Prepared on Double Ninth Day, chrysanthemum wine must be allowed to ferment for one year before it may be drunk on the following Double Ninth Day. It is said that drinking this fragrant spirit will cure a hundred sicknesses, bring longevity, and ward off evil spirits.
It had been popular in China to brew chrysanthemum wine as early as the Han and Wei Dynasties. Drinking Chrysanthemum wine later became a folk custom, especially during the Double Ninth Festival. On that day, besides ascending heights and wearing dogwood branches, people usually drank chrysanthemum wine with their friends and relatives while appreciating chrysanthemums. In particular, poets would improvise and chant poems when enjoyed the flowers and drank the wine, and they left behind a lot of beautiful lines for later generations.
As chrysanthemum wine can dispel pathogenic wind and clear heat, nourish the liver and improve eyesight, it has high medicinal values. From the perspective of medical science, the chrysanthemum wine can improve eyesight, treat dizziness, bring down the blood pressure, reduce fat, relax one’s body, replenish liver qi, soothe the stomach, and promote blood circulation. Li Shizhen, a medical scientist of the Ming Dynasty, pointed out that chrysanthemum was effective in curing headache, improving hearing and eyesight, and treating various diseases. Later, many herbal medicines were added to the chrysanthemum wine and promoted its effects.
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