The Double Ninth Festival
The Double Ninth Festival is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, which is also called Chongyang Festival. On this day, people eat the Double Ninth Cake, drink chrysanthemum wine, appreciate chrysanthemum flowers, and climb mountains. It is also known as the Senior's Festival, when the seniors are supposed to improve their health by taking part in the activities. The festival is also a time for families to get together, during which family outings are arranged and people enjoy the beautiful nature together. Family members and friends feel closer to each other by participating in these activities.
Origin
The festival is said to date from the Warring States period. According to the yin/yang (阴/阳) dichotomy which forms a basic to the Chinese world view, yin stands for the elements of darkness and yang stands for life and brightness. The number nine is considered as yang. So, the ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a double yang day, therefore the name Chongyang festival (Chong means “double” in Chinese). Also, as double ninth was pronounced jiujiu, the same as the words to indicate “forever”, Chinese ancestors thought it as an auspicious day. That's the reason why ancient Chinese began to celebrate this festival.
Traditional Customs
Climbing mountains
People like to climb mountains during this festival, so the festival is also known as “Mountain-climbing Festival”. In most parts of China, the 9th lunar month is a good time for sightseeing. So, people, both in ancient times and at present, love to go sightseeing in this month. Apart from expelling bad luck and disasters, climbing mountains also indicates climbing to a higher position, and this is the important reason why ancient people loved this custom. It is also valued by people, especially by the elderly, because it means “climb to a longer life”. And it is really refreshing to climb mountains and enjoy the beauty of nature during the bright, clear and cool time in autumn. Climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival was already popular in the Tang dynasty, and a lot of poems were written to celebrate this custom.
Drinking chrysanthemum wine
The way that chrysanthemum wine is brewed is unique. In ancient times, people usually picked fresh chrysanthemum flowers and leaves on the Double Ninth Festival, then brewed them and grains together to make the wine. People would drink the wine on the same day the next year. The wine is said to have many positive effects — it sharpens people's eyesight, alleviates headache, reduces hypertension, helps people lose weight and removes any stomach trouble, thus contributing to longevity.
Wearing dogwood
The dogwood is an evergreen, heavily scented plant whose fruit is edible. Its bark and leaves are valued for their medical properties. The dogwood blossoms with white or yellow flowers in spring, and in autumn it produces red and sour fruit. On the Double Ninth Festival, people used to stick dogwood into their hair or hang its branches on windows or doors to avoid evilness.
Eating Double Ninth Cake
As moon cakes to the Middle Autumn Festival, the Double Ninth Cake is very important for the Double Ninth Festival. The Double Ninth Cake is known as “flower cake” or “chrysanthemum cake”. It can be traced back to the Zhou dynasty. It is said that the cake was first made to celebrate the autumn harvest. People made the Double Ninth Cake in different ways, because there was no fixed way to make it. The cake was gradually made into different types, and the “super cake” was said to have as many as layers, looking like a tower with two sheep on the top. In Chinese, “糕” (cake) has the same pronunciation as “高” (height), and “羊” (sheep) has the same pronunciation as “阳”, so people hope to make progress in life by eating the cake.
【改编自《学英语 讲中国故事·传统节日篇》（程晓堂、张祖春、扈华唯，2019：68-72）】