The Double Ninth Festival: Celebrating Health and Honoring the Elderly
The Double Ninth Festival is observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese lunar calendar.
According to the “I Ching”, nine is the yang number; the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (or double nine) has too much yang and is thus a potentially dangerous date. Hence, the day is also called “Double Yang Festival”. To protect against the danger, it is customary to climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemum wine, and wear the Zhuyu plant (cornus). (Both chrysanthemum and Zhuyu are considered to have cleansing qualities and are used on other occasions to air out houses and cure illnesses.)
The Double Ninth Festival is also regarded as “Senior Citizens Day”, an opportunity to care for and appreciate the elderly. The Double Ninth Festival 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 a homonym for height in Chinese, inserted with mini colorful flags to represent Zhuyu. Most people drink chrysanthemum tea, while a few strict traditionalists drink homemade chrysanthemum wine. Children in school learn poems about chrysanthemums, and many localities host a chrysanthemum exhibit. Mountain climbing races are also popular; winners get to wear a wreath made of Zhuyu.
Wang Wei’s Poem: A Reflection on the Double Ninth Festival
Below is an often-quoted poem about the holiday by Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty:
Double Ninth, Missing My Brothers
As a lonely stranger in the strange land,
Every holiday the homesickness amplifies.
Knowing that my brothers have reached the peak,
All but one is present at the planting of cornus.
