Chóng Yáng Jié, the Double Ninth Festival
Article by Nick Mellish
China Bureau Cultural Ambassador
Chóngyángjié (重阳节) is a Chinese festival held on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, which in 2021 falls on 14 October.
The double ninth festival dates to China’s warring states period of 475-221BC[1]. Based on the Yin and Yang Chinese philosophy, yang represents light and brightness[2], but also masculine energy. The number nine is regarded as yang, and chóng (重) means double[3], hence the name double nine[4].
Chóng Yáng Jié welcomes the coming winter months and is also referred to as the ‘old man festival’. Old people especially are meant to keep in good health by joining family outings, get-togethers, and other activities[5], and in 1989 the day had been ascribed the title of senior’s day[6]. Activities can include mountain climbing, appreciating chrysanthemum flowers, drinking chrysanthemum wine, and eating double-ninth cakes[7], or burning miniature handmade paper clothing[8] for the memory of ancestors.
There is a deep spirituality and culture to double nine. Chóng Yáng has been seen to be a day where there is too much masculine energy, increasing the risk of disasters and misfortune[9]. As such, people ward off winter from their old family members by providing clothing, coming together to wish each other a long and healthy life, and climbing mountains as a sign of physical strength against evil forces, to be closer to heaven[10]. Plants too are used for avoiding disasters and diseases. China’s Tang Dynasty made the festival a day off for common people, who marked the event by wearing dogwood to ward off against disease and disaster and drinking the aforementioned chrysanthemum wine, which is also believed to have health benefits. Some young will also write and dedicate poetry to their elders as well, similarly to how Wang Wei did millennia ago.
Celebrating in Bristol can therefore be done in many ways. Many arts and crafts shops around the city may be bustling with Chinese shoppers attempting to purchase paper for incense offerings. There are also plenty of Chinese owned food stores that offer double-ninth cakes, such as the Fresh Bakery on Fairfax Street. Although there are no mountains to climb in Bristol, you’ll get some stunning views from the Clifton suspension bridge or Brandon Hill. Or, you could always try your hand at poetry dedicated to your older relatives, this coming winter season.
Wang Wei (王维) was a Chinese poet, musician, painter, and statesman during the Tang Dynasty (699-759). Over the course of centuries his art had been lost and replicated; his poems, however, had been preserved and were later published in the 18th century piece known as ‘Three Hundred Tang Poems’[11].
The below poem dedicates itself to the Chóngyángjié (重阳节), the double ninth festival, signifying the festivals importance and preservation across the millennia in Chinese society.
独在异乡为异客 A lonely stranger in a strange country
每逢佳节倍思亲 Often feels especially homesick on festivals
遥知兄弟登高处 I know from a distance that my brothers will climb high
遍插茱萸 少一人 While all of them wear dogwood, I am the only one absent
Wang Wei[12]
[1] ibid
[2] ibid
[3] John Catt Educational (2013) Chong Yang Festival. IS International School. Vol.16(1)
[4] LSE Confucius Institute
[5] China Daily, retrieved from: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2002-10/09/content_359355.htm
[6] Atkins, Benjamin (2018) retrieved from: https://blog.bham.ac.uk/culturalcalendar/2018/10/17/do-enjoy-and-eat-and-drink-the-chrysanthemums-the-chongyang-festival/
[7] China Daily, ibid
[8] Lee Scott, Janet (2007) For Gods, Ghosts and Ancestors, Hong Kong University Press, London, pp.201-214
[9] Atkins, Benjamin (2018) ibid
[10] Tzu, Lao (1963) Tao Te Ching. Penguin, London, pp.viii
[11] LSE Confucius Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.lse.ac.uk/Search-Results?query=chong+yang%2c
[12] LSE Confucius Institute