Worshipping ancestors and cleaning graves on the Double Ninth Festival
The Double Ninth Festival is a traditional day for ancestral worship, so it is acceptable to worship ancestors and clean graves.The Double Ninth Festival, like the Laba Festival, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and the Ghost Festival, is one of China's traditional festivals for ancestral worship. On this day, worshipping ancestors is the main theme of the festival.
In ancient China, which was an agricultural society, the civilization of agriculture placed great emphasis on the experience of ancestors. The Chinese nation has long had the custom of respecting ancestors and being mindful of their origins, with the tradition of offering sacrifices to ancestors during festivals to show filial piety and remember one's roots.
What is the origin of the Double Ninth Festival?
The origin of the Double Ninth Festival can be traced back to the ancient times. It is said that the Double Ninth Festival is the day when Emperor Yuan attained enlightenment.The earliest written records of the customs of the Double Ninth Festival appear in "Lüshi Chunqiu·Ji Qiu Ji": "On the ninth month, the minister of the household was ordered to prepare for the harvest, to emphasize the five types of crops. The imperial records were stored in the sacred granary, and the rituals must be strictly observed. On this day, a grand feast was held to offer sacrifices to the emperor, and the offerings were reported to the emperor." This shows that at that time, there were activities of offering sacrifices to the heavens and ancestors during the autumn harvest in September, to express gratitude to the heavens and ancestors. This was the original form of the Double Ninth Festival as a ritual activity. At the same time, there were large-scale banquets, which developed from the feasts held in the pre-Qin period to celebrate the harvest. Therefore, until today, worshipping deities, ancestral worship, and enjoying banquets have formed the basic content of the Double Ninth Festival.
What are the customs of ancestor worship and grave cleaning?
1. Prepare items
For ancestor worship and grave cleaning, you need to prepare offerings such as incense, paper money, fruits, pastries, and vegetarian wine. Usually, three or five kinds of offerings are prepared.
2. Time for visiting graves
It is not advisable to go to the graveyard too early or too late. On the first day of the tenth lunar month, the sun rises later and sets earlier. Between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., this is a time of strong yang energy, which can enhance your own yang energy.
3. Clothing color
There are also customs regarding clothing when worshipping ancestors and cleaning graves. It is best to wear simple and elegant clothes, with colors not too bright. However, you should wear one piece of red clothing, such as a red inner garment, red socks, or red accessories. This is because the yin energy at the graveyard is very strong, and red can ward off evil and protect against harm.
4. Take precautions
The yin energy at the graveyard is very strong, so it is not advisable to go alone, especially for those with weak vitality, excessive yin energy, or weak bodies. If you need to go, it is best to take some protective measures, such as going with someone with strong vitality, or wearing an amulet.
5. Be sincere
During ancestor worship and grave cleaning, you should first kneel down, then burn incense, then burn paper money, and finally perform a major ceremony to pay respects to the ancestors. You should greet the ancestors, explain your purpose, and pray for their protection. If you are cleaning the grave of a close relative, your attitude should still be sincere, but it can be more relaxed, mainly expressing your feelings of longing and greetings.
