The Double Ninth Festival , observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writing since before the Eastern Han period. According to the I Ching, nine is a yang number; the ninth day of the ninth lunar month has too much yang and is thus a potentially dangerous date. Hence, the day is also called "Double Yang Festival". To protect against danger, it is customary to climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemumliquor, and wear the zhuyu plant, Cornus officinalis. On this holiday some Chinese also visit the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects. In Hong Kong and Macao, whole extended families head to ancestral graves to clean them and repaint inscriptions, and to lay out food offerings such as roast suckling pig and fruit, which are then eaten. Chongyang Cake is also popular. Incense sticks are burned. Cemeteries get crowded, and each year grass fires are inadvertently started by the burning incense sticks.
Origin
Once there was a man named Heng Jing, who believed that a monster would bring pestilence. He told his countrymen to hide on a hill while he went to defeat the monster. Later, people celebrated Heng Jing's defeat of the monster on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. In 1966, Taiwan rededicated the holiday as "Senior Citizens' Day", underscoring one custom as it is observed in China, where the festival is also an opportunity to care for and appreciate the elderly. 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. Other activities include flying kites, making flower cakes, and welcoming married daughters back home for visiting. Stores sell rice cakes 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. In Shandong province people drink spicy radish soup to bring good luck, it comes from an old saying " 喝了萝卜汤，全家不遭殃".
Festivities
Japan
In Japan, the festival is known as Chōyō but also as the and it is one of the Japan's five sacred ancient festivals. It is most commonly celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th month according to the Gregorian calendar rather than the lunar calendar, i.e. on September 9. It is celebrated at both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. The festival is celebrated in the wish for the longevity of one's life and is observed by drinking chrysanthemum sake and eating dishes such as chestnut rice or and chestnuts with glutinous rice or.
Korea
In Korea, the festival is known as Jungyangjeol and it is celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th month. Koreans would consume chrysanthemum leaves in pancakes. As the festival is meant to celebrate and cultivate good health, outdoor activities such as carrying dogwood, climbing hills or mountains for picnics as well as gazing at chrysanthemum blossoms are carried out.
Poem
There is an oft-quoted poem about the holiday, Double Ninth, Remembering my Shandong Brothers, by the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei: Being Alone alien in a foreign land, Every holiday is accompanied by reminiscences of one's kith and kin. Knowing from afar, the heights one's elder and younger brothers have scaled; Side Wearing Cornus officinalis, there is one soul less, amiss.
