The Origin and Practice of Double Ninth Festival Double Ninth Festival Cake

The Origin and Practice of Double Ninth Festival Double Ninth Festival Cake

Data collection on the origin and practice of Double Ninth Festival cake

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the Double Ninth Festival, also known as the Day of Respect for the Elderly. People should steam Chongyang cakes to honor the elderly. The method of steaming Chongyang cake is the same as that of steaming rice cake, except that the steamed cake is smaller and the cake is thinner. In order to eat beautifully, people make colorful double ninth festival cakes and sprinkle some sweet-scented osmanthus on the cake surface (so double ninth festival cakes are also called Osmanthus Jelly). The Chongyang cake made in this way is sweet and delicious, and everyone loves it.

Brief introduction Chongyang cake, also known as "flower cake", is the food of the Double Ninth Festival of the Han nationality. It is popular in most parts of the country. Named after eating it on the Double Ninth Festival. Since the Southern Dynasties. Rice flour and fruit are mostly used as raw materials, and the production methods vary from place to place, mainly baking and steaming. Five-color Caiqi Yang is inserted in the cake, and double-sheep stuffing is printed, which means "Chongyang", and it is still popular today.

Also known as "flower cake", "chrysanthemum cake" and "hair cake". It is a traditional food for the Double Ninth Festival. It is made of rice flour, soybean flour, etc. Taking red dates, chestnuts, almonds and other fruits as raw materials, they are fermented, decorated and steamed with sugar. From before the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan Province) and Lin 'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province) were very popular, and now it has become a common practice. There are many kinds of cakes with colorful flags on them, which are very popular with children. Since then, it has been popular in modern times. "Letter from Yuan Jianlei. When I was nine years old. "September 9" quoted Du Taiqing's "Jade Candle Collection": "The bait was harvested on September 9, so the glutinous rice was flavored and tasted new." Chronological Miscellanies: "Double Ninth Festival still eats cakes, ... and dates are often made, or chestnuts are used, and meat is also useful." Shao Tinglu: "I wrote poetry for nine days. If he wants to use the word' cake', there is no such word in the Five Classics. Song thought otherwise, so the poem "Nine Erosion Cakes" said: The pavilion is lightly frosted and the robes are brushed, and the flowers are divided into Cao. Liu Lang dare not write cakes, he is an empty poet. It is a swan song of ancient and modern times. " Song Mengyuan's Chinese Dream in Tokyo. Double Ninth Festival ":"On the first day or two, steamed cakes made of flour are sent, ribbon-cutting flags are inserted, and fruits such as pomegranate seeds, chestnut color, ginkgo and pine nuts are mixed. The powder is also made into the shape of a lion and a king, and placed on the cake, called a lion. "Song and Wu's Dream". September ":"On this day, everyone goes shopping, steamed cakes with sugar noodles, pork, mutton and ducks as silk strings, inserted in Caiqi Yang, and double ninth festival cakes every day. " Song Zhou Mi's Old Wulin Events. Double Ninth Festival ":"Everyone is the moon ... and everyone is fed with chrysanthemum cakes, mixed with sugar, pork and noodles, with shredded duck cakes on it, decorated with durian and marked with colorful flags. He also made a barbarian king lion, with chestnuts as crumbs, mixed with honey, and printed cakes as fruit bait. " Dong, Yu Yizheng, introduce the scenery of the capital. Spring withdrawal: "On September 9th ..... there are dates and chestnuts planted on the surface of the cake, and the dots are natural and called flower cakes. Cake shops are allowed to use paper colored flags, which are called flower cake flags. Parents will welcome women to eat flower cakes. " Xie Ming's Five Miscellanies quoted Lu as saying: "In September in Chu Xiao, I wish my children a piece of cake on their heads, and I would rather' everything is high'." The ancients meant to make cakes in September. "

Raw material formula glutinous rice flour1000g

500 grams of japonica rice flour

250 grams of red beans

Sugar1000g

Red and green preserved fruit 100g

50 grams of brown sugar

25 grams of soybean oil

50g cooking wine

Manufacturing method steps

1, first cut the red and green preserved fruit into shreds for later use.

2. Make dried bean paste with red beans, sugar (250g) and soybean oil.

3. Mix glutinous rice flour and japonica rice flour, take 150g, mix in brown sugar, and add about 50g of water to make paste slurry.

4. Mix the remaining powder with white sugar (750g), add 250g of water and mix thoroughly. Take a cake drawer, spread a clean wet cloth, put in 1/2 cake powder and scrape it flat, spread the bean paste evenly on it, then spread the remaining 1/2 cake powder on the bean paste and scrape it flat, then steam it with boiling water. When the steam exposes the flour, spread the paste evenly on it, sprinkle with red and green preserved fruit shreds, and continue steaming until the cake is cooked and removed from the fire. Take out the cake, cut it into the shape of diamond cake with a knife, and make a small flag with colored paper and insert it on the surface of the cake.

There are poems describing the making of Chongyang cake.

Cai yun

The bonfire is ringing and the machine is busy at night.

It's still a storm,

As soon as the weaver drinks Gordon's wine,

The smell of steamed jujube cakes is everywhere in the shop.

history

Later generations still have the habit of eating "Double Ninth Festival" on this day. That's because where there are no mountains, there is no height to climb, and some people just want to climb up and eat cakes. If you don't climb the hill, you will rise step by step. Because it is specially eaten in Chongyang, it is named "Chongyang cake". In the Tang Dynasty, because Liu Yuxi didn't dare to use the word "cake" when writing poems, there was another allusion for the Double Ninth Festival, which was called "cake". Shao Tinglu: "When I wrote the poem" Nine Days ",I wanted to use the word" cake ",so I stopped." In this way, Song Qi joked: "Liu Lang dare not mention the word cake, a hero in the poem." In ancient times, Chongyang cake was very particular, with candied fruit and dates embedded in it. At the beginning, the wind was tight and it was a good season to fly kites. So, at this time, people are going to fly kites in the countryside. In ancient times, the Double Ninth Festival was also a festival for horse riding, military training and shooting. The Book of Rites and the Moon Order records the system of ancient emperors hunting and practicing martial arts in September. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was stipulated that the Double Ninth Festival was a festival for military exercises. According to the Records of the Southern Qi Dynasty, before Emperor Wu usurped the throne to establish a dynasty, in today's Xuzhou, the Double Ninth Festival rode horses on Xiang Yu's circus platform. After he acceded to the throne, he set September 9 as the day for riding horses, archery and reviewing troops. According to legend, the popular Chongyang cake evolved from the dry food distributed to the soldiers of the three armed forces that year. In Tang Dezong, it is stipulated that February, March and September 9th are three festivals. Since then, the custom activities of the Double Ninth Festival have spread all over the country. When climbing Chongyang Mountain, Tang Dezong also encouraged people to practice martial arts and shooting, and to exercise riding skills. This style has been inherited to the Qing Dynasty. Until the Republic of China, Zeng Yan took advantage of the significance of climbing mountains and practicing martial arts in Chongyang and designated September 9 as the "Sports Festival".

In the past, the Double Ninth Festival was also called "Daughter's Day" because it had to take a married daughter home for the holidays. On September 9, it happened to meet February 9, and "nine" is homophonic with the "nine" of longevity, which is a symbol of longevity. Therefore, in recent years, the Chinese government has designated September 9 as "Day for the Elderly", also known as "Day for Respecting the Elderly". In our country, respecting the elderly has become a common practice, and respecting the elderly has always been a fine tradition of the Chinese nation. This traditional virtue is also reflected in festivals and customs.

Besides drinking dogwood, chrysanthemum wine and eating chrysanthemum food mentioned above, Chongyang has many ways of eating, the most famous of which is eating cakes. It is especially windy to eat Chongyang cake in the north.

According to Xijing Miscellanies, in the Han Dynasty, September 9th was the custom of eating Peng bait, which was the original Double Ninth Festival cake. The bait is an ancient cake. "Zhou Li" has bait for sacrifice or banquet. There were millet cakes in the Han Dynasty, which may not be far from today's cakes. Peng bait, presumably similar to millet cake and so on. In the Song Dynasty, eating Chongyang cake was popular. Cake is homophonic with Gao, and eating cake is for good luck, so it is favored by people.

Stick some coriander leaves as a sign, and put some rough dried fruits such as olives, dates and walnuts in the middle; There are three or two layers of fine flower cakes, each with fine candied dried fruits, such as preserved apples, peaches, apricots and dates. Money flower cake is basically the same as fine flower cake, but smaller, just like "money", which is mostly the food of the upper nobility.

It is said that in the early years, people did not put dates and chestnuts on flour cakes, or sticky cakes made of steamed glutinous rice and yellow wheat, which looked like "gold-plated" and "silver-plated" flower cakes.

The legend of eating Chongyang cake

According to legend, Kang Hai, the top scholar of the Ming Dynasty, was a martial artist in Shaanxi. In mid-August, he fell ill in Chang 'an. After the announcement in August, the newspaper reporter who reported the good news took pains to send the good news to the martial arts school, but Kang Hai hasn't arrived home yet. No one at home sent a gratuity, and the newspaper refused to leave, so we must wait until Kang Hai came back. When Kang Hai gets home, it's already the Double Ninth Festival. At this time, he sent a newspaper, paid him, and steamed a pot of cakes as dry food for his return trip. More cakes are steamed and distributed to neighbors. Because this kind of cake was used to celebrate the first place in Kang Hai, it was a good sign that families with children attending school later distributed steamed cakes on the Double Ninth Festival. The custom of eating cakes on the Double Ninth Festival spread like this.

National cultural implication

Chongyang Cake, also known as Flower Cake or Chongyang Flower Cake, is a traditional festival cake in China. As the name implies, it is the Double Ninth Festival in September in the summer calendar. The method of making and eating this kind of cake varies from place to place, and there are also different opinions about its origin and the meaning of folk culture.

It is generally believed that Chongyang cake originated from the custom of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival. According to Wu Jun's Continued Harmony in the Southern Dynasties, in the Han Dynasty, Runan people learned immortals from Fei Changfang. One day, Fei Changfang told the students that there was a great disaster in your family on September 9. You can teach your family to sew a cloth bag, put the dogwood in it and tie it on your arm. At that time, climbing mountains and drinking chrysanthemum wine could eliminate the disaster. Huan Jing acts according to his words and deeds, which is really safe. Later generations followed suit, thus forming a set of double ninth festival customs such as climbing mountains, drinking chrysanthemum wine and inserting dogwood on the ninth day of September. Since the Song Dynasty, the custom of eating "Double Ninth Cake" on the Double Ninth Festival has been officially recorded, such as Wu's "Liang Lumeng", which records the custom of paying attention to nine on the Double Ninth Festival in Lin 'an (Hangzhou): "On this day, all shops in Duren steamed cakes and sugar noodles ... and inserted them into Caiqi Yang, named" Double Ninth Cake ". "For example, the second volume of" A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Capital "written by Dong and Yu Yizheng later also contains the custom that Beijing attaches importance to Nine:" The cake shop is named' Flower Cake Flag' with paper colored flags as the standard. "This tradition of inserting the national flag on the flower cake has not changed so far. The original intention is that due to the limitation of urban landforms and natural resources, it is inconvenient for ordinary citizens to climb mountains to avoid disasters or collect dogwood. Therefore, eating cakes instead of climbing mountains, inserting paper flags instead of dogwood, and responding to stories with homophonic sounds are still to avoid disaster.

First, the cultural significance of Chongyang cake is concentrated on the word "cake", that is, homophonic, which is also the homophonic of various condiments used to make cakes to show good luck. For example, Xie's Five Miscellaneous Notes quoted Song Luyuan's Miscellaneous Notes at the Age of Years, saying that on the ninth day of September, "at dawn, put a piece of cake on the child's head and even wish:' May everything be high'." This ancient nation made cakes on the 9th. "Also, the song dynasty's anonymous Sui Shi Ji said," On September 9th, steamed cakes were made of flour, and several deer were placed on them, with the name' Shilu cake' ",and the seasoning ornaments of the cakes were homophonic. Historical data of customs such as A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital all record that parents will welcome their daughters to eat flower cakes on the Double Ninth Festival. Up to now, there is a folk saying that "on September 9th, I moved back to my daughter to rest my hands". There are condiments such as dates, chestnuts and melon seeds (kernels) in the flower cake, and there are patterns such as "barbarian king Lion" (Song's Year of Gan Chun) on the cake surface. These are "the ancients made cakes in nine days".

It is said that the custom of eating cakes on the ninth day of September was already popular in the Tang Dynasty. There is a joke in Liu Bin Tales that Yuan Deshi dare not follow the custom of "eating cakes on the ninth day of September" because his father is afraid of heights. There is also a record of "Ma Ge Cake on September 9th" in the Six Classics of Tang Dynasty, but there is no name for the Double Ninth Festival. The truth is as stated in Sui Du Taiqing's Jade Candle Collection: "At that time, Gu Mi harvested at the same time, so that it became a habit to stick to rice and taste new things." In other words, ancient people cooked millet in September, so they steamed it as a food to worship their ancestors and recommend them to try new things. Lu Yuanming's Chronological Miscellanies said that "the second society (namely, Spring Society and Autumn Society) and Chongyang still eat cakes, and Chongyang is prosperous", which can just outline the embryonic form of Chongyang cake. In the Spring and Autumn Festival, predecessors sacrificed Chongyang cake to their ancestors. According to "Sui Shu Wuxing Zhi", there was a nursery rhyme in the Northern and Southern Dynasties that "harvesting wheat in July hurts early, and eating cakes in September is just right". It is beneficial to know that this custom has a long history. Only in the Tang and Song Dynasties, with the popularity of the custom of the Double Ninth Festival, did it evolve into a special food for this festival. However, the folk significance of the celebration has remained for a long time, which can be proved by watching Lu You's poems "Spinning wheat cakes to invite the elderly" and "Lu's second society … advocates cake food".

There is also a saying that the source of Chongyang cake is the food "Peng bait" in the pre-Qin period. "Peng" refers to Peng Zi, a plant of Artemisia; "Bait" is a sticky food, which is often interpreted as "cake" in modern Chinese dictionaries, because it is known that Peng Bait is a cake-like food made of rice flour mixed with Peng Zi. Jin's Miscellanies of Xijing recorded that the handmaid of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang recalled the old things in the palace three times, and there was "September 9 ... eating tents and baits". It is speculated that this custom will not begin in the early Han Dynasty, but should be a tradition in the pre-Qin period. "Book of Rites Internal Rules": "Shoot people with mulberry and tiger, and shoot them in all directions." Kong said to him, "Peng is the grass to prevent chaos." This understanding is in line with the explanation of "eating scattered bait to ward off evil spirits" in the third volume of Xijing Miscellanies. So I know that the original intention of eating Peng bait on the ninth day of September is to ward off evil spirits. However, after this custom evolved into eating cakes on Double Ninth Festival in Song Dynasty, its original meaning was forgotten.

It is also said that the Tang Dynasty examination paper found in Dunhuang (5755) means that in ancient times, there was a son named Yao, who was named Tang Hou at the age of eight and was promoted on1February 8. On September 9th, one year, Tang Yao called a meeting of world governors and entertained them with rice and wine. Di Ku died before the rice arrived. So baiguan pushed Dai to the throne. Because they have to mourn for Di Ku and can't drink, they make white dough, cakes and other foods with white rice and flax, which the governors eat when they visit their new owners. Since then, white rice balls and cakes have become the exclusive food on September 9, "never stop." Some people think that the so-called "Marco cake" in the catering department of Tangliudian on September 9 is derived from this kind of white rice flour and cake. The recipe says that "Zhang Shoumei's family attaches great importance to making rice cakes", and the raw materials are rice flour and flax. , but the preparation method is different. Therefore, the original intention of the eclipse cake on September 9th seems to be to commemorate Tang Yao's accession to the throne.

In addition, compatriots of Yi, Bai, Dong, She, Buyi, Tujia and Mulao in southern China also have the habit of eating sticky food such as cakes on the ninth day of September, but the related customs and legends are different. For example, during the Double Ninth Festival, Dong people in Jinping, Jianhe and Tianzhu all eat glutinous rice. According to legend, it is to commemorate Jiang's victory, Dong's national hero, who led the rebel army against the government. On the other hand, Tujia people in Xiangxi play glutinous rice in festivals, which means to ward off evil spirits. In short, there are many theories and it is difficult to unify them. What's the point of eating this Double Ninth Festival cake? It depends on everyone's feelings.

;