The Double Ninth Festival on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month is a day for climbing heights, admiring chrysanthemums and honouring the elderly.
Lunar date
9th day of the 9th month
Usual dates
Oct 1–29
Date and Origins
Chongyang (重陽) falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. In the Book of Changes nine is the highest yang number, so a day where month and date are both nine is a 'doubled yang'. 'Nine nine' (jiujiu) also sounds like 'long lasting', giving the festival associations with longevity. Cao Pi of the Three Kingdoms period already mentioned ninth-day feasting in a letter.
A tale recorded in the Southern Dynasties collection Xu Qixie Ji tells of Huan Jing, a pupil of the Taoist master Fei Changfang, who warned him that disaster would strike his home on the ninth day of the ninth month. The family tied pouches of dogwood (zhuyu) to their arms, climbed a hill and drank chrysanthemum wine. Returning at dusk, they found all their livestock dead in their place. It is a legend from a book of marvels, but it is the usual source cited for the day's customs.
Customs
Climbing heights: crisp autumn weather makes hiking and enjoying the view the most common activity.
Wearing dogwood: its pungent sprigs were worn to ward off evil, and a famous line by Wang Wei recalls a family wearing dogwood with one brother missing.
Admiring chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine, a pastime tied to the poet Tao Yuanming.
Honouring elders: thanks to the longevity pun, the day is now devoted to visiting and caring for older people.
Festive Foods
Chongyang cake (gao) puns on 'high' (gao), so on flat plains eating cake can stand in for climbing a hill. Recipes vary, but most are steamed layers of rice or wheat flour topped with jujubes, chestnuts and candied fruit, sometimes with small paper flags. Chrysanthemum wine and tea are traditional drinks. Autumn crabs are at their best, so in the Jiangnan region crab and chrysanthemums go together, and some areas eat mutton noodles because 'sheep' (yang) sounds like 'yang'.
Regional Differences
Mainland China designated the day Seniors' Day in 1989, and a 2012 revision of its law on the elderly made the ninth day of the ninth month the official Seniors' Festival. Taiwan also treats it as Seniors' Day, and many local governments give older residents cash gifts or presents.
In Hong Kong and Macau it is a public holiday best known for grave visits. Cantonese tradition holds spring and autumn rites, the spring one at Qingming and the autumn one at Chongyang, so families climb hillsides to tend ancestral graves, combining remembrance with an outing; cemeteries are crowded. In Singapore and Malaysia the festival is low-key, mainly marked by clan associations hosting meals for elders.
Japan counts Chōyō, the Chrysanthemum Festival, among its five seasonal festivals, now usually held on 9 September with chrysanthemum sake and chestnut rice; the kunchi festivals of Nagasaki and Karatsu are widely thought to take their name from 'ninth day'. Korea once observed Jungyangjeol with chrysanthemum pancakes, though the custom has largely faded.
Trivia
The festival comes around Cold Dew and Frost's Descent, when mornings and evenings turn chilly, so tradition advises dressing warmly for hill walks. Beliefs about dogwood and chrysanthemum extending life are cultural tradition, not medical fact.
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