Learn about the origins of the Double Ninth Festival and recommend great hiking destinations around Shanghai.
Preface
After the National Day holiday, there is another traditional festival waiting for everyone, that is the Double Ninth Festival. However, when I asked my colleagues and friends, I found that very few people know about the Double Ninth Festival. When it comes to the Double Ninth Festival, the only thing that comes to mind is Wang Wei's "Remembering My Brothers in Shandong on the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month":
Being a stranger in a strange land, I miss my family all the more during every festive season.
I know my brothers are climbing the mountain, but there is one less person wearing the dogwood branches.
So I spent a lot of time scratching my head and wrote this guide to explain the origins of the Double Ninth Festival's practices of missing family members, climbing mountains, and wearing dogwood. I hope this will help more people become familiar with our traditional Chinese festival - the Double Ninth Festival.
(This issue's illustrations are from: tourists Liu Xiang)
The Origin of Double Ninth Festival
Researchers have verified that the Chongyang Festival destination actually existed in history. Chongyangdian (now Chongyang Town) in Xixia County, Henan Province, was originally founded by Emperor Yao's son, Danzhu. The Yao in the "Yao, Shun, and Yu" era refers to the ancient times, dating back 4,200 years. (This suggests that Chongyangdian was established over 4,000 years ago.) Danzhu, Yao's eldest son, was a brilliant military strategist who commanded vast armies to conquer the powerful Dongyi vassal states, consolidating Yao's position.
Changzi County in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, was named in honor of his eldest son, Danzhu, who was enfeoffed there. However, archaeologists explain that when Emperor Yao wanted to designate a successor to the throne, he deemed Danzhu "unvirtuous, litigious, and unfit to rule the country." At that time, filial piety was considered paramount among virtues. Yao, believing Shun to possess such virtue, decided to pass the throne to Shun.
Because Shun finally inherited the throne of Yao and became famous, Danzhu was gradually forgotten by later generations. However, it is certain that Danzhu built Chongyangdian on the Qi River, and the name Chongyang originated from this.
The Origin of the Double Ninth Festival
We have laid so much groundwork before, now is the key point.
According to the Book of Han, during the reign of Emperor An of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Empress Li, who was six months pregnant, was murdered by a concubine named Yan. She fled to Chongyangdian, west of Luoyang. She gave birth to a daughter on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The Book of Changes defines nine as a yang number, and since the ninth day of the ninth lunar month is double nine, she was named Chongyangnu.
Empress Li endured countless hardships and slowly raised Chongyangnu to adulthood. Unexpectedly, one autumn, a great plague struck the area, stricken both the villagers and Empress Li. Before her death, Empress Li revealed her life story to Chongyangnu and gave her the jade pendant given by Emperor An, asking her to find an opportunity to sue the Yan family and seek justice for her.
After Empress Li's death, Chongyang traveled extensively to learn swordsmanship, determined to slay the plague demon and avenge her mother. A Taoist priest, moved by her spirit, meticulously taught her swordsmanship and revealed the plague demon's four weaknesses.
(Don’t complain about the appearance of Chongyang women. Rural women who grew up in ancient times should have looked like this...)
On September 9th of the following year, women wear red dogwood branches in their hair. Dogwood fruits are red, and their leaves emit a strange smell. Men drink chrysanthemum wine. Upon the appearance of the plague demon, everyone shouts in unison, "Eradicate the plague demon, and the world will be at peace." The plague demon, seeing the red color, smelling the alcohol and strange smell, and hearing the shouts, shrinks into a ball. The woman on the Double Ninth Festival stabs the demon to death with a single sword. From then on, the people of the Chongyangdian area live and work in peace and prosperity, enjoying long and healthy lives.
When the news reached the capital, Emperor An summoned Chongyang's daughter to the capital to meet him. Later, Emperor An demoted Yan and built a temple specifically for Empress Li, and named Chongyang's daughter Princess Chongyang.
Princess Chongyang insisted on returning to Chongyangdian, claiming her mother was buried there and that she had to go there to pay her respects during festivals. However, every year around September 9th, she would return to the capital with chrysanthemums, dogwood, and chrysanthemum wine to honor her father. She also introduced local customs of climbing mountains, appreciating chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine, and inserting dogwood into the palace.
Princess Chongyang was born and raised on Chongyang Festival, got married and had children on Chongyang Festival. After she passed away at the age of 100, local people built Chongyang Taoist Temple for her and come to worship her every year on the Double Ninth Festival.
Later, in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, as the harsh winter approaches, people begin buying winter clothes. Of course, they also remember to burn paper clothes during ancestral worship, allowing them to spend the winter in the underworld. Thus, the Double Ninth Festival evolved into a festival for tomb sweeping and burning winter clothes for ancestors. Thus, the Double Ninth Festival also evolved into a festival for ancestor worship.
The significance of the Double Ninth Festival
Having reviewed the origins of the Double Ninth Festival and the Double Ninth Festival, I'm still unsure whether the name "Chongyang" came from the Double Ninth Festival or the name "Chongyang" led to the Double Ninth Festival. This is a chicken-and-egg question, and I'm still unsure. However, climbing mountains, admiring chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine, and inserting dogwood branches have become traditional ways to commemorate the festival.
In 1989, the Double Ninth Festival was designated as Senior Citizens' Day, advocating for the whole society to respect, honor, love, and support the elderly. Perhaps Senior Citizens' Day echoes the ancient Chongyang Store built by Danzhu, reminding people to respect the elderly and value filial piety. It also aligns with the ancient custom of remembering ancestors and honoring elders on the Double Ninth Festival.
Without going into too much detail, the Double Ninth Festival, along with New Year's Eve, Tomb-Sweeping Day, and the Ghost Festival, is one of China's four major traditional festivals for ancestor worship. It's unclear when we'll be able to have a holiday like New Year's Eve and Tomb-Sweeping Day. But it doesn't matter if China doesn't have a holiday. Avoiding the traffic and rain of Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Double Ninth Festival is actually the most suitable festival for traveling and enjoying the autumn.
Therefore, since ancient times, there has been the tradition of going on an outing in spring and saying goodbye to spring on the Double Ninth Festival in autumn. When the weather is clear and refreshing in autumn, why not climb a high place and look into the distance?
What activities can be done on the Double Ninth Festival?
First, here's a photo from behind, in Xianju, Zhejiang. Climbing high and looking far into the distance, my mood instantly brightens. Yes, that's me wearing the hat below. While we can skip the chrysanthemum wine and dogwood for Double Ninth Festival these days, we should still consider the high-altitude view a relaxing and leisurely way to exercise. So, here are three easy-to-understand outdoor trails that are proven, reliable, and worth choosing.
Xianju
Xianju is one of the eight 5A scenic spots in Zhejiang Province. It has pure natural scenery and does not follow the scenic area line. The natural and simple Gongyu Village is inaccessible by road and must be visited on foot. The sunrise in the morning sweeps away the old haze.
Gongyu is like a painting, an ink painting imbued with Chinese characteristics, a painting that demands lingering, quiet savoring, and quiet enjoyment. Entering the mountains, mist begins to rise from the canyons, transforming Gongyu into an ethereal wonderland. The peculiar peaks transform into the wonderland of Shangri-La, and Gongyu Village becomes a celestial palace within this wonderland. This is Gongyu as depicted in an ink landscape painting. Gongyu Rock stands majestically, its imposing presence radiating before your eyes, its stone forests and cliffs each possessing their own unique charm.
At night, the sky is ablaze with stars, and all around is utterly silent, a tranquility you can't experience in a big city. Just thinking about falling asleep with the stars as your pillow is irresistible! The next morning, the photographers all climbed up Gong Yu Bei to watch the sunrise! From a bird's-eye view, like a sharp blade, the scenery shifts from one angle to another, revealing countless unique views. The ancient saying, "From one side, a mountain becomes a peak; from the other, a peak" captures this essence.
Kuancang Mountain
Kuancang Mountain is the first place where the sun shines in southeastern Zhejiang. It is either sunrise or sea of clouds. It is also one of the four major windmill sites in East China. You can take pictures of the mountain windmills. You can go there by yourself via small car roads. You can also experience the fun of hiking by joining China-TravelNote.
On Double Ninth Festival, we climbed Kuancang Mountain, southeastern Zhejiang's tallest mountain, and witnessed its "soaring three thousand feet, a sight rarely heard of on earth." Giant windmills generated electricity, and a majestic sea of clouds cascaded like a waterfall. The interwoven beauty was overwhelming and breathtaking. In the quiet hours of night, the pristine, curtain-like sky allowed us to encounter the dazzling starry sky and experience the vastness and wonder of the universe.
The towering Kuocang Mountain, with its rolling hills, is rich in beauty and breathtaking scenery. Atop its summit stands the Kuocang Mountain Wind Farm, one of China's "Four Great Powers," renowned for its relative altitude, ranking first among wind farms worldwide. Kuocang Mountain is one of Zhejiang's famous mountains, boasting a majestic and steep terrain, with peaks stacked one on top of the other. Clouds and mist perpetually shroud the mountain, and the winding mountain road winds down from the depths of the white clouds, resembling a flowing silk ribbon against the azure sea and blue sky. This truly is a breathtaking spectacle of mountain and sea, exemplified by the image of a woman wrapped in silk, half-covering her face, her delicate beauty strikingly charming.
The nearby Jiutai Valley boasts a breathtaking beauty, with sheer cliffs, towering peaks, cascading waterfalls, and deep, clear streams. Its scenery rivals that of Huihang, and Jiutai Valley itself is comparable to Shimentai, a scenic spot within the Nanxi River's Daluoyan Scenic Area. Cascading waterfalls, grotesque rocks, and whispering pines adorn the landscape. The vegetation is rich, with typical subtropical plants lushly green, interspersed with vibrant reds, sometimes tinted golden and sometimes purple under the influence of sunlight. Kuacang Mountain is captivating for two reasons: the winter mist-covered pines and its 33 windmills.
Wood pear
A village perched high atop Huangshan Mountain, a future hotspot, remains largely undeveloped and can only accommodate a handful of visitors at a time. Less crowded than Hongcun, more secluded than Xidi, and boasting scenery every bit as scenic as Tachuan.
Muli Village is located at the border of Jiangxi and Anhui provinces and belongs to Zhanli Village, an administrative villager group within Xikou Town, Xiuning County, Huangshan City, Anhui Province. Located on the hillside of Kuzhujian Mountain, a remnant of the Huangshan Mountain Range in the southeastern hills, Muli Village sits on a mountain ridge, suspended on three sides and connected only to Kuzhuling Mountain to the south. It resembles an "island" above the clouds and is the highest village among the ancient towns of Huizhou.
Founded in the late Ming Dynasty, the village has 52 households and 166 residents, making it one of the highest mountain villages in Huangshan City. Villagers cultivate forestry and tea, with a few terraced rapeseed and rice fields. The village features semi-Huizhou-style architecture, extending in a stepped pattern from south to north, following the mountain's slopes.
Come to Muliu during the Double Ninth Festival to experience the farming life you long for, and start a new day full of energy with simple white porridge, boiled eggs, pickles and corn.
Lotus Island
Besides hiking, crab tasting and an autumn outing are also great family-friendly options during the Double Ninth Festival. For a great place to enjoy crab and have fun during the Double Ninth Festival in the Jiangnan region, Lotus Island in the heart of Yangcheng Lake is the perfect choice!
Lotus Island, shaped like a blooming lotus flower, nestled in the lake, earns its name. The island is pedestrian-only; there are no cars, motorcycles, or other modes of transportation. Every household has several boats, including small boats, paddle boats, and motorboats, which crab farmers use for daily travel. To protect the water source of Yangcheng Lake, the Suzhou Municipal Government has removed all the nets used for crab farming, leaving only the indigenous inhabitants of Lotus Island to cultivate crabs and continue the legend of the Yangcheng Lake hairy crab.
Gongcha Ancient Road
The Gongcha Ancient Trail is a truly refreshing hiking route, especially during the crisp autumn weather. Surrounded by mountains and shaded by lush bamboo, the fresh air of the small village is home to a mountain called "Nine-Three Bays," meaning its 23 bends. Straddling the borders of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, it was originally the only route from Zhejiang to Yixing, similar to the Huihang Ancient Road. However, with the development of transportation, the trail fell into disuse, serving only as a means for locals to access mountain work.
The 23-bend ancient road lacks the grandeur one might imagine, but instead brims with the tranquility and quietude of history. Rain and mist permeate the entire mountaintop, towering bamboos sway in the wind. The simple, unpretentious reality forms a stark contrast with memories of the prosperity of the past.
Conclusion
Even though there's no holiday for the Double Ninth Festival, we shouldn't neglect this millennium-old tradition. Even if we can't go home to reunite with our loved ones, we should still find time and space to take a break. October is a golden month, with clear skies and crisp weather. I wish everyone a wonderful October.
