Host speech for the Double Ninth Festival event

The status of the Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival is the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The Confucian view of yin and yang after the middle period of Han Dynasty included six yin and nine yang. Nine is the Yang number, and solid nine is also called "Double Ninth Festival". Folks have the custom of climbing on this day, so the Double Ninth Festival is also called the "Climbing Festival". There are also sayings such as Chongjiu Festival, Dogwood Festival, and Chrysanthemum Festival. Since "Jiujiu" (九九), the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, is homophonic to "jiujiu", which means long-lasting, ancestor worship and elder-respecting activities are often held on this day. The Double Ninth Festival and the Chu, Qing and Yu festivals are also the four major festivals for ancestor worship in traditional Chinese festivals.

Edit this paragraph's introduction

Double Ninth Festival

The name "Double Ninth Festival" was first recorded in the Three Kingdoms era. According to Cao Pi's "The Book of Nine Days and Zhong Yao": "As the years pass by, the ninth day of the ninth month suddenly returns. Nine is the number of Yang, and the sun and the moon correspond to each other. The common people praise its name, thinking that it is suitable for a long time, so it can be enjoyed for a long time. "The Double Ninth Festival is celebrated on September 9th in the lunar calendar." (Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival is designated as September 9th in the lunar calendar.) The Double Ninth Festival first has the custom of climbing. In the golden autumn of September, the sky is high and the air is crisp. In this season, climbing high and looking far away can help you feel relaxed and happy, keep fit and cure diseases. purpose. Associated with climbing is the custom of eating Double Ninth Festival cakes. Gaohe cake is a homophonic word. As a festival food, it was first used to celebrate the harvest of autumn grains and to enjoy new crops. Later, the folk people began to climb high and eat cakes to gain the auspicious meaning of climbing higher and higher. Double Ninth Festival

On Double Ninth Festival, there has always been a custom of admiring chrysanthemums, so it was also called the Chrysanthemum Festival in ancient times. The ninth month of the lunar calendar is commonly known as the chrysanthemum month. A chrysanthemum conference is held during the festival, and crowds of people attend the festival to appreciate the chrysanthemums. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms, it has become fashionable to gather for drinking, appreciating chrysanthemums and composing poems on the Double Ninth Festival. In ancient Han customs, chrysanthemums symbolize longevity. In ancient times, the custom of planting dogwood trees was also popular, so it is also called the Dogwood Festival. Cornus officinalis is used as medicine and can be used to make wine to nourish the body and cure diseases. Wang Wei's "Remembering Shandong Brothers on September 9th" was written on this day. The ancients considered it an auspicious day worthy of celebration, and began celebrating this festival very early. The Double Ninth Festival is a traditional Han festival that combines various folk customs. Activities to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival generally include traveling to enjoy the scenery, climbing high to overlook, viewing chrysanthemums, planting dogwood everywhere, eating Double Ninth cakes, drinking chrysanthemum wine and other activities. The Double Ninth Festival has the same pronunciation as "Jiujiu", and nine is the largest number among numbers, which has the meaning of longevity. Moreover, autumn is also the golden season of harvest. The Double Ninth Festival has far-reaching meanings. People have always had a special attachment to this festival. Regarding emotions, there are many excellent poems in Tang and Song Dynasty poems celebrating the Double Ninth Festival and chanting chrysanthemums. In folklore, the Double Ninth Festival has the same pronunciation as "Jiujiu", which means long life, health and longevity. Since the 1980s, some places in my country have designated the ninth day of the ninth lunar month as the Elderly Day, advocating that the whole society establish a culture of respecting, respecting, loving and helping the elderly. The country attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20, 2006, this folk custom was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list

Edit the origin of this festival

The Double Ninth Festival is a festival with a long history. Due to its long history, the formation of the festival is difficult to investigate clearly. Therefore, there are various opinions on the origin of the Double Ninth Festival: First: The origin of the Double Ninth Festival can be traced back to before the pre-Qin Dynasty. "Ji Qiu Ji" in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" contains: "(In September), order the family steward to prepare for the harvest, and give five important points. The collection of the emperor's books is collected in the Shencang, and it must be respected and ordered." "This is the day. Also, the Great Food Emperor sacrificed something and reported it to the Emperor." It can be seen that at that time, there were activities to offer sacrifices to the Emperor and ancestors in autumn and September when the crops were harvested, to thank the Emperor and ancestors for their kindness. In the Han Dynasty, "Miscellaneous Notes of Xijing" records that Jia Peilan, a palace official in the Western Han Dynasty, said: "On September 9th, wearing dogwood, eating bait, and drinking chrysanthemum wine will make people live longer." According to legend, from this time on, the Double Ninth Festival began. The custom of praying for longevity. This was influenced by the ancient wizards (later Taoist priests) who pursued immortality and collected medicines to take them. At the same time, there are also large-scale banquet activities, which developed from the banquets held to celebrate the harvest in the pre-Qin Dynasty. "Records of the Years of Jingchu" says: "On September 9th, all the people gathered together for a picnic." Du Gongzhan of the Sui Dynasty noted: "It is unknown when the banquet on September 9th began, but it lasted from the end of the Song Dynasty to the end of the Song Dynasty. Change." Seeking longevity and feasting form the basis of the Double Ninth Festival. During the Three Kingdoms period, Emperor Wen of the Wei Dynasty, Cao Pi, wrote in his Book of Nine Days and Zhong Yao: "As the years go by, the ninth day suddenly returns to September 9th.

Flying paper harriers

Flying paper harriers is the main custom of Huizhou during the Double Ninth Festival. In other words, the folk celebration of the Double Ninth Festival in Huizhou is mainly characterized by flying paper harriers. This practice is not only described in the folk songs circulated in Huizhou, but also recorded in Guangxu's "Huizhou Prefecture Chronicles". Flying a paper kite

The paper kite is also a modern kite. Kite is the name after the Five Dynasties. Before the Five Dynasties, it was customary to call it "paper kite" in the north, and "kite" in the south. Huizhou's "paper kite" obviously retains the ancient name before the five generations, and is a "mixture of north and south" the taste. Kites first appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, and their initial shapes were birds. According to legend, Gongshu Ban (Luban) "cut bamboo into a crane, then made it fly" and "made a wooden kite to peek into the Song Dynasty". The "bamboo magpie" and "wooden kite" here are the prototypes of modern kites. However, there was no paper at that time and it could only be made of bamboo wood. Notes from the Qing Dynasty said: "Han Xin led an army of 100,000 to besiege Xiang Yu under the Gaixia. He made a kite out of cowhide, and placed a man who was good at flutes under it to play the tune of homesickness. The sound was so sad and resentful that all 8,000 Chu army disciples dispersed." . The Han Dynasty kites mentioned here are just kites made of cowhide. After the advent of Cai Lun's papermaking technology in the Eastern Han Dynasty, paper kites began to be made, and the titles "paper kite" and "kite" appeared. The name "kite" is said to have appeared in the Five Dynasties. "Xuncu Lu" records: "Kite is a paper kite, also known as a wind kite. In the early days, Li Ye of the Five Dynasties made paper kites in the palace, and used strings to collect wind for his plays. Later, a bamboo was used as a flute on the head of the kite to let the wind into the bamboo, and the sound was like a kite. After the Tang Dynasty, kites became popular, and Qingming Festival was designated as the Kite Festival. After the Song Dynasty, it became popular among the people. Since then, the shape of kites has not been limited to magpies, kites, harriers and other birds, but also insects, fish, humans and gods. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, kite making has become a very exquisite handicraft art. The Huizhou folk paper kites are no longer their original appearance. Most of them are square and flat, with a tail. Their shape is similar to the folk door gods and gods, so they are suspected to be a simplification of the god-shaped kites. Among the people in Huizhou, making rubella is extremely simple. Just pick a bent bamboo branch and an upright one, support a square piece of paper, stick the tail on it, adjust the thread, and then let it fly. There is a kind of harrier without a tail, which is slightly larger in square shape and is called "Grandma's Harrier". It is so named because it is smooth and stable when it is released. In addition, paper harriers of other shapes are occasionally found. On the Double Ninth Festival, people often climb high and fly kites on the streets and in the wilderness. Both children and adults do this, which is quite spectacular. According to our country's traditional customs, kites are mostly flown during the Qingming Festival. Flying paper harriers during the Double Ninth Festival can be said to be a unique folk custom in Huizhou. Its origin cannot be studied. But judging from Huizhou's southern climate, the timing seems quite appropriate. Around the Qingming Festival is the rainy season, with constant spring rains. It is obviously not suitable to fly paper harriers at this time. However, around the Double Ninth Festival, the autumn air is crisp and the wind is constant. People follow traditional customs to climb mountains and engage in outdoor activities. At this time, the time and place are favorable for flying paper harriers. and, are quite suitable.

Eating Double Ninth Cake

In addition to drinking dogwood, chrysanthemum wine, and eating chrysanthemum food, there are many other food styles during the Double Ninth Festival. The most famous one is eating cake. In the north, eating Double Ninth Cake is particularly popular. Double Ninth Cake

According to "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes", in the Han Dynasty, there was a custom of eating bait on September 9th, which was the original Double Ninth Cake. Bait is an ancient cake. According to "Zhou Li", bait is used as a sacrifice or eaten at banquets. Millet cakes are also recorded in the Han Dynasty, which may be similar to today's cakes. Pengbait must be similar to millet cake. By the Song Dynasty, the custom of eating Double Ninth Cake became very popular. The word "cake" is a homophonic word for "gao". Eating cake is for the auspicious meaning, so it is favored by people. Double Ninth Festival cake is also called flower cake, chrysanthemum cake, and five-color cake. There is no set method for making it and it is more random. There are "rough flower cake", "fine flower cake" and "money flower cake". Glue some coriander leaves as a symbol, and sandwich rough dried fruits such as green fruits, dates, and walnut kernels in the middle; the fine flower cake has 3 or 2 layers, and each layer is sandwiched with finer candied dried fruits, such as preserved apples, Preserved peaches, apricots, black dates, etc.; Money Flower Cake is basically the same as Fine Flower Cake, but smaller, like "money", and is mostly the food of the upper-class nobles. It is said that in the early days, there were no household cakes filled with dates, chestnuts and other fruits, or glutinous rice and yellow rice noodles steamed into sticky cakes, which looked like flower cakes with "gold on top" and "silver on the bottom".

There is a poem describing the making of Double Ninth Cake: Cai Yun: The bonfire is blaring and the weavers are busy at night. The weavers drink climbing wine. The old Double Ninth Festival is still windy and rainy, and the steamed jujube cake fills the store with fragrance. At dawn on September 9th, people put a piece of cake on their children's foreheads and muttered something, wishing their children all the best. This was the original intention of the ancients to make cakes in September. The special Double Ninth Festival cake should be made into nine layers, like a pagoda, with two lambs on top to match the meaning of Double Ninth Festival (sheep). Some people also put a small red paper flag on the Double Ninth Festival cake and light candles. This probably means replacing "climbing" with "lighting up lamps" and "eating cakes", and replacing dogwood with small red paper flags. Today, there is still no fixed variety of Double Ninth Cake. The soft cakes eaten on the Double Ninth Festival in various places are called Double Ninth Cake. The Double Ninth Cake is not only eaten by oneself, but also given to relatives and friends, which is called "Sending Cake"; the married daughter is also invited to go home to eat Cake, which is called "Yingning".

Drinking chrysanthemum wine

Chrysanthemum is a famous flower in my country and a famous flower for longevity. "When the frost comes, only this grass flourishes." Due to the unique character of the chrysanthemum, the chrysanthemum has become a symbol of vitality. As early as Qu Yuan's writings, there was a sentence of "eating autumn chrysanthemums in the evening", that is, taking chrysanthemum petals. Chrysanthemum wine has been around since the Han Dynasty. During the Wei Dynasty, Cao Wu once presented chrysanthemums to Zhong Cui on the Double Ninth Festival to wish him longevity. Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty recorded in "Baopuzi" that people in the mountains of Nanyang, Henan, lived longer because they drank the water from the sweet valley full of chrysanthemums. In the "Chrysanthemum Picking Chapter" written by Emperor Wen of the Liang Dynasty, there is a sentence: "We call each other and carry baskets to pick chrysanthemum beads. When the dew comes in the morning, we will be wet and wet." This is also the practice of picking chrysanthemums to make wine. Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, chrysanthemum wine was still popular. It was still recorded in Gao Lian's "Eight Notes of Zunsheng" in the Ming Dynasty. It was a popular fitness drink. Double Ninth Festival

On the Double Ninth Festival, our country has the traditional custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine. Chrysanthemum wine was regarded as an "auspicious wine" that must be drunk during the Double Ninth Festival in ancient times to ward off disasters and pray for blessings. The brewing of chrysanthemum wine in my country has been popular as early as the Han and Wei dynasties. According to "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes", "When the chrysanthemums are blooming, the stems and leaves are picked, and the millet is brewed. When it becomes ripe on September 9 of the next year, it is drunk, so it is called chrysanthemum wine." Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty also said that "wine can It is said that chrysanthemum can cure all kinds of diseases and prevent aging." Later, drinking chrysanthemum wine gradually became a folk custom, especially during the Double Ninth Festival, when people drink chrysanthemum wine. "Jingchu Age Records" records that "on September 9th, wearing dogwood, eating lotus ears, and drinking chrysanthemum wine will lead to longevity." In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a variety of herbs were added to chrysanthemum wine, which made it more effective. The preparation method is: decoct chamomile flowers, make wine with koji and rice, or add rehmannia glutinosa, angelica root, and wolfberry. Since chrysanthemum wine can relieve wind and heat, nourish the liver and improve eyesight, reduce inflammation and detoxify, it has high medicinal value. Li Shizhen, a medical scientist in the Ming Dynasty, pointed out that chrysanthemum has the effects of "curing head wind, improving ears and eyes, removing fistulas, and curing all kinds of diseases". In ancient times, chrysanthemum wine was specially brewed during the Double Ninth Festival of the first year for the Double Ninth Festival of the second year. On September 9th, the first blooming chrysanthemums and some green branches and leaves are picked, mixed with the grains prepared for wine making, and then used together to make wine, and kept until September 9th of the next year for drinking. Legend has it that drinking this wine can prolong your life. From a medical point of view, chrysanthemum wine can improve eyesight, cure dizziness, lower blood pressure, lose weight, lighten the body, replenish liver qi, calm the stomach and intestines, and benefit blood. It's a festive season, the air is crisp in autumn, the chrysanthemums are in full bloom, and everything under the fence in front of the window is golden. In addition to climbing high to plant dogwood trees, relatives and friends are invited to drink chrysanthemum wine and enjoy yellow flowers together, which is indeed a unique pleasure. Especially the poets enjoyed chrysanthemums, drank wine, recited poems and sang poems as rewards, leaving many good verses for future generations. Because of the chrysanthemum wine, the Double Ninth Festival has become a Dionysus festival to worship the god of wine. For example, "Shandong Folk Customs·Double Ninth Festival" introduces that Shandong wine shops worship the vat god on the Double Ninth Festival, and the god is Dukang. In Maotai Town, Renhuai County, Guizhou Province, every year on the Double Ninth Festival, they begin to add ingredients and herbs to make wine. Legend has it that good wine can be brewed because of the strong Yang energy on the Double Ninth Festival. Whenever the first wine is baked, the boss lights incense and candles at the place where "Master Du Kang's shrine" is pasted, and puts out offerings to pray for smooth brewing (see "Chinese Folk Customs in English"). In Ningyuan, Hunan, every September 9th, there is a "competition to make wine to celebrate the Double Ninth Festival." These customs show that the Double Ninth Festival has a profound relationship with wine.

Customs of various places

In addition to the more common customs mentioned above, there are also some unique ways of celebrating the festival in various places. The Double Ninth Festival coincides with the harvest season in northern Shaanxi. There is a song that goes: "On the Double Ninth Festival in September, we are busy harvesting and harvesting."

Millet, millet, come on the market." In northern Shaanxi, during the Double Ninth Festival at night, there is a whole day of harvesting and threshing. At night, when the moon is on the treetops, people like to enjoy buckwheat noodles and mutton. After dinner Afterwards, people walked out of their homes in twos and threes, climbed up to nearby hills, lit fires, chatted, and then went home when the rooster crowed. Many people picked a few handfuls of wild chrysanthemums and put them on their daughters' heads when they got home to ward off evil spirits. . In Puxian, Fujian, people follow the old custom of steaming nine layers of rice crackers during the Double Ninth Festival. In ancient my country, there was a custom of "eating bait" during the Double Ninth Festival. The "bait" is today's cakes, rice crackers, etc. The Song Dynasty's "Jade Candle Collection" says: "Those who eat bait and drink chrysanthemum wine for nine days should collect millet and millet at the same time, so as to taste the new flavor of sticky rice." Song Zuqian, a Puxian poet in the early Qing Dynasty, said in "Fujian Jiuqu": "I was surprised to hear that the festival is approaching. On Double Ninth Festival, my delicate hands carry a basket to pick up wild fragrance. Pound the jade pestle into green powder and wet it, and the pearls will invite you to taste them." Since modern times, people have transformed rice crackers into a very distinctive nine-layer rice cracker. Wash the high-quality late rice with clean water, soak it for 2 hours, and scoop it out. Drain, add water and grind into a slurry, add alum (dissolve in water) and stir, add red sugar (mix with water and boil to make a sugar concentrate), then place the steamer on the pot, cover it with a clean cooking cloth, and divide it nine times , scoop in the rice pulp, steam for a while until cooked, and apply peanut oil on the surface of the rice crackers. The rice crackers are divided into nine overlapping layers, which can be peeled off and cut into water chestnuts. The four sides are clearly layered and translucent. It is sweet and soft to eat. It is delicious and does not stick to your teeth. It is the best meal to honor the elderly during the Double Ninth Festival. People in some places also use the opportunity of climbing on the Double Ninth Festival to visit their ancestors' tombs and commemorate their ancestors. Therefore, more people in Puxian worship their ancestors during the Double Ninth Festival than during the Qingming Festival. There is a saying that the third month is the Little Qingming Festival and the Double Ninth Festival is the Great Qingming Festival. Since Puxian is along the coast, the ninth day of September is also the death anniversary of Mazu’s ascension to heaven. Villagers often go to the Mazu Temple in Meizhou or the Tianhou Ancestral Temple and Temple in Hong Kong. Offer sacrifices and seek blessings. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the activities of the Double Ninth Festival were enriched with new content. In 1989, my country designated the Double Ninth Festival as the Senior Citizen's Day. On this day, various places organize autumn outings for the elderly to broaden their horizons. Exchange feelings, exercise, and cultivate people's noble character of returning to nature and loving the great mountains and rivers of the motherland.