The origin of the Double Ninth Festival How did the Double Ninth Festival come about?

What is the origin of the Double Ninth Festival? The Double Ninth Festival, also known as the Senior Citizens' Day and the Climbing Festival, was also the Daughters' Day in ancient times. There are many theories about the origin of the Double Ninth Festival. Let’s take a look at them.

The Origin of Double Ninth Festival

Source 1

The origin of the Double Ninth Festival can be traced back to the early Han Dynasty. "Miscellaneous Records of Western Capital" records that Jia Pelan, a palace lady in the Western Han Dynasty, said: "On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, people wear dogwood, eat puffball, and drink chrysanthemum wine, which is said to make people live longer." It is said that from this time on, the custom of praying for longevity on the Double Ninth Festival began. At the same time, there are large-scale banquets, which developed from the banquets celebrating the harvest in the pre-Qin period.

Source 2

One of the prototypes of the Double Ninth Festival is related to the ancient ritual of worshiping fire. In ancient times, people always had an inexplicable fear of fire, and therefore they often revered and worshipped the god of fire. The ancients often regarded Double Ninth Festival, Shangsi Festival or Cold Food Festival, September 9th and March 3rd as corresponding major festivals in Spring and Autumn. We can also find some traces of ancient customs from the customs handed down from generation to generation. For example, in some areas of the south of the Yangtze River, there is a custom of worshiping the kitchen god on the Double Ninth Festival.

Source 3

In the lives of ancient people, Double Ninth Festival became a time marker for the transition between summer and winter. If Shangsi and Cold Food Festival are the Spring Festival when people go out for a stroll after a long winter, then Double Ninth Festival is an autumn outing with ritual significance when the autumn chill arrives and people are about to retire. Therefore, there are folk customs such as "outing in spring" on Shangsi Festival and "saying goodbye to spring" on Double Ninth Festival. The customs of the Double Ninth Festival revolve around people's feelings at this time of year.