On October 25, this year's Chongyang Festival will be ushered in. Today I will talk to my friends about the customs related to the Chongyang Festival. Chongyang Festival, also known as Chongjiu Festival, Sunshine Autumn Festival, also known as Chrysanthemum Festival, Zhuyi Festival, is the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth month of the lunar calendar every year, and is a traditional Chinese festival.
The ancients believed that nine is the largest yang number, september 9, the sun and the moon and yang, so it is called chongyang, also called heavy nine. Some experts have verified that the Chongyang Festival was formed as early as the Warring States period, and since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the atmosphere of Chongyang has become increasingly strong, and it has been praised by the literati of all generations, and has been followed by successive dynasties since then.
The origin of the Chongyang Festival
Some experts believe that the origin of the Chongyang Festival is related to agricultural production.
The general process of agricultural production includes: sowing in the spring, growing in the summer, harvesting in the autumn, and storing in the winter. Autumn is the season of harvest. When we look up the dictionary, we can see that one interpretation of the word "autumn" is that it means: "When the crops are ripe or ripe." "Ancient China was founded on agriculture, and in autumn, crops and various fruits ripened. Autumn is exciting and gratifying. Working at sunrise and resting at sunset, how many hard work with their backs to the sky facing the loess soil have been exchanged for the joy of a bumper harvest. Therefore, some experts have proposed that the Chongyang Festival is actually a festival for farmers to celebrate the harvest.
Folk activities of chongyang festival
Travel to enjoy autumn, ascend to the heights, admire chrysanthemums, wear zhuyi, eat heavy yang cake, drink chrysanthemum wine, etc. Chongyang Festival is similar to the "Spring Festival" on the third day of March, in that the whole family goes out, and all relatives must ascend on Chongyang Day.
Chongyang ascended
Chongyang Festival has the custom of ascending to the heights. Autumn has arrived, cold air is moving south, rain is reduced, and the weather is clear. Golden autumn in September, autumn is high and refreshing, the temperature is neither cold nor hot, just right for outings. This season, ascending high and looking forward can achieve the purpose of strengthening the body and eliminating all diseases. The ancients had the custom of ascending the Chongyang Festival very early, such as Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Remembering the Shandong Brothers on september 9": Alone in a foreign land for strangers, every festive season to think of relatives. The Haruka brothers ascended to the heights, and there was one less person planted everywhere. We also have a saying in Nanjing area called "Spring Cow Head, Autumn Qixia", which means that in the spring, you have to go to Niushou Mountain to walk on the green, and in the autumn you have to go to Qixia Mountain to ascend.
Eat Chongyang Cake
Chongyang cake, also known as "flower cake", "chrysanthemum cake", "hair cake", etc., is the traditional food of Chongyang Festival. Five-colored small bunting flags should also be inserted on the cake, and two sheep should be printed on the cake, taking the meaning of "Chongyang". In some places, at dawn on the ninth day of September, a piece of cake is placed on the forehead of the children, and the words are recited in the mouth, wishing the children everything is high. There are also places where the birthday gift is to send cakes, and the meaning of high life and backgammon is also taken.
Daughter's Day
In some places, Chongyang Festival is also known as daughter's day, and the daughter who marries out on this day must return to her mother's house and eat flower cakes, and the mother's family will also send cakes to her daughter and grandson, which has the meaning of rising step by step. In addition to eating Chongyang cake during the Chongyang Festival, some areas also eat lamb noodles. "Sheep" and "Yang" are consonant, which should be an allusion to the Chongyang Festival. Mutton is warm, nourishing qi and deficiency, eating in autumn, and also has the effect of cold protection.
Chrysanthemum viewing
Chrysanthemum is a famous flower in China, which is one of the four gentlemen of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. Because chrysanthemums have a noble and simple character, there is a famous sentence of Tao Yuanming of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "Under the eastern fence of picking chrysanthemums, leisurely see the South Mountain". Meng Haoran of the Tang Dynasty also wrote in "Passing the Old Man Zhuang": "When you stay in Chongyang Day, you will return to the chrysanthemums." ”
Drink chrysanthemum wine
In ancient times, chrysanthemum wine was specially brewed for the Chongyang Festival in the first year of chongyang festival. On September 9, the first chrysanthemums and a little verdant foliage are picked, mixed with the grain to be prepared for winemaking, and then used to make wine together, and put into drinking on September 9 of the following year. Legend has it that drinking this wine can prolong life. It's a festive season, autumn is crisp, chrysanthemums are in full bloom, and under the fence in front of the window, the pieces are golden. In addition to ascending to the top of the plant, relatives and friends invited each other to drink chrysanthemum wine and enjoy chrysanthemums together, which really has a special interest. Especially the poets, enjoying chrysanthemums drinking and singing, leaving many good sentences for future generations. Chrysanthemums contain health ingredients, and drinking chrysanthemum wine during the Chongyang Festival is a traditional Chinese custom. Chrysanthemum wine, in ancient times, was regarded as the "auspicious wine" that chongyang must drink and pray for blessings and disasters.
Pessonium Chrysanthemum
The custom of Chongyang Pei Zhu Was very popular in the Tang Dynasty, and it was believed that planting Zhu Zhu on the day of Chongyang Festival could take refuge and eliminate disasters; or wear it on the arm, or make a sachet to put the Zhu Zhu inside and wear it, called zhu zhu bao. In addition to wearing the cocoon, women also have the custom of wearing chrysanthemums on their heads. This was already the case in the Tang Dynasty, and it prevailed throughout the ages. In ancient times, there was a custom of planting zhu zhu in the Chongyang Festival, so the Chongyang Festival was also called the ZhuYang Festival. Zhu Yu into the medicine, can be made of wine to nourish the body and get rid of diseases. Chrysanthemums and chrysanthemums were already common in the Tang Dynasty. Zhu Yu has a strong flavor, has the effect of repelling insects to get wet, chasing wind and evil, and can eliminate food accumulation, cure cold and heat, so in the Chongyang Festival, people like to wear Zhu Zhu to ward off evil and seek good luck.
Recreational and sports activities
In ancient times, some nomadic peoples retained activities such as hunting, archery, and horse racing during the Chongyang Festival. Due to the windy autumn, kite flying is also an important activity of the Chongyang Festival, and the meaning of kite flying is also to ward off evil spirits and drive away epidemics.
Nowadays, China has also designated the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar as the Day of the Elderly, advocating that the whole society establish a culture of respecting the elderly, respecting the elderly, loving the elderly, and helping the elderly. In 2006, Chongyang Festival was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list by the State Council.
Introduction of related cultural relics
Blue and white longevity pattern Kangxi
Height 77 cm Caliber 37.5 cm Foot diameter 28 cm
Zun's carcass is thick. The outer wall is covered with blue and white seal body shou characters, the font is clear, known as "longevity". Let's count, is there really ten thousand "shou" words?
The upper edge of the mouth is 77 words per week, counting 144 words; the lateral edge of the mouth and the outer edge of the circle foot are 48 words per week, counting 96 words; the vertical column of the body is 75 lines, placed horizontally in 130 rows, counting 9750 words, a total of 10,000 words, but there are duplicate words. Among the 10,000 shou characters written by Zun Shang, there are seals, lines, grasses, and li, and each type of book has changes, for example, the seal book has fonts such as large seals, small seals, bird and insect seals, and some directly express shou characters with spiral lines. The inner walls are also glazed with white glaze and a sand bottom. Although there was no money, the inheritance was orderly, and it was specially made to celebrate the great birthday of Kangxi at that time.
Text/Intangible Cultural Heritage Institute Du Zhen
Here Xiaonan wishes all the audience a happy Chongyang Festival!
Health and longevity! Long life!
Long happiness and well-being! Happy family!
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Source: Nanjing Museum