The Chongyang Festival

Paintings of Yongzheng’s Recreation in Four Seasons

In the poem - “Missing My Shandong Brothers on Double Ninth Festival,” Wang Wei wrote, “As a lonely stranger in a strange land, on every holiday my homesickness increases. Far away, I know my brothers have reached the peak, they are planting cornel, but I am not present.” This poem expresses the author’s homesickness on Double Ninth Festival.

“Paintings of Yongzheng’s Recreation in Four Seasons,” created by a court painter in Qing Dynasty, is now preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum. The paintings depict Yongzheng Emperor’s seasonal life in four seasons throughout a year. The lunar September one shows the scene that Yongzheng Emperor together with his family goes climbing and celebrates the Double Ninth Festival in the Old Summer Palace. The painting mainly consists of landscape and pavilions. There are both Chinese-style gardens and Western-style buildings. The painting is filled with the atmosphere of joy and peace.

The lunar September one of “Paintings of Yongzheng’s Recreation in Four Seasons” actually reflects ancient seasonal activities on Double Ninth Festival. This painting can be divided into three levels. The people in front are men. There are a number of literati leaning on railing and admiring chrysanthemums up and down in the main house. There are also two boats on the water. A boat is for sending chrysanthemums. The other one is more interesting, loaded with two jars of wine. The person who brings the wine is dressed like Tao Yuanming. It seems that it is Tao Yuanming who brings the wine. Yongzheng Emperor is the most elegant one among the people. He hides in a study which is next to the main house, painting on a Chinese circular fan. In the backyard, womenfolk and children are talking and playing happily. Some people have climbed up a bamboo building, which is also a kind of climbing. In the third level, there is a platform on which there are several people sitting down and beginning to have a picnic.

Climbing in Chongyang

Experts say ancient Chinese classified everything in the world as Yin and Yang. The odd number is Yang and the even number is Yin. Nine is an odd number, so it is Yang. There are double Yang 9, so it is called Double Ninth (Double Yang). According to the historical records, the term double yang first appeared in the Warring States Period. By Tang Dynasty, Double Ninth Festival had become a fixed holiday. There were all kinds of celebrations both in the city and the countryside. Mountain climbing was an important activity on the Double Ninth Festival. It is celebrated in autumn, which is a season of harvest. By climbing together, the whole family can not only keep fit and healthy but also enjoy the beauty of autumn.

Experts say there is not a uniform rule for the site where ancients go for climbing. Mountain, tower, and pavilion are all choices. For example, in the Qing Dynasty, there was a place for Double Ninth climbing in the Forbidden City, which was the Yujing Pavilion in the east of Imperial Garden. It was decorated with a gold-decorated top and had four partition board doors on each side. When Double Ninth Festival came, the eunuch would put a throne facing south in the pavilion for the emperor and empress after their climbing. The Jingfu Pavilion in the Summer Palace is Empress Dowager Cixi’s favorite place for climbing. On the Double Ninth Festival, Cixi would climb up here and ate Fu (blessing), Lu (fortune), Shou (longevity) and Xi (happiness), which were pheasant, venison, mutton, and sturgeon respectively.

Cornel and Chrysanthemum

In addition to climbing, adorning with cornel is also one of the important activities on the Double Ninth Festival. Cornel is a fruit which can also be seen as a kind of herbal medicine. The leaves of cornel can cure cholera, and the root can kill insects. Cornel has a courtesy name, one for exorcising evil spirits. The ancients thought that adorning with cornel on the Double Ninth Festival could exorcise evil spirits and disasters. The custom had been very popular in the Tang Dynasty. Apart from cornel, there is also a plant that is closely related to the Double Ninth Festival. That is the chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum, symbolizing longevity, blossoms in autumn. That’s why Double Ninth Festival is also called Chrysanthemum Festival. When celebrating the Double Ninth Festival, people will appreciate chrysanthemums, drink chrysanthemum tea, write about chrysanthemum and draw chrysanthemum.

The ivory album “Entertainment of Qing Dynasty,” collected in Beijing Palace Museum, focuses on the entertainment of maids in the Qing Court. It has twelve pages, among which the theme of September is appreciating chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival. The maids in the album are appreciating chrysanthemums together in the vast courtyard. All kinds of chrysanthemums stand high or low in different shapes. Some are upright, and some are swaying. For the sake of safety, there are few trees in the Forbidden City. As a result, potted flowers will be placed whenever there is a holiday. They will be placed as a flowering mountain in the courtyard. So there is a chrysanthemum mountain when the Double Ninth Festival arrives. It is like the flower show in a park nowadays. A chrysanthemum tower will be placed in palaces or residences. Moreover, there are chrysanthemums in houses, which are put in a vase or a bonsai. There are also scrolls or some pictures depicting chrysanthemums on the wall when people celebrate the festival.

Two Birds with Autumn Chrysanthemum

The painting of “Two Birds with Autumn Chrysanthemum” is a work created for the occasion on Double Ninth Festival in the Qing Court. It is the work of Giuseppe Castiglione, who is an Italian painter. There are purple, red, yellow and white chrysanthemums blossoming in autumn. A pair of birds perches on a branch. With a blend of traditional Chinese painting techniques and European Shadow Perspective, the painter embeds the flower and birds in the painting with a three-dimensional effect.

Chrysanthemum is originated from China. There was a written record, 3,000 years old, of the chrysanthemum blossoming in autumn. Chrysanthemum not only is bright and colorful but also stands alone in the cool autumn. So the ancients regard it as a symbol of unyieldingness. Chrysanthemum, plum, orchid and bamboo are called “Four Gentlemen of Flowers.”

The piece of calligraphy “Facing Chrysanthemum on Lunar September Ninth,” collected by the Beijing Palace Museum, is a poem written by Kangxi Emperor when he was appreciating chrysanthemums on Double Ninth Festival. On the Double Ninth Festival in the 21st year of Kangxi’s reign, i.e., A.D.1682, chrysanthemums bloomed one after another in Beihai, Beijing. On this day, the Kangxi Emperor joyously invited the officials to appreciate chrysanthemums and wrote the poem “Facing chrysanthemum on Lunar September Ninth.” It goes like this, “You do not compete with other flowers, the bud becomes more fragrant when it’s getting cold. Upright and pretty, you are not afraid of wind and frost.” The praise of Kangxi Emperor that chrysanthemums do not compete with other flowers and are not afraid of wind and frost stands vividly on the paper.

The Chrysanthemum Wine

Whenever it is Double Ninth Festival, the chrysanthemum wine brewed with chrysanthemum is also people’s favorite drink. Double Ninth Festival is in lunar September in which only chrysanthemum blossoms. Therefore, everyone will appreciate chrysanthemums during the Double Ninth Festival. And, they all eat chrysanthemum cakes and drink chrysanthemum wine. Chinese chrysanthemum wine is unique. It is said to be brewed with chrysanthemum’s petals and some medlar and other Chinese herbal materials which are good for health. After drinking it, it can purify the liver and improving eyesight, especially for the aged people. In the view of modern medical science, it can disinfect and diminish inflammation, which is also good for people. That’s why the ancients stress the importance of drinking chrysanthemum wine. On the Double Ninth Festival, ancient Chinese literati often invited several friends to drink chrysanthemum wine and appreciate chrysanthemums in full bloom together.

Royal Costumes with Chrysanthemum Designs

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China, chrysanthemum is very closely related to Double Ninth Festival. Whenever there was Double Ninth Festival, chrysanthemums were everywhere, inside and outside the palace. There were patterns of the chrysanthemum on the emperor’s and imperial concubines’ auspicious costumes. Even on the ceramics people used, you could see chrysanthemum. Royal costumes are divided into ceremonial costumes, auspicious costumes uniforms, and casual clothes. The people in the royal family will be dressed in auspicious costumes during celebrations and important holidays.

People will be dressed in the costumes with chrysanthemum designs on the Double Ninth Festivals and the Mid-autumn Day. They will wear costumes with osmanthus fragrance because osmanthus fragrances come into bloom during Mid-autumn Day. While on lunar January 15, people will be dressed in lantern brocade or lantern pattern. So different patterns are for different holidays.

This emperor’s auspicious costume, which was made in the reign of Qianlong, is called Blue Costume on Tussah Silk Stitched with Gold Thread Dragon Robe with Bound Branch and Chrysanthemum. The whole garment is blue with patterns of five-claw dragons, bound branch, and chrysanthemum on it. It looks elegant, vivid, and simple. The auspicious empress costume which was made in the 14th year of Qianlong’s reign is called Green Costume on Satin Woven with Eight Colored Clouds Double Hornless Dragons Gown with character “Shou.” There are patterns of Eight Colored Clouds in the front, back shoulders, and hem of the costume with all kinds of chrysanthemums in full bloom inside.

Summary

From ceramics, calligraphy, paintings to costumes, different types of national treasures reproduce the lively scene of ancient Chinese celebrating Double Ninth Festival. It makes people feel as if they were right there. Today, people still follow the traditional custom of going climbing and appreciating chrysanthemums on Double Ninth Festival. “Ninth” is a homonym for “long,” which means longevity. Therefore, in 1989, the Chinese government decided to make Double Ninth Festival as Elders Day to promote the establishment of the tendency of respecting, caring, loving and helping the aged people in the whole society, which is for inheriting and developing the traditional Chinese culture.