Do you know these classic stories about the Double Ninth Festival?

There are many stories and legends about the Double Ninth Festival, such as the story of the origin of the Double Ninth Festival, or the legend of why people climb high places and eat Double Ninth Cake on the Double Ninth Festival. Do you know any of the following?

Stories about the Double Ninth Festival

Hengjing Eliminates Plague Demon

According to legend, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a plague demon in the Ru River. Whenever it appeared, people in every household would fall ill, and people would die every day. The people in this area were ravaged by the plague demon. Later, a young man named Hengjing used dogwood leaves and chrysanthemum wine to subdue the plague demon. When the plague demon just rushed down the mountain, he suddenly smelled the fragrance of dogwood and chrysanthemum wine, and stopped abruptly with a sudden change of expression. At this time, Hengjing chased down the mountain with a demon-subduing sword, and stabbed the plague demon to death with his sword in a few rounds. From then on, the custom of climbing high places to avoid epidemics on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month has been passed down year after year. Later, people regarded the custom of climbing heights on the Double Ninth Festival as an activity to avoid disasters and misfortunes.

White clothes send wine

The great poet Tao Yuanming loved chrysanthemums so much that he resigned from his official position, returned to his hometown of Chaisang to live in seclusion, and planted many chrysanthemums by the east fence beside his house, admiring them day and night. Tao Yuanming liked to drink, but because his family was poor, he often lacked wine. On the Double Ninth Festival that year, Tao Yuanming was admiring chrysanthemums by the fence, but he had no wine to drink and could not get drunk. He had to pick a handful of chrysanthemums in his hand, smelling and chewing them to pass the time. However, chrysanthemums cannot replace wine after all. When Tao Yuanming was bored, a man in white suddenly came from a distance. The man was a messenger sent by Wang Hong, the governor of Jiangzhou, who came to bring wine to Tao Yuanming. Tao Yuanming was overjoyed. He immediately opened the wine jar and drank heartily facing the chrysanthemums until he was drunk.

Longevity Village

As early as more than two thousand years ago, Ying Shao of the Han Dynasty recorded in "Customs and Meanings": There was a village called Gangu in Li County, Nanyang, Henan (now Neixiang County). The water in the valley is sweet and there are many large chrysanthemums growing on the mountain. A spring flows through the chrysanthemum bushes on the mountain, and the petals scatter in the water, giving the water the fragrance of chrysanthemums. More than 30 households in the village drink this spring water. They generally live to around 130 years old, and the youngest are in their 70s or 80s. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, people in the palace would drink chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival, "which was said to prolong one's life."