Double Ninth Day 重阳节.docVIP

Double Ninth Day 重阳节重阳又称“踏秋”，与三月三日“踏春”皆是家族倾室而出。重阳这天所有亲人都要一起登高“避灾”，插茱萸、赏菊花。自魏晋重阳气氛日渐浓郁，为历代文人墨客吟咏最多的几个传统节日之一。 The Double Ninth Day is observed, as one of the traditional festivals, by Chinese on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month. It is known as Chong Yang Jie in Chinese because “Chong” means double, “Yang” suggests nine; according to the ancient Chinese book Yi Jing, “six” was seen as the yin number, while “nine” the yang number. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month includes two yang numbers, so the day is called “Double Yang” or “Double nine”， and “Jie” means festival. Long ago， the festival was marked by climbing heights (mountains), enjoying chrysanthemum flowers, drinking chrysanthemum flower wine, wearing cornel twigs (dogwoods), eating Double Ninth cake and other activities. People like to climb heights (mountains) on this festival, so Double Ninth Festival is also called “Mountain-climbing Festival”. The 9th lunar month, with clear autumn sky and bracing air, is a good time for sightseeing. An outing lover, who stands on a height looking afar in the month, will have a panoramic view of a blue sky with pale clouds and dark green mountains, which makes him feel carefree and joyful. So people, both ancient and present, love to go sightseeing this month. People in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC—25 AC) liked to ascend a height in the suburbs of Chang?an (the then national capital and present Xi?an) on the 9th day of the month to enjoy sceneries, the activity being known as height ascending; people, in the Three Kingdoms period (220—265) and the Jin Dynasty (265—420), even more liked the activity to feast their eyes on the autumn country view; sightseers in the Chang?an on the day, a man-made tourist attraction with the Qu?jiang Pool, the Ci?en Temple and the Wild Goose Pagoda to its southwest; the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) emperors liked to ascend the Wanshou Hill in Beijing to mark the day; and the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911) emperors chose to ascend, on th