The Double Ninth Festival began to be observed in the Warring States Period. In the Han Dynasty,it was called Zhuyu Festival,or Chrysanthemum Festival as there was a custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine,eating colored cakes,and hanging an herb called zhuyu (comus officinalis) on the door. The festival comes when the day is clear with sunny skies and crisp air—a favorable time for climbing mountains. So climbing is a popular activity to mark the day in many places. The custom of hanging zhuyu on the door and climbing mountains started in the Han Dynasty,which was endowed then with the significance of eliminating diseases and subjugating disasters. In the Tang Dynasty, the custom of climbing and appreciatingchrysanthemum became so widely spread as to be taken as the main activity on this occasion,and to these,there added other activities,such as going to the mountain fair,offering sacrifices at the ancestral graves,hunting outsides, worshipping the God of fortune, bounding girls' feet. Nowadays, the Double Ninth Festival day is fixed as the Elderly Day,on which activities are held to show respect and love to the elderly people.
重阳节始于战国时期。在汉代,它被称为茱萸节,或菊花节,因为在那天喝菊花酒,吃彩色蛋糕,有在门上挂茱萸(山茱萸)草药的习俗。这个节日来的时候,天很清晰,晴朗的天空和清新的空气,适合爬山。所以,在这一天,许多地方都会有登山的流行活动。茱萸挂在门上和爬山的习俗始于汉代,它被赋予消除疾病和征服灾害的意义。在唐代,登山和欣赏菊花的风俗变得如此广泛的传播,以被视为在这个场合的主要活动,除了这些,还添加了其他活动,比如去山上游览,在祖先祭祀坟墓,外出狩猎,拜财神,裹女孩的脚。如今,重阳节固定为老人节,在那天活动举行,以示尊重和爱戴老人。
The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the Chong Yang Festival, a traditional festival in China. The celebrating activities are various and romantic ,including climbing mountains , appreciating chrysanthemums , wearing dogwoods , eating the Chong Yang cake and so on . “Nine” has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character “jiu” which stands for ”a long time” , and is the biggest single figure . Therefore it indicts longevity. There have been a lot of poems and works celebrating Chong Yang Festival and praising chrysanthemums since ancient times. People also believe that climbing mountains can expel bad luck, and indicates “climbing to a higher position” and “longevity”. China designates the ninth day of the ninth month as Senior ‘s Day , which combine tradition with modern times subtly to turn it into a festival for respecting , caring about , loving , and helping the elderly people .
农历九月初九为中国传统的节日—重阳节。庆祝重阳节的活动多彩而浪漫,包括登高远眺、观赏菊花、遍插茱萸、吃重阳糕等。“九”与汉字“久”同音,又是个位数字之最,因此寓意长寿长久。自古以来,有不少贺重阳用菊花的诗词佳作。人们还以为,登高可以驱除霉运,意指“晋升高位”和“长寿”。中国把九月九日定为老人节,传统与现代巧妙地结合,使之成为一个尊老、敬老、助老的节日。