Opinion | Chung Yeung explained: the little-known Chinese holiday to honour the dead, hike and drink

It is not publicly observed in China, Taiwan or anywhere else in the world. In Hong Kong, people usually visit the graves or niches of their dead relatives on that day.

Apart from remembering and paying respects to the dead, traditional activities associated with Chongyang include hiking on hills, drinking wine infused with chrysanthemums and carrying an aromatic herb called zhuyu on one’s person.

It is quite obvious why Chongyang observations are more muted than other major Chinese festivals. Not everyone lives in proximity to hiker-friendly mountains – and when was the last time you found chrysanthemum-infused spirits in the shops?

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Scholars cannot even agree on what zhuyu is – whether it is the cornelian cherry, the Japanese prickly ash or the plant Tetradium ruticarpum. As for visiting graves, most people would have already done it a few months prior, on the festival of Ching Ming (Qingming).

To that end, he sought a Taoist master in the mountains for instruction in the esoteric arts. From that Taoist master, Huan received a magic sword that could dispel demonic influences.

For many months, Huan trained hard under the watchful eye of his master. One day, the master said: “The demon of pestilence will come again on the ninth day of the ninth month. Return to your hometown. There, you shall kill the demon.”

He gave Huan a bag containing zhuyu leaves and a flagon of chrysanthemum wine, and instructed him to lead his townspeople up the mountains to flee from the pestilence.

On the ninth day of the ninth month, Huan led his townspeople up a nearby hill. Everyone carried on them zhuyu leaves, whose scent kept the demon of pestilence at bay, and fortified their bodies with a swig of the chrysanthemum wine.

Huan fought the demon with his magic sword, finally slaying it and saving his people from disease. From then on, people observed the ninth day of the ninth month by hiking up mountains, drinking chrysanthemum wine and carrying zhuyu leaves on them.

This story accounted for the origins of the customs associated with Chongyang, but the festival itself might have been an earlier, more ancient celebration related to autumn and agricultural activities.

While Chongyang might or might not have started with Huan Jing and his adventures, by the Tang dynasty it was designated as one of three major festivals by Emperor Dezong (who reigned from 779 to 805).

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The other two – the first day of the second month and the third day of the third month – had long been forgotten. Chongyang is the only one of the three to have survived to the present day.

For me, the Chongyang Festival is just one random day out of 365. I have no special plans on October 23 – unless someone could get me a bottle of chrysanthemum wine or a few sprigs of zhuyu, whatever they are.

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