its function, just as it is suitable for planting trees in spring, so people hold an Arbor Day.

In addition, during the Double Ninth Festival, the weather is sunny and the temperature is cool, which is suitable for climbing high and looking far.

In the historical development and evolution, the Double Ninth Festival is a mixture of various folk customs, bearing rich cultural connotations. In the folk concept, "nine" is the largest number, which means longevity, and it places people's wishes for the health and longevity of the elderly.