What is the Chinese Double Ninth Festival?
The Double Ninth Festival is a traditional Chinese folk festival, it is also known as the Chong Yang Festival, which is observed on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.
The ancients thought the Double Ninth Festival was an auspicious day. In ancient times, folk had the custom of praying for good fortune, worshipping the gods and ancestors, and drinking and praying for longevity on the Chongyang Festival.
The festival has been passed down to the present day, with the addition of connotations such as respect for the elderly. Climbing mountains to appreciate autumn and being grateful to the elderly are two important themes of today’s Double Ninth Festival.
When did the Double Ninth Festival originate?
Chongyang Festival has been formed as early as the Warring States period, since the Wei and Jin dynasties, the atmosphere of Chongyang has become more and more intense, and has been chanted by literati and writers for generations, and was officially designated as a folk festival in the Tang Dynasty, and has been carried on in all generations since then. The custom of climbing high on the Chongyang Festival originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
According to Wu Jun of the Liang Dynasty, “the sequel to the harmonious record of Qi” writes: Huan Jing, a native of Runan, traveled with the Taoist priest Fei Changfang for several years. One day, Changfang said to Huan Jing, your family September 9 disaster, it is appropriate to leave home, family members should make a bag, holding cornelian tied on the arm, climbing high to drink chrysanthemum wine, the disaster can be eliminated. Huan Jing as he said, the family to climb the mountain. And in the evening returned home, see the chickens, dogs, cattle, and sheep all died violently. This incident spread, every time the ninth day of the year, people to avoid disasters and good luck, is the practice of climbing high.
How to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival at UV Tableware?
It is the Double Ninth Festival again. In order to enrich the recreational life of the staff, improve the physical quality of the staff and enhance the cohesiveness of the team, UV Tableware staff and their family members went outdoors to carry out the group building activity of “Look High, Go Far”.
Climb mountain
Enjoy the beautiful scenery
After the white dew, the weather is getting cooler and cooler. After the hot summer, the temperature is suitable at this time and the refreshing autumn breeze is tickling the heart. Along the trails, colorful wildflowers and grasses are harmoniously matched, and the sunlight reflects the gorgeous autumn lake, which is gorgeous. You may want to follow the footsteps of autumn, enjoy the quietness and beauty in golden autumn, and enjoy the beautiful slow life.
Through this group building activity, not only exercised the physical quality of the staff, but also improved the teamwork ability among the staff, and at the same time enhanced the communication and exchange between each other. We believe that our team is always the most trustworthy team! Continuously produce and manufacture environmentally friendly biodegradable sugarcane bagasse tableware.
What are the traditional customs of Double Ninth Festival?
What are the customs of the Double Ninth Festival? What activities do people do to celebrate the festival? As a manufacturing company, we organized a group activity for our employees, which is a more appropriate project for a company to celebrate this holiday season. However, there are much more than just the celebrations related to the Chrysanthemum Festival, as the following is a brief introduction.
The Chong Yang Festival is a traditional Chinese festival that combines various folk customs into one. The celebration of the Double Ninth Festival usually includes activities such as going out to enjoy the scenery, climbing high and far, eating Chongyang cakes, inserting Zhuyu everywhere, viewing chrysanthemums, and drinking chrysanthemum wine, etc.
Climbing
The Double Ninth Festival first has the custom of climbing, autumn in September, the sky is clear, so climbing high and looking far away in this season can achieve the purpose of refreshing the mind and dispelling diseases.
As early as in the Western Han Dynasty, there is a record in the “Chang’an Zhi” that people visited the capital on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Han Dynasty to watch the scenery. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there is the famous story of “Dragon Mountain Falling Hat”.
Eat Chongyang cake
Chongyang Cake is a kind of traditional cake eaten at the Double Ninth Festival. According to historical records, Chongyang cake is also called flower cake, chrysanthemum cake, five-color cake, the system is not fixed, more arbitrary.
At dawn on September 9, a piece of cake is placed on the forehead of the children, and words are recited to wish them all the best, which is the original intention of the ancient people to make cakes in September. The elaborate Chongyang cake should be made into nine layers, like a pagoda, and the top is also made into two small sheep, in line with the meaning of Chongyang (sheep). Some also put a small red paper flag on the chrysanthemum cake and light candle lights. This is probably the “light”, “eat cake” instead of “ascent” meaning, with a small red paper flag instead of dogwood. Today’s Chongyang cake, still no fixed varieties, around the Chongyang festival eat soft cakes are called Chongyang cake.
Enjoying chrysanthemum
Double Ninth Day has been a customary day to enjoy chrysanthemums, so it was also called Chrysanthemum Festival in ancient times. In the ninth month of the lunar calendar, commonly known as the chrysanthemum month, the festival is held chrysanthemum assembly, pouring the city of people to go to the meeting to enjoy chrysanthemum. Since the Three Kingdoms, Wei and Jin, it has been fashionable to drink wine and enjoy chrysanthemums and write poems at chrysanthemum parties. In ancient Han Chinese customs, chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity.
Drink chrysanthemum wine
During the Double Ninth Festival, it is a traditional Chinese custom to drink chrysanthemum wine. In ancient times, chrysanthemum wine was regarded as an “auspicious wine” that must be drunk to dispel disasters and pray for good fortune.
During the Han Dynasty, chrysanthemum wine was already available. In the Wei Dynasty, Cao Pi gave chrysanthemums to Zhong Yao to wish him longevity. In the Jin Dynasty, Ge Hong wrote about a family in the mountains of Nanyang, Henan Province, who drank chrysanthemum water and prolonged their lives. In Liang Jianwen Emperor’s “Picking Chrysanthemum Chapter,” there is a phrase that reads, “The chrysanthemum pearl is picked in a basket, and the dew is drenched in the morning,” and the chrysanthemum is also picked to make wine. Until the Ming and Qing dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was still popular, and it was still recorded in the “Zunsheng Bajian” of Gao Lian in the Ming dynasty, and it was a popular fitness drink.
Inserting zhuyu (Wear dogwood)
The custom of inserting Zhuyu ( some people called it wearing dogwood) on the Double Ninth Festival was prevalent in the Tang Dynasty. People believed that wearing dogwood can avoid disasters on the day of the Chongyang Festival. Or wear in the arm, or as an incense bag to wear dogwood inside, called dogwood capsule, and plug in the head. Mostly women and children wear them, and in some places, men also wear them. The festival was recorded in Ge Hong’s “Miscellaneous Records of the Western Classic” in the Jin Dynasty.
In addition to wearing dogwood, people also wear chrysanthemums on their heads. This has been done since the Tang Dynasty and has been prevalent for generations. In the Qing Dynasty, it was customary to put chrysanthemum branches and leaves on the windows and doors of Beijing on the Chrysanthemum Festival to “lift the bad luck and attract good fortune”. This is a variation of the custom of pinning chrysanthemums on the head. In the Song Dynasty, there are also colored bindings cut into dogwood and chrysanthemum flowers to wear as a gift.
Chongyang inserting Zhuyu purpose is to get rid of insects and moths. Because after the chrysanthemum festival, is a small sunny spring in October, the weather has a period of warming; and in the period before the chrysanthemum, autumn rain and humidity, autumn heat has not yet receded, clothing susceptible to mildew. This is the time when the osmanthus flowers are in full bloom, so folk calls it “osmanthus steam”, this time must prevent insects. Zhiyu has a small poison, there is the insecticidal effect, the custom of making cornelian sacs is this way to come.
But after the Song and Yuan dynasties, the custom of inserting Zhuyu gradually became rare. Chong Yang in the early people’s time life emphasis is to avoid evil and disaster, with the improvement of people’s living conditions, people are not only concerned about the current reality of life, and the future life to give more expectations, pray for long life and longevity. Therefore, the status of “longevity guest” (chrysanthemum) eventually overshadowed that of “ward off evil” (Zhuyu).
UV Tableware wishes you and your family peace, health, and happiness.
