http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Ninth_Festival
九月九日憶山東兄弟
jiǔ yuè jiǔ rì yì shān dōng xiōng dì
獨在異鄉為異客,
dú zài yì xiāng wéi yì kè
每逢佳節倍思親.
měi féng jiā jié bèi sī qīn
遙知兄弟登高處,
yáo zhī xiōng dì dēng gāo chù
遍插茱萸少一人.
biàn chā zhū yú shǎo yī rén
- "Double Ninth, Missing My Shandong Brothers" — Wang Wei (王維), Tang Dynasty
English:
- 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.
| inth Festival | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Double Ninth Festival (重九節) |
| Also called | Chung Yeung Festival (S: 重阳节, T: 重陽節) 重陽 (Chōyō) 중양절 Tết Trùng Cửu |
| Observed by | Chinese, Japanese, Korean,Vietnamese |
| Date | 9th day of the 9th lunar month |
| 2011 date | October 5 |
| 2012 date | October 23 |
| 2013 date | October 13 |
| Related to | Obon |
The Double Ninth Festival (Chung Yeung Festival in Hong Kong, Japanese: Chōyō(重陽
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" (重陽節). To protect against danger, it is customary to climb a high mountain, drinkchrysanthemum wine, and wear the zhuyu (茱萸) plant, Cornus officinalis. (Both chrysanthemum and zhuyu are considered to have cleansing qualities and are used on other occasions to air out houses and cure illnesses.)
On this holiday some Chinese also visit the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects. In Hong Kong, whole extended families head to ancestral graves to clean them and repaint inscriptions, and to lay out food offerings such as roast suckling pigand fruit, which are then eaten (after the spirits have consumed the spiritual element of the food). Chongyang Cake is also popular. Incense sticks are burned.[1] Cemeteries get crowded, and each year grass fires are inadvertently started by the burning incense sticks.
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[edit]Origin
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 Jin's defeat of the monster on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.[citation needed]
In 1966, the Republic of China (Taiwan) rededicated the holiday as "Senior Citizens' Day",[2] underscoring one custom as it is observed in China, where the festival is also an opportunity to care for and appreciate the elderly.[3]
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.
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