Double Ninth Festival Respect the Elderly Blackboard Poster

The golden autumn brings refreshment and the fragrance of osmanthus. The Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of September in the lunar calendar is full of activities and fun, such as climbing mountains, admiring chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine, eating Double Ninth Cake, planting dogwood and so on.

Climbing

In ancient times, people had the custom of climbing during the Double Ninth Festival, so the Double Ninth Festival is also called the "Climbing Festival". According to legend, this custom began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Literati in the Tang Dynasty wrote many climbing poems, most of which were about the customs of the Double Ninth Festival; Du Fu's seven-character "Deng Gao" is a famous poem about climbing on the Double Ninth Festival. There are no uniform rules for climbing wherever you go. Generally, you climb mountains and towers. There is also the custom of eating "Double Ninth Cake".

Eating Double Ninth Cake

According to historical records, Double Ninth Cake is also called flower cake, chrysanthemum cake, and five-color cake. There is no set method for making it and it is relatively random. 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.

Appreciating chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine

The Double Ninth Festival is the golden autumn season of the year, when chrysanthemums are in full bloom. It is said that appreciating chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine originated from Tao Yuanming, a great poet of the Jin Dynasty. Tao Yuanming was famous for his seclusion, his poetry, his wine, and his love of chrysanthemums. Later generations followed suit, and the custom of appreciating chrysanthemums during the Double Ninth Festival was established. In the old days, literati and officials would combine chrysanthemum appreciation with banquets in order to get closer to Tao Yuanming. In Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, the practice of chrysanthemum viewing on the Double Ninth Festival was very popular. At that time, there were many varieties of chrysanthemums in various shapes and forms. Folks also call the ninth month of the lunar calendar the "Chrysanthemum Moon". During the Double Ninth Festival when chrysanthemums are in full bloom, viewing chrysanthemums has become an important part of the festival. After the Qing Dynasty, the custom of appreciating chrysanthemums became particularly prosperous, and it was not limited to September 9, but it was still most prosperous around the Double Ninth Festival. ,

Planting dogwood and hairpin chrysanthemums

The custom of planting dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival has been very common in the Tang Dynasty. The ancients believed that planting dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival can provide refuge and eliminate disasters; it can be worn on the arm, used as a sachet with the dogwood inside and worn, and some can be placed on the head. Most of them are worn by women and children. In some places, men also wear them. Wearing dogwood on the Double Ninth Festival is recorded in Ge Hong's "Xijing Zaji" of the Jin Dynasty. In addition to wearing dogwood, some people also wear chrysanthemums on their heads. This was already the case in the Tang Dynasty and has been popular in all dynasties. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of the Double Ninth Festival in Beijing was to stick chrysanthemum branches and leaves on doors and windows to "remove evil and filth and attract good luck." This is the custom of hairpin chrysanthemum on the head. In the Song Dynasty, there were people who cut colored silk ribbons into dogwoods and chrysanthemums and gave them to each other as gifts.