Double Ninth Festival
The “Chong Yang Festival” is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, and it is as such known as the Double Ninth Festival.
Origin:
The Double Ninth Festival is based on the theory of Yin and Yang, the two opposing principles in nature. Yin is feminine, negative principle, while Yang is masculine and positive. In ancient times people believed that all natural phenomena could be explained by this theory. Numbers were also related to this theory. Even numbers belonged to Yin and odd numbers to Yang. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the two Yang numbers meet. So it is called Chong Yang. Chong means double in Chinese. Chong Yang has been an important festival since ancient times.
Activities: Long ago; the festival was marked by climbing heights (mountains), enjoying chrysanthemum flowers, drinking chrysanthemum flower wine, wearing cornel twigs (dogwoods), eating Double Ninth cake and other activities.
Climbing Heights (Mountains): People like to climb heights (mountains) on this festival, so Double Ninth Festival is also called “Mountain-climbing Festival “.The 9th lunar month, with clear autumn sky and bracing air, is a good time for sightseeing. An outing lover, who stands on a height looking afar in the month, will have a panoramic view of a blue sky with pale clouds and dark green mountains, which makes him feel carefree and joyful. So people, both ancient and present, love to go sightseeing this month.
People in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AC) liked to ascend a height in the suburbs of Chang’an (the then national capital and present Xi’an) on the 9th day of the month to enjoy sceneries, the activity being known as height ascending; people, in the Three Kingdoms period (220-265) and the Jin Dynasty (265-420), even more liked the activity to feast their eyes on the autumn country view; sightseers in the Chang’an on the day, a man-made tourist attraction with the Qu’jiang Pool, the Ci’en Temple and the Wild Goose Pagoda to its southwest; the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) emperors liked to ascend the Wanshou Hill in Beijing to mark the day; and the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911) emperors chose to ascend, on the day, the man-built hills in the imperial garden in Beijing.
Apart from expelling bad luck and disasters, climbing mounting also indicates “climbing to a higher position”, and it is also an important reason why ancient people pay much attention about this custom. Another reason that climbing mountains are valued by people, especially by the elderly is that is has a meaning of “climb to a longevous life”. Also for this reason people believe that climbing mountains can make people live a more longevous life.
Enjoying Chrysanthemum Flowers : Chinese folks were fond of enjoying chrysanthemum on the Double Ninth Day long before. Chrysanthemum blossom in the ninth lunar month have a beautiful name of “flower of longevity”. The custom of wearing chrysanthemum appeared in the Tang Dynasty already and was always very popular throughout the time afterwards. The entrances of some taverns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) were decorated with the flowers on the day, which was supposed to incite customers’ desire for wine. Chrysanthemum displays were usually held immediately after the day in some regions of China in the Qing Dynasty. People in Beijing began to stick the chrysanthemums on doors and windows to “get rid of the bad luck and bring in the good ones” which is an alteration of the custom of wearing Chrysanthemum on head. At these displays people might enjoy chrysanthemum flowers, take part in poem-composing competitions or watch painters drawing paintings of chrysanthemum flowers. The display was often lively with a sea of visitors.
Drinking Chrysanthemum Flower Wine: In ancient time’s people, some say, usually picked fresh chrysanthemum flowers and leaves on the 9th of the 9th lunar month, and brewed the mixture of them and grains into the wine, which would not be drunk until the same day next year. The wine is said to have wholesome effects on sharpness of the eye, alleviation of headache, drop of hypertension, reduction of weight and removal of stomach trouble, thus contributing to longevity. It is said that the drinkers of the chrysanthemum wine would be free from evil and have strong physique against cold weather.
The chrysanthemum wine, infused with cornel twigs (dogwood) fruit, has wholesome effects on assuagement of pain and regulation of the flow of vital energy. While climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Day, ancient Chinese liked to wear cornel twigs (dogwood) in their hair and drank the wine.
Wearing Cornel Twigs (Dogwood): 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. They can expel insects, get rid of the humidity, help digestion and cure inner heat. It puts out purple flowers in spring and bears, in autumn, purplish-brown fruit that is sour, puckery and mild in nature.
The custom of wearing cornel twigs (dogwoods) was already very popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907); it was made an official day – off for common people by an imperial edict. The ancient people believed that planting cornel twigs (dogwoods) on Double Ninth Festival could prevent diseases and avoid disasters. They also wear the cornel twigs (dogwoods) on arms or heads or put them in sachets. Most of people that follow the custom are women and children, and in some places men also wear them.
Eating Double Ninth Cake: The Double Ninth cake is also known as “chrysanthemum cake” or “flower cake”. It dates back to the Zhou Dynasty (the 11th century – 256 BC). It is said that the cake was originally prepared after autumn harvests for farmers to have a taste of what was just in season, and it gradually grew into the present cake for people to eat on the Double Ninth Day. The cake was usually made of glutinous rice flour, millet flour or bean flour. In the Tang Dynasty its surface was usually planted with a small pennant of multi-colored paper and bore at its center the Chinese character “ling” (order). The Double Ninth cake in the Song Dynasty was usually made with great care a few days before the Double Ninth Day, its surface planted with colored pennants and inlaid with Chinese chestnuts, ginkgo seeds, pine nut kernels and pomegranate seeds. It was a nice festive present for relatives or friends. In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial families customarily began to eat the cake early on the first day of the 9th lunar month to mark the festival, and the common people usually enjoyed with their married daughters the festive cake, which was basin-sized and covered with two or three layers of jujubes. The cake in the Qing Dynasty was made like a 9-storied pagoda, which was topped with two sheep images made of dough. The cake, so made, was called Chong Yang Gao in Chinese, which means Double Ninth cake as “Chong” means double, “Yang” dichotomously suggests nine and sheep, and “ Gao” means cake.
