Chongyang cake () is a

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

cake eaten on the

Chongyang Festival The Double Ninth Festival (''Chong Yang Festival'' or ''Chung Yeung Festival'' in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan; ; ''Jungyangjeol'' (Hangul: , Hanja: ), observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, is a ...

. A mixture mainly made up of rice flour and sugar is baked and steamed, then decorated with jujube, chestnuts and almonds. As the word for "cake" () sounds like the one for "height" () in Chinese, people regard it as a lucky food.

History

''Chongyang cake'''s popularity began in the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

. In the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, the cakes became popular in

Bianjing Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

(now called

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

), in Linan (now

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

and other major cities. To this day, the sweet remains popular throughout China. The food symbolizes the appreciation and memory of families and friends who have passed, while also reminding people to value and highlight the importance of

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

relationships.

Legends of the origin

The first version to the story of the origins of the cake says that before Liu Yu became an

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

, he was in the

Pengcheng Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

. When he became the Emperor, he made a law that allowed people to ride, shoot and review the troops every year on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The Chongyang cakes were given out to the soldiers. The other version says that Kang Hai (the Zhuangyuan of

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, from

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

, attended the imperial ranking examination in August. However, he became ill, and got stuck in

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

. He was not at home when a reporter went to his hometown to tell him the good news, but Kang Hai was still in Chang'an, and the reporter was unwilling to leave without a reward. When he came back, it was the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the day of the Chongyang Festival. As a reward, he gave the reporter money and some cakes to celebrate his success. Because the cakes were used to celebrate his success, families who had children who were going to take school exams would give out cakes to them and the neighborhood as a symbol of good luck, and as such the custom of eating Chongyang cakes spread.

References

External links

* *{{cite web, url=http://gzdaily.dayoo.com/html/2011-10/05/content_1493550.htm, script-title=zh:说说重阳糕, trans-title=Say something about Chongyang cakes, access-date=2011-10-05, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005192647/http://gzdaily.dayoo.com/html/2011-10/05/content_1493550.htm, archive-date=2011-10-05, url-status=dead Cakes Chinese desserts

History

Legends of the origin

See also

References

External links