Double Ninth Festival

重阳节

chóng yáng jié

Double Ninth Festival

时间：农历九月初九

Time：October 13th，2013

别称：登高节、老年节、老人节

Other names：  Hiking Festival，Senior citizen’s Day

习俗：登高、饮菊花酒、吃花糕、佩带茱萸、敬老等

Customs:   Hiking, Drink chrysanthesmum wine，Eat Chongyang cake，wear Zhuyu，Respect the elder

The Double Ninth Festival (Chung Yang Festival ) observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writing since before the East Han, period (before AD 25).

According to the I Ching, nine is a Yang number; the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (or double nine) has too much Yang (a traditional Chinese spiritual concept) and is thus a potentially dangerous date. Hence, the day is also called "Double Yang Festival" (重阳节). To protect against danger, it is customary to climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemum wine, and wear the Zhuyu (茱萸) plant, (Both chrysanthemum and Zhuyu are considered to have cleansing qualities and are used on other occasions to air out houses and cure illnesses.) new China, where the festival is also an opportunity to care for and appreciate the elderly

In Double Ninth may have originated as a day to drive away danger, but like the Chinese New Year, over time it became a day of celebration. In contemporary times it is an occasion for hiking and chrysanthemum appreciation. Stores sell rice cakes (糕 "gāo", a homophone for height 高) with mini colorful flags to represent Zhuyu. Most people drink chrysanthemum tea, while a few traditionalists drink homemade chrysanthemum wine. Children learn poems about chrysanthemums, and many localities host chrysanthemum exhibits. Mountain climbing races are also popular; winners get to wear a wreath made of Zhuyu.

One day a man named Huan Jing believed that a monster bringing pestilence was coming. He told his countrymen to hide on a hill while he went to defeat the monster. Later, people celebrated Huan Jing's defeat of the monster on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.

Poem

There is an often-quoted poem about the holiday:

九月九日忆山东兄弟

jiǔ yuè jiǔ rì yì shān dōng xiōng dì

独在异乡为异客,

dú zài yì xiāng wéi yì kè

每逢佳节倍思亲.

měi féng jiā jié bèi sī qīn

遥知兄弟登高处,

yáo zhī xiōng dì dēng gāo chù

遍插茱萸少一人.

biàn chā zhū yú shǎo yī rén

English:

"Double Ninth, Missing My Shandong Brothers"

— Wang Wei(王维)Tang Dynasty

On the ninth day of the ninth month, I remember my brothers from Shan Dong.

As a lonely stranger in a foreign land,

At every holiday my homesickness increases.

Far away, I know my brothers have reached the peak;

They are planting flowers, but one is not present.