Double Ninth Festival
01 · Historical Records
Since the tenth year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming dynasty (1515), Huangcheng Village has formed its own Chongyang customs — offering sacrifices to ancestors and honoring the elderly, climbing heights for distant views, admiring chrysanthemums and drinking wine, chanting poetry and singing lyrics — which became a prevailing practice and have been handed down to the present day.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Huangcheng Village Chongyang customs are a traditional folk activity of honoring the elderly, practiced by the people of Yangcheng County, Shanxi Province, with Huangcheng Village as the core area. On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, centered on Huangcheng Village, all townships and towns of Yangcheng County as well as villages in Qinshui and Zezhou hold richly varied activities for "supporting, honoring, loving, and helping the elderly." The project is of great significance for carrying forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation and strengthening community cohesion.
Household ancestors' rite
The rite before anything else: incense and fruit are set at the hall and the family bows in order of age before going out.
Climbing to look into the distance
The climb beyond the village on a clear autumn morning, with elders sitting on the rocks and the young heading down the slope.
Presenting chrysanthemum wine to elders
At the midday feast, wine is poured and offered strictly by generation, the order itself being the whole meaning of the rite.
Reciting verses
Evening recitations led by the eldest poet of the clan, continued by the younger generation in call-and-response.
Trade fair and games market
The large fair restored in recent years, where merchants, music contests, chess and martial arts share the village square.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The reach of Huangcheng Village's Chongyang activities forms a pattern of "one village leading three counties": with Huangcheng Village, southeast of the county seat, as the center, townships and towns within Yangcheng County carry out activities of "supporting, honoring, loving, and helping the elderly" on the same day; extending westward across Qinshui and northward to the villages of Zezhou, activities are also held on the same date. Villages take the opportunity of this day to visit relatives, exchange gifts, and invite the elderly, so inter-village visits are denser than usual. The ritual begins with the household: after the morning family sacrifice, people go out to climb heights, and on fine autumn days gaze into the distance from the slopes outside the village or from the old city walls; at noon a banquet is laid, chrysanthemum branches are placed in vases, and chrysanthemum wine is served to the elders of the family in order of seniority; after nightfall, family members climb towers or sit in the courtyard chanting poetry and singing lyrics, with an elder of the clan skilled at composition starting the verse and the younger generation responding in harmony — the sense of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new is hidden in this call-and-response. In the past the unit of activity was the family, each household keeping to itself for the day and making its own amusement; in recent years large-scale goods exchange and various folk cultural and sports activities have been revived — a market is set up in the open ground at the village entrance, merchants from various places come to attend, and song contests, chess matches, and martial arts are held side by side, expanding what was originally a household festival into a one-village public fair for the day. Within the village, the area around the Huangcheng Prime Minister's Mansion serves as the cultural foundation; records of Chongyang have existed since the Zhengde reign of the Ming dynasty, and family instructions, couplets, and seasonal poems have left many old copies in the village, with the rhyming of song lyrics largely following old conventions. The Yangcheng County Huangcheng Folk Culture Research Center has accordingly compiled the festival procedures, village rules, and songbooks into volumes for the reference of all villages.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Double Ninth Festival · Double Ninth Festival.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Traditional activities are organized on a family basis; in recent years, large-scale goods exchange activities and various folk cultural and sports activities have also been revived. The practical function of Chongyang in Huangcheng Village is to turn "honoring the elderly" from an ethical injunction into a complete executable schedule: which dishes to serve, how many rounds of wine to drink, and who should toast whom first all follow old precedents; a newly married daughter-in-law can simply follow along without needing anyone to teach her. This schedule was never written down as a proclamation, yet it has been transmitted longer than any proclamation.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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