Today (October 23) is the Chongyang Festival, also called the Double Ninth Festival, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month on the Chinese lunar calendar. The number nine is a homonym of the Chinese word "久" in Chinese folklore, which has the auspicious meaning of "a long and healthy life." Therefore, it is a day to pay homage to the elderly and show them respect.
Various traditional customs and activities of the festival are preserved across Guangdong, such as climbing a mountain or other high places, flying kites, and drinking chrysanthemum wine. Read on to find out more.
Hillside hikes
(Photo: Local Chronicle Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province)
There is a tale that in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man called Heng Jing who learned martial arts from an immortal in the mountains. Around the Double Ninth Festival, the immortal told him that a plague of evil would endanger the world. So he led the local people on this day to climb a mountain. Heng gave cornel leaves to everyone to avoid evil and asked them to drink chrysanthemum wine to protect them from the plague. Then, he went down the mountain and managed to destroy the plague of demons.
Nowadays, many Chinese climb mountains with the whole family on this day to ward off disaster and stay healthy. In Guangzhou, residents usually climb high places such as Lotus Mountain, Baiyun Mountain, and even Canton Tower, and buy a small plastic windmill to pray for good luck.
Fair of immortals
(Photo: Nanfang Daily)
This is the traditional festivity held on the eighth and ninth days of the ninth Chinese lunar month in Baoan Town of Qingyuan City, with a history of over 1,000 years. Villagers often gather around various statues of ghosts and gods to parade around the town. It has become a folklore event for locals to commemorate their ancestors, pray for blessings, and reunite with friends and relatives.
Kite flying
(Photo: Local Chronicle Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province)
As the folk saying goes, "If you fly a paper kite on the heights on the Chongyang Festival, calamities will be eliminated." People in many cities in Guangdong, especially Yangjiang, fly kites on that day.
Yangjiang has a kite culture of 1,400 years, which has earned Yangjiang the name of "the hometown of Chinese kites." An annual international kite festival will be held here around the Chongyang Festival, attracting numerous visitors.
Autumn worship ceremony
(Photo: Nanfang Daily)
This is a folk custom popular in Foshan. Ancient people usually worshipped their ancestors in the mountains during the ceremony, which is now held at the Foshan Ancestral Temple. Residents can see traditional conventions like offering incense and chopping roast pork as well as other activities, including beating the bell and the drum, reading the sacrificial text, and performing ritual dances.
Beef Festival
(Photo: Jiangmen Daily)
In Shankou Marketplace, Shuibu Town, Jiangmen City, the custom of eating beef on the Double Ninth Festival has a long history. According to a legend, on the day of the Double Ninth Festival in 1895, a villager bought some beef at the Shankou Marketplace, and his mother, who was ill at that time, recovered after eating the beef.
Afterward, on every Double Ninth Festival, locals usually buy beef at the Shankou Marketplace and eat the beef, wishing to prevent illness, and that has become a celebration activity there.
Chrysanthemum wine toast
(Photo: Nanfang Daily)
Chrysanthemums are believed to reduce internal heat and drive bad luck away. In the Hakka area in northern Guangdong, people will pick wild chrysanthemums on the mountain on the Chongyang Festival to brew wine and drink it with family members on next year's festival.
Eating Youmatuan
(Photo: Nanfang Daily)
Youmatuan (油麻团) is a type of sesame ball made from glutinous rice flour, sesame seeds, peanuts, sugar and so on. It is a sacrificial offering on the Chongyang Festival in the Chaoshan region. The word "团" has a similar pronunciation to "缘" in Chaoshan dialect, signifying fate and relationship. As a result, Chaoshan people usually present Youmatuan to their neighbors, reflecting their emphasis on etiquette and friendship.
Reporter | Holly
Editor | Olivia, Nan, Monica, James
