• Home
  • Chinese Language
    • Pinyin >
      • Hanyu Pinyin
      • Syllabic Structure
      • Tones
      • Spelling Rules
      • Practice Link
      • Sound Recording Softwares >
        • Audacity
        • Vocaroo
    • Hanzi >
      • The Evolution of Hanzi
      • Creation and Use of Hanzi
      • Traditional & Simplified Characters >
        • Comparison
        • Characters Converter
        • List of Traditional & Simplified Characters
      • Radicals >
        • History
        • Basic Radicals
        • List of 214 Radicals
      • Basic Stroke & Stroke Order
      • Structure of Chinese Characters
      • Hanyu, Huayu & Putonghua
      • Hanzi Word Art
      • Chinese Typing Set Up
      • Demo of Character Writing ( with sound file) >
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 1
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 2
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 3
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 4
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 5
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 6
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 7
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 8
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 9
        • From IC Ll P1 Lesson 10
        • From IC Ll P2 Lesson 11
        • From IC Ll P2 Lesson 12
        • From IC Ll P2 Lesson 17
        • From IC Ll P2 Lesson 18
      • Reading Chinese Made Easy >
        • Mandarin Spot
        • IC L1P1 Text Files
        • Demo video
    • Grammar >
      • Abbreviations of Grammatical Terms
      • Measure Word
      • Build a sentence
      • Form a question
      • Question Particle
    • Theme >
      • Daily Useful Expressions
      • Meeting People >
        • Self-Introduction
        • Greeting People
        • Asking Names
        • Introducing People
        • Courtesy Dialogue
      • Numbers
      • Clock Time
      • Day of the Week
      • Day of the Month/Year
      • Color
      • Happy Birthday
      • Family
      • Location
      • Travel
      • China & Taiwan
    • Proverbs
  • Chinese Cultures
    • Chinese Festivals >
      • Chinese New Year >
        • New Year Introduction
        • Chinese Zodiac
        • 2014 Year of Horse Lunar Calendar
        • New Year Taboos & Customs
      • Lantern Festival
      • Tomb Sweeping Day
      • Dragon Boat Festival
      • The Magpie Festival (Chinese Valentine's)
      • Hungry Ghost Festival
      • Mid-Autumn Festival
      • Double Ninth Festival
      • Laba Festival
      • Winter Solstice Festival
    • Chinese Folk Culture >
      • Chinese Zodiac
      • Chinese Names >
        • Chinese Names
        • How to Choose A Chinese Name?
      • Chinese Marriage
      • Chinese Folk Worship
    • Chinese Folk Handicraft
    • Chinese Performing Art >
      • Chinese Opera
      • Chinese Movies
      • Chinese Songs
    • Chinese Arts >
      • Chinese Painting Art
      • Chinese Calligraphy
      • Arts & Relics
    • Chinese Leisure Activities
    • Chinese Taboos
    • Food & Drinks >
      • Chinese Medicine
      • Chinese Food
      • Chinese Tea
    • Clothing & Decoration >
      • Chinese Clothing
      • Foot Binding
    • Chinese Religion
    • Chinese Architecture
    • Chinese Scenery
  • Chinese Health
    • TCM & I Ching
    • Basic Intro. of I Ching
    • Yin and Yang Theory
    • Eight Trigrams & Regimens
    • Five Elements & Organs
    • Four-Season Health Regimens
    • 24-Hour Health Regimens
    • Daoyin Related Exercises
    • Pulse Palpation
    • Acupoint Massage
    • Fenshui (Geomancy)
    • Food Dietary
    • Chinese Herbs
  • Cher
    • Cher Shares Chinese
    • Travel Prints
Cher Shares Chinese ; 學而知中文; www.shareschineses.com; shareschinese@gmail.com

Double Ninth Festival ~ from HanBan

The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, so it is also known as the Double Ninth Festival. It is celebrated for over 2000 years but officially defined as a festival during the Tang Dynasty. As time goes on, the Double Ninth Festival gradually to be celebrated also as an Elder Day for young people to show their respects to the elderly as double nine symbolize the longevity in Chinese culture. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the two Yang numbers meet. So it is called Chongyang. Chong in Chinese means "double." Also, as double ninth was pronounced the same as the word to signify "forever", both are "Jiu Jiu," the Chinese ancestors considered it an auspicious day worth celebration. That's why ancient Chinese began to celebrate this festival long time ago.

The Origin of Double Ninth Festival
Picture
In ancient times, there lived a man named Huan Jing. He was learning the magic arts from Fei Changfang, who had become an immortal after many years of practicing Taoism. One day, the two were climbing a mountain. Fei Changfang suddenly stopped and looked very upset. He told Huan Jing, On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, disaster will come to your hometown. Then, Huan Jing told his countrymen to hide on a hill while he went to defeat the monster. Later, people celebrated Huan Jin's defeat of the monster on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Double Ninth may have originated as a day to drive away danger, but like the Chinese New Year, over time it became a day of celebration. In contemporary times it is an occasion for hiking and chrysanthemum appreciation. Stores sell rice cakes (糕 "gāo", a homophone for height 高) with mini colorful flags to represent zhuyu. Most people drink chrysanthemum tea, while a few traditionalists drink homemade chrysanthemum wine. Children learn poems about chrysanthemums, and many localities host chrysanthemum exhibits. Mountain climbing races are also popular; winners get to wear a wreath made of zhuyu.

Custom of Double Ninth Festival

The typical customs of Double Ninth Festival include wear cornel, appreciate chrysanthemum and climb mountains and high places. The cornel is believed to drive away evil spirits and prevent people from illness in late autumn according to the theory of Chinese Medicine. Because of the clear and sunny climate and blooming chrysanthemum in late autumn, it is also pleasant to going out and people often go hiking, mountain climbing, and appreciating flowers during the Chongyang Festival. The custom of ascending a height to avoid epidemics was passed down from long time ago. Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival is also called "Height Ascending Festival". The height people will reach is usually a mountain or a tower. Ancient literary figures have left many poems depicting the activity. Even today, people still swarm to famous or  little known mountains on this days.

The food for Double Ninth Festival includes kinds of desserts made of chrysanthemum, chrysanthemum wine and Chongyang cakes. Chongyang cakes are believed to bring prosperity to people and are made of rice incorporate with nThe Double Ninth Festival is also a time when chrysanthemum blooms. China boasts diversified species of chrysanthemum and people have loved them since ancient times.uts and preserves such as dates, semen juglandis, preserved apples, peach, apricot and the like. In Chinese, gao (cake) has the same pronunciation with gao (height). People do so just to hope progress in everything they are engaged in. There is no fixed ways for the Double Ninth Cake, but super cakes will have as many as nine layers, looking like a tower.
Picture
 The Double Ninth Festival is also a time when chrysanthemum blooms. China boasts diversified species of chrysanthemum and people have loved them since ancient times. So enjoying the flourishing chrysanthemum also becomes a key activity on this festival. Also, people will drink chrysanthemum wine. Women used to stick such a flower into their hair or hang its branches on windows or doors to avoid evilness.
Proudly powered by Weebly