Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival or Chongyang 重阳节 (Chóngyáng jié) falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Nine is a yang number; doubling it is too much yang, and the day was already marked in writings of the Western Han. People climbed high ground, drank chrysanthemum wine, and wore dogwood, to avoid calamity. The picnic on a hill is still the picture of the day.

In the People’s Republic the same date has been made a day of respect for the elderly. The two layers sit on top of each other: a family visit, a walk, chrysanthemums. It is not a week of holiday, and it does not fill the streets like the New Year; it is on the calendar because the calendar has always carried it.