The Historical Background of Chrysanthemum Festival

Chrysanthemum was born in ancient China and has been recorded for more than 3000 years. In the glorious history of Chinese civilization, chrysanthemum has formed an indissoluble bond with people's production, life and culture. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, a minister in the Book of Rites said, "Hongyan comes ... and there are yellow flowers." That is, the ecological phenomenon of chrysanthemum reflects the law of climate change. Later, the Book of Rites recorded that "in the autumn season, chrysanthemums bloom in yellow flowers" according to the fact that chrysanthemums bloom in the last month. Qu Yuan, a Warring States poet, wrote a famous sentence in Lisao, praising the elegance and extraordinary of chrysanthemum, which is the beginning of chrysanthemum's attachment to national culture. Chrysanthemum has been used as food and drink since Qin and Han Dynasties. According to ancient records, there was a large-scale chrysanthemum trading market in Xianyang in Qin Dynasty. Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica in Han Dynasty improved the medicinal function of "strengthening the body and resisting aging". "Miscellanies of Xijing" contains: "Chrysanthemum is suitable, and stems and leaves are picked and mixed with millet. Drink it when it is ripe on September 9 next year, so it is called chrysanthemum wine. " At that time, it was called "Longevity Wine", and it was a custom for people to drink it in parallel.