Chongyang Festival

重阳节

The Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, so it is also known as the Double Ninth Festival.

每年中国农历九月初九是重阳节，也被称之为重九节。

The festival is based on the theory of Yin and Yang, the two opposing principles in nature.

古人将天地万物归为阴阳两类。

Yin is feminine, negative principle, while Yang is masculine and positive.

阴代表黑暗，阳则代表光明、活力。

Even numbers belong to Yin and odd numbers to Yang.

奇数为阳，偶数为阴。

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the two Yang numbers meet. So it is called Chongyang. Chong means double in Chinese.

九是奇数，因此属阳，九月初九，日月逢九，二阳相重，故称“重阳”。

The festival is held in the golden season of autumn, at harvest-time. The bright clear weather and the joy of bringing in the harvest make for a festive happy atmosphere.

这一天，正值仲秋收获季节，天高气爽，收获的喜悦增添了节日的气氛。

The Double Ninth Festival is usually perfect for outdoor activities. Many people go hiking and climbing in the country, enjoying Mother Nature’s final burst of color before she puts on her dull winter cloak. Some will carry a spray of dogwood.

重阳节非常适合户外运动，是登高远眺，舒畅胸怀的好时光。

It is hard to say when these customs were created.

很难追溯重阳节的起源。

But there are many stories which are closely related.

但是有许多相关的传说。

The book Xu Qi Xie Ji, written by Wu Jun in the sixth century has one such story.

根据公元六世纪吴均的《续齐谐纪》记载:

In ancient times, there lived a man named Huan Jing. He was learning the magic arts from Fei Changfang, who had become an immortal after many years of practicing Taoism. One day, the two were climbing a mountain. Fei Changfang suddenly stopped and looked very upset.

“汝南桓景，随费长房游学累年。

He told Huan Jing, On the ninth day of the ninth month, disaster will come to your hometown.

长房谓之曰：九月九日汝家中当有灾，

You must go home immediately.

宜急去，

Remember to make a red bag for each one of your family members and put a spray of dogwood in every one.

令家人各作绛囊，

Then you must all tie your bags to your arms, leave home quickly and climb to the top of a mountain. Most importantly, you must all drink some chrysanthemum wine.

盛茱萸以系臂，登高饮菊花酒，

Only by doing so can your family avoid this disaster.

此祸可除。

On hearing this, Huan Jing rushed home and asked his family to do exactly as his teacher said. The whole family climbed a nearby mountain and did not return until the evening.

景如言举家登山。

（When they got back home, they found all their animals dead, including chickens, sheep, dogs and even the powerful ox. Later Huan Jing told his teacher, Fei Changfang, about this. Fei said the poultry and livestock died in place of Huan Jing’s family, who escaped disaster by following his instructions.）

回到家里，他们发现家里所有的动物包括鸡，羊，狗，强壮的牛，都死了，而后景跟他的老师费长房说了此事，费说这些家禽和牲畜都是死在景的家里，而景的家人是按照他的指点去做了所以躲过了灾难。

And so it happened that climbing a mountain, carrying a spray of dogwood and drinking chrysanthemum wine became the traditional activities of the Chongyang Festival.

今世人九日登高饮酒，妇人带茱萸囊，盖始于此。”

The dogwood is a plant with a strong fragrance, and is often used as a Chinese herbal medicine.

茱萸是一种药用植物。其味香烈，有逐风邪、治寒热等功用。

People in ancient times believed it could drive away evil spirits and prevent one from getting a chill in late autumn.

古人把茱萸作为驱邪的神物，每逢重阳节人人都要佩带。

So its history as a medicine goes back many centuries. But the custom of carrying a spray of dogwood during the Double Ninth Festival is slowly dying out and many people, especially young people in the cities, do not even know what a dogwood spray looks like.

如今，插茱萸的习俗已不多见，许多城里的年轻人甚至不知道茱萸长什么样。

Even though the tradition of carrying a few spray of dogwood dies out, that of climbing mountains is reaching new heights.

虽然插茱萸的习俗已不多见了，但是登高是重阳节的重要风俗。

Early in the Western Han Dynasty, about 2 000 years ago, people used to climb a high platform outside the capital city of Chang’an on the occasion of the Chongyang Festival.

早在两千多年前的西汉时期，人们就在这一天前往京城长安郊外登高台。

For many, it was the last outing of the year before the onset of winter The custom evolved into its present form，when people go climbing to get some exercise as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.

现如今，人们登山则是为了边锻炼身体边欣赏秋景。

But what about those people who live in flat regions far from any mountain? The problem is solved by going for a picnic and eating cakes.

对于那些生活在远离山区的人们来说，他们可以出外野餐，吃糕点。

The Chinese word for cake is Gao, a homonym of the Chinese word for high.

汉语“糕点”的“糕”和“登高”的“高”发音相同，

Mountains are high, so eating cake can, by a stretch of the imagination, take the place of going for a climb.

所以就用“吃糕”代替“登高”了。

Since nine is the highest odd digit, people take two of them together to signify longevity.

由于九是奇数中最大的一个，人们把两个九放在一起来表示长寿。

Therefore, the ninth day of the ninth month has become a special day for people to pay their respects to the elderly and a day for the elderly to enjoy themselves.

因此，重阳节就成为了传统的敬老节日，

It has also been declared China’s day for the elderly.

政府也把它定为老人节。