Wearing the cornel on the Chongyang Festival is also an ancient custom. According to the records, the cornel can be regarded as medicine. The aromatic flavor of the cornel can dispel the insects and the evil spirit and can eliminate the chills and fever.In short, cornel is an important sign of the Chongyang Festival. 

 

The Origin of Chongyang Festival

It’s interesting that nobody knows exactly when the Chongyang Festival(重阳节 Chóngyáng jié)was started, however, every year on the ninth day of the ninth month, people celebrate this Festival. There are varied stories about it, the most popular one is that there once lived a man called Huan Jing(桓景 Huán Jǐng), he learned magic arts from Fei Changfang(费长房 Fèi Chángfáng), an immortal after many years of practicing Taoism. One day the immortal told Huanjing that a disaster would sweep his hometown, he must go back immediately. Then the immortal asked Huan Jing to lead the folks to the top of the mountain as quickly as possible with their bags tied to their arms, and most importantly, you must all drink some chrysanthemum wine. Only by doing so can your family avoids this disaster.

Nowadays the Chongyang Festival has been given a new meaning in 1989, from then on the festival become the special day for the Elderly, it is the day to respect, love and help the old.

Activities on the Chong Yang Festival

Climbing the mountains

The most popular tradition on Chongyang Festival is climbing the mountains. In September the sky is high and the air is fresh, climbing mountains on these days can help improve your physical fitness as well as ward off diseases.

Eating double-ninth cakes

Eating double-ninth cake is associated with climbing the mountains. In Chinese “高“(gāo) is the homonym to “糕“(gāo). Double-ninth cake as a festival food was first used to celebrate the autumn harvest, and later it developed into the custom to climb the mountains and eat double-ninth cakes which means our life will become better and better.

Appreciating Chrysanthemum Flowers

It has been a long history that on the Chongyang Festival people will go out and appreciate chrysanthemum flowers. There always are some daisy Assemblies in September, crowds of people go out and see the beautiful daisy. Since from three kingdoms period, making poetry while drinking wine and appreciating chrysanthemum flowers have been all the rage. In the Han(汉 hàn) dynasty, chrysanthemum is a symbol of longevity.

Drinking chrysanthemum wine

In ancient times drinking Chrysanthemum wine was seen as a must on Double Ninth Festival, because it could dispel disaster and bless people. For this reason it is also called the “auspicious wine”.

Wearing the Cornel