When is the Double Ninth Festival in the solar or lunar calendar?
The traditional festivals in ancient times are all about the lunar calendar, and the Double Ninth Festival in September is about the lunar calendar, not the solar calendar. Double Ninth Festival, also known as "Old People's Day". Because the Book of Changes defines "six" as the yin number and "nine" as the yang number, on September 9, the sun and the moon are combined with yang, and 29 is the most important, so it is called Chongyang, also known as Jiujiu.
What is the meaning of the Double Ninth Festival
Double Ninth Festival, also known as Double Ninth Festival, Sunbathing Autumn Festival and "Treading Autumn", is a traditional festival in China. Celebrating the Double Ninth Festival generally includes activities such as traveling to enjoy autumn, climbing high and looking far, watching chrysanthemums, planting dogwood all over, eating double ninth cake and drinking chrysanthemum wine. Every year, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, together with New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day and Zhongyuan Festival, is called the four traditional ancestor worship festivals in China.
In the Book of Changes, "six" is defined as yin number, and "nine" is defined as yang number. On September 9, the sun and the moon combined with the sun, so it was called Chongyang, also known as Chongyang.
The origin of Double Ninth Festival
Before the pre-Qin Dynasty, that is, at the end of the Warring States Period, Ji in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals had already mentioned "September, ordering the family to slaughter, ploughing the fields for harvest, and mentioning five important things" and "another day, a big banquet for the son of heaven and a sacrifice for the son of heaven". It can be seen that there were already sacrificial activities to thank God and ancestors and pray for them. In the Han Dynasty's Miscellanies of Xijing, there is the following record: "On September 9, Pei Yun ate the bait and drank chrysanthemum wine, and the clouds made people live longer." According to legend, since then, there has been the custom of praying for longevity on the Double Ninth Festival.
What are the customs of Chongyang?
Appreciate the beautiful chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemum, also called yellow flower, belongs to Compositae and has many varieties. China is the hometown of chrysanthemum, and it has been common to cultivate chrysanthemum since ancient times. Chrysanthemum is the flower of longevity, and is praised by scholars as the unyielding symbol of first frost, so people love and praise it, so large-scale chrysanthemum exhibitions are often held. Chrysanthemum exhibition is naturally held in Chongyang, because the relationship between chrysanthemum and Chongyang is too deep; So Chongyang is also called Chrysanthemum Festival, and Chrysanthemum is also called Jiuhua. Chrysanthemum viewing has become an integral part of the custom of the Double Ninth Festival. In the Song Dynasty, "Dream of Tokyo" Volume 8: "In September, everyone enjoys chrysanthemums, and there are several kinds. Its yellow and white pistils are called "Wanning Chrysanthemum", pink ones are called "Peach Blossom Chrysanthemum", white ones are called "Muxiangju", yellow ones are called "Jinling Chrysanthemum" and pure white ones are called "Xirong Chrysanthemum". Everywhere. "
Climb the peak
One of the most important festival activities in Chongyang is mountain climbing. Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival is also called "ascensiontide". There is no uniform rule for climbing mountains. Generally, we climb mountains and towers.
kite
Putting paper owls is the main custom of Huizhou people to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival. In other words, the folk Double Ninth Festival in Huizhou is mainly characterized by paper flying kites. This habit is not only described in folk songs circulating in Huizhou, but also described in Guangxu's Huizhou Fu Zhi.
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".
Drink chrysanthemum wine
Chrysanthemum, a famous flower in China, is also a famous flower with long life. During the first frost, only this kind of grass flourished. Because of its unique character, chrysanthemum has become a symbol of vitality.
The custom of Double Ninth Festival in various places
On September 9th in Xianghe County, Hebei Province, families with in-laws will give gifts to each other, which is called "chasing festivals". The sunny and rainy days in Yongping House will be dominated by Chongyang weather. If it rains on the Double Ninth Festival, it will rain these days. Because there are no mountains in Zhou Dian County, people in this county will climb the tower on the Double Ninth Festival.
On the Double Ninth Festival, Shanghai Yuyuan Garden will hold a chrysanthemum party for people to enjoy and hold a competition. There are three scores: novelty, nobility and rarity.
Visiting each other on the Double Ninth Festival in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, relatives and friends cry and worship the spirit only when there is a funeral. On September 9th in Tonglu County, pigs and sheep will be prepared to sacrifice their ancestors, which is the so-called autumn festival. At the same time, zongzi are tied up and given to each other on the Double Ninth Festival, which is called Chongyang Zongzi.
Tongling County, Anhui Province takes the ninth Double Ninth Festival as the Dragon and Candle Festival to welcome the mountain gods. Chopping bamboo and horses for fun is said to drive away the plague.
Wuchang County, Hubei Province, Double Ninth Festival brewing. It is said that the wine brewed here is the clearest and will not go bad after a long time. The Double Ninth Festival in Yingcheng County is a wishing day, and many families worship the God of Fangshe Tianzu on this day.