Overview
Chinese Name: 重阳节
English Name: Double Ninth Festival, Double Yang Festival, Chongyang Festival
Time & Duration: The ninth day of the ninth lunar month
Customs: Sunbathing in autumn (Chinese: 晒秋), Climbing high (Chinese: 登高), Appreciation of Chrysanthemum (Chinese: 赏菊花), Wearing cornel twigs (Chinese: 佩戴茱萸), etc.
Brief introduction
The Double Ninth Festival 重阳节, a traditional Chinese folk festival, falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month every year. In ancient times, folks had the custom of climbing high to pray for blessings, worshiping gods and ancestors, and feasting and praying for longevity on the Double Ninth Festival. It has been passed down to the present, and the connotation of respect for the elderly has been added.
The Double Ninth Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena, started in ancient times, popularized in the Western Han Dynasty 西汉, and flourished after the Tang Dynasty 唐朝. According to the existing historical materials and textual research, in ancient times, there were activities to worship the sky and ancestors in the autumn season. The ancients worshipped the emperor and ancestors in September when the crops were harvested to thank the emperor and ancestors for their kindness. This is the original form of the Double Ninth Festival as a sacrifice for the autumn harvest.
In the historical development and evolution, the Double Ninth Festival is mixed with a variety of folk customs and carries rich cultural connotations. In folklore, “nine” is the largest number in numbers, which means longevity.
The origin of the Double Ninth Festival
According to the I Ching 易经, nine is a yang number; the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (or double nine) has too much Yang (a traditional Chinese spiritual concept) and is thus a potentially very auspicious date. Hence, the day is also called “Double Yang Festival”.
The Double Ninth Festival has a long historical origin, and its customs and activities are rarely found in written records. According to research, the origin of the Double Ninth Festival can be traced back to ancient times.
The custom of Double Ninth Festival was popularized in the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty was a period of economic and cultural exchange and integration in the north and south of my country. Some works of the Han Dynasty included the custom of seeking longevity on the Double Ninth Festival in ancient times. In modern times, the Double Ninth Festival has become a new type of festival that respects, respects, loves and helps the elderly.
Folk-Custom Activity
Sunbathing in autumn 晒秋
Sunbathing in autumn is a typical agricultural phenomenon with regional characteristics. Villagers living in mountainous areas, due to the complex terrain and very little flat land in the village, have to use the front and rear of the house, their own windowsills, roof racks to dry or hang crops, which has evolved into a traditional agricultural phenomenon over time.
This special way of life and scenes of villagers drying their crops has gradually become the material pursued and created by painters and photographers, and has created a poetic title of “bathing in autumn”.
Climbing high 登高
The custom of climbing high on the Double Ninth Festival has a long history. There are no uniform regulations for the location of the climb. The place to climb is roughly divided into a mountain, a high building, or a high platform. There are roughly two origins of the custom of climbing high. One is from the mountain worship of the ancients.
The second is because they believed that September 9th was the day when the gods ascended to heaven, so the ancestors chose September 9th to ascend the mountain, with the intention of ascending to the heavenly palace like those who became immortals.This desire for ascension, traced to its source, is a kind of expectation for longevity
Appreciation of Chrysanthemum 赏菊花
Double Ninth Day has always been the custom of viewing chrysanthemums, so it was also called the Chrysanthemum Festival in ancient times. The custom of appreciating chrysanthemum originated from the chrysanthemum culture. Chrysanthemum is a natural flower. Because of its colorful and blooming flowers, it forms the chrysanthemum culture of appreciating chrysanthemum.
Since the Three Kingdoms 三国时代, drinking and appreciating chrysanthemums and writing poems have become fashionable in Chongyang. In ancient Chinese customs, chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity. Chrysanthemum is the flower of longevity, and is praised by literati as a symbol of indomitable frost.
Wearing cornel twigs (Dogwood) 佩戴茱萸
The cornel (dogwood) is a species of evergreen arbor; it is heavy-scented plant whose fruit is edible and stock and leaves can be medicinal materials. People wear dogwood on their arms or grind them in sachets, and they also put them on their heads. Because they believe it can expel insects, get rid of the humidity, help digestion and cure inner heat.
