What are the origins and customs of the Double Ninth Festival? 9 must-eat foods on the Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival is held on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month every year. It is one of China's traditional festivals. In ancient times, people would go up high places to pray for blessings, go on autumn outings to appreciate chrysanthemums, etc. Nowadays, people have given it the meaning of gratitude and respect for the elderly. The Double Ninth Festival is also known as the autumn outing, which is the best time for autumn outings. People will go to some mountainous areas to appreciate the autumn, fly kites, and admire chrysanthemums, and feel the beautiful scenery of nature in autumn.

Contents of this article

1. What are the origins and customs of the Double Ninth Festival?

2. 9 must-eat foods on Double Ninth Festival

3. What are the taboos on Double Ninth Festival?

What are the origins and customs of the Double Ninth Festival?

The Double Ninth Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena. It started in ancient times, became popular in the Western Han Dynasty, and reached its peak after the Tang Dynasty. According to existing historical materials and research, in ancient times, there were activities of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors during the harvest season in the autumn. In ancient times, people offered sacrifices to the Emperor of Heaven and ancestors in September when crops were harvested to thank the Emperor of Heaven and ancestors for their kindness. This was the original form of the Double Ninth Festival as an autumn harvest sacrifice activity.

The Double Ninth Festival, along with New Year's Eve, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival, are all traditional Chinese festivals for worshipping ancestors. Ancestor worship is a major theme of major festivals. Ancient China was an agricultural society and an agricultural civilization, a form of civilization that attached great importance to the experience of ancestors.

Celebrating the Double Ninth Festival generally includes traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high places to have a distant view, admiring chrysanthemums, picking Chinese herbal medicine, holding banquets to honor the elderly, eating Double Ninth Cakes, making medicinal wine for health, and drinking chrysanthemum wine.

On the Double Ninth Festival, people have the custom of feasting and praying for longevity, which is a blessing for the health and longevity of the elderly. Flying kites is one of the main customs of the Double Ninth Festival in the south. The main feature of the Double Ninth Festival in the folk is flying kites.

9 must-eat foods for Double Ninth Festival

The nine must-eat foods on the Double Ninth Festival are chrysanthemum wine, mutton noodles, crabs, flower cakes, figs, chestnut cakes, pomegranates, glutinous rice cakes and persimmons. Among them, chrysanthemums represent longevity, so drinking chrysanthemum wine carries the good hope of longevity, which also conforms to the good meaning of longevity on the Double Ninth Festival.

The Double Ninth Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar every year. It is one of China's traditional festivals. In ancient times, people would climb mountains to pray for blessings, go on autumn outings to appreciate chrysanthemums, etc. Nowadays, people have given it the meaning of gratitude and respect for the elderly.

The Double Ninth Festival, also known as Stepping into Autumn, is the best time for autumn outings. People will go to some mountainous areas to enjoy the autumn scenery, fly kites, admire chrysanthemums, and feel the beautiful autumn scenery of nature.

What are the taboos on Double Ninth Festival?

Avoid sending chrysanthemums

Because chrysanthemums are sacrificial flowers, it is inappropriate to send them as gifts.

Don't say happy holidays

The Double Ninth Festival is the day when the whole family goes out to climb high places to ward off evil spirits, so the blessings during the Double Ninth Festival are "good health" or "family safety."

Avoid cooking

In the past, there was a saying that "If you don't make rice cakes on the Double Ninth Festival, a tiger will bite your mother." The Double Ninth Festival is the Elderly Day, and mothers should be allowed to rest on this day and not be tired from cooking. At that time, this truth was not explained clearly, so people used this proverb to scare people.