Double Ninth Festival
01 · Historical Records
Wu Jun of the Liang dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, in his Xu Qixie Ji (Sequel to the Records of Qi Xie), recounts a story that on the ninth day of the ninth month, "filling a pouch with cornels and tying it to the arm, climbing heights and drinking chrysanthemum wine" could avert disaster; the legendary protagonist of the story, Huan Jing, climbed a height said to be the Lugang ridge where the seat of present-day Shangcai County stands.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Shangcai Chongyang customs are a living continuation of the traditional Chongyang folk rituals of Shangcai County, Henan Province. 2. On the eve of the Chongyang Festival, every household sews and wears cornel pouches of dark-red silk. 3. On the day of the Chongyang Festival, every household abstains from meat and eats vegetarian food. 4. On the morning of the Chongyang Festival, every household climbs heights; at noon they drink chrysanthemum wine and eat Chongyang cakes. 5. When an elder reaches seventy-nine, children and grandchildren together offer chrysanthemum wine in respect; when an elder reaches sixty-three, daughters-in-law and daughters present "date mountains" (zaoshan). The project plays an important role in carrying forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation and strengthening the social atmosphere of respecting and honoring the elderly among community members.
Sewing dogwood sachets
Households sew cloth sachets filled with dogwood sprigs, closed with five-coloured thread, to be worn before dawn on the festival.
Eating vegetarian on the day
The household eats a vegetarian meal before going out, breaking fast only after returning from the climb.
Climbing Lugang hill
The hill by the county town where the local climb takes place, linked to the story of Huan Jing.
Toasting the elder with chrysanthemum wine
At the age of seventy-nine, sons and grandsons offer chrysanthemum wine to the elder in turn, the elders sipping while the young share the rest.
Making jujube mountains for the mother-in-law
At sixty-three, daughters-in-law and daughters present a tall steamed jujube mountain as a birthday offering, its layers showing the family's skill.
Picking chrysanthemums and sealing the jars
Chrysanthemums are picked weeks ahead, dried, sealed in jars and opened again the following Double Ninth.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The rules of Chongyang in Shangcai are as detailed as a family code. The night before the festival, every household lights lamps and threads needles, stuffing cornels into sewn dark-red pouches worn on children's arms or pinned at women's waists, in the hope of averting disaster; early the next morning the whole household eats a vegetarian meal before going out; the place for climbing heights is the Lugang ridge by the county seat, said to be the very spot Huan Jing climbed in the legend, and after ascending the slope people return home at noon to drink chrysanthemum wine and eat Chongyang cakes. Honoring the elderly in the Henan countryside is differentiated by age: at seventy-nine, children and grandchildren together offer a cup of chrysanthemum wine; at sixty-three, daughters-in-law and daughters present "date mountains" — steamed pastries of dates and flour shaped like mountains or pagodas, piled high, which serve both as birthday gifts and as displays of craft, with the whole family gathered around to see whose is tallest and straightest. Gathering chrysanthemums and brewing wine starts even earlier: chrysanthemums are picked before Chongyang and sealed in jars, to be opened for the festival the following year — a way of making the wine endure. These rules are not entirely identical from village to village. In the county seat and its suburbs, the cornel pouches are now mostly embroidered with ready-made velvet and plastic beads, more ornate in appearance, though the cornel stems are still inside; in the countryside, real branches are still wrapped in cloth scraps, with the mouth tied with five-colored thread. The old custom of climbing Lugang has now often merged with outings organized by schools, changing from whole families going out to groups of three or five ascending the hill. The Shangcai County People's Cultural Center collects and compares the samples still made in each household, preserving the varied forms the same festival takes in different courtyards. There are also differences in timing within the county: in the townships around the county seat, Chongyang activities set out early on the ninth day of the ninth month, and the slopes of Lugang are densely crowded; in the villages of the southwestern townships, climbing is postponed to the tenth day of the ninth month, on the grounds that every family visits relatives on the ninth, and waiting a day allows everyone to gather more completely. Derived from this day is also the practice of townships inviting the elderly to sit at the village head for a day, with younger generations delivering meals door to door; the elderly are more visibly seen on this day than at any other time of the year.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Double Ninth Festival · Double Ninth Festival.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Chongyang customs currently preserved in Shangcai include: 1. Before the Chongyang Festival, every household gathers chrysanthemums and brews wine for use in the following year.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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