重阳节是什么节？
What is the Double Ninth Festival?
Name: ________________ Date: ________
一千三百多年前，一个十七岁的年轻人离开家乡，一个人到长安和洛阳一带去学习。他住在大城市里，身边却没有一个亲人。到了农历九月初九这一天，他想到，家乡的兄弟们这时一定正在一起爬山，只是少了他一个。于是，他写下了一首诗，其中两句是：“独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲。”意思是：一个人在外地，每到节日的时候，就会更加想念家里的亲人。这个年轻人，就是后来著名的诗人王维。他想念家人的这一天，就是重阳节。
为什么九月初九是一个节日呢？在中国传统文化里，人们认为“九”是最大的阳数。九月九日，两个九放在一起，所以叫“重阳”。另外，“九”和“久”听起来一样，有“长久”的意思，所以人们觉得这是一个好日子。
重阳节最重要的风俗是登高，意思是到高的地方去，比如爬山。关于这个风俗，有一个传说。汉朝的时候，有一个年轻人跟着老师学习。有一天，老师告诉他：九月九日，你家会出大事，快带家人到山上去，喝菊花酒，这样就能避开。年轻人照着做了。晚上回家一看，家里的鸡和羊都死了，家人却平安无事。从那以后，九月九日登高的习惯就流传了下来。
除了登高，人们还会看菊花、喝菊花茶，因为这时正是菊花开得最好的季节。很多地方还要吃重阳糕。“糕”和“高”听起来一样，所以有人开玩笑说，吃一块糕，就等于登了一次高。
如今，重阳节还有一个新的意义。1989年，这一天成了中国的老人节；2012年，这一天又被写进了法律，叫做“老年节”。所以现在很多年轻人会在这天给爷爷奶奶打个电话，或者带父母去公园走走。一千多年前，王维在外地想念家人；今天，一个电话，就能让家人觉得自己没有被忘记。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 家乡 | jiāxiāng | hometown; native place |
| 首 | shǒu | first (as in 首次) |
| 其中 | qízhōng | among them; in it |
| 更加 | gèngjiā | even more; still more |
| 著名 | zhùmíng | famous; well-known; celebrated |
| 数 | shù | number; figure |
| 另外 | lìngwài | in addition; besides; moreover |
| 死 | sǐ | to die; dead |
| 开玩笑 | kāiwánxiào | to joke; to kid |
| 法律 | fǎlǜ | law |
| 老年 | lǎonián | old age; elderly |
| 父母 | fùmǔ | parents; father and mother |
English (for the teacher)
More than 1,300 years ago, a seventeen-year-old left his hometown to study, alone, around Chang’an and Luoyang. He lived in the big cities, but without a single relative beside him. On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, he thought of his brothers back home: right now they would be climbing a hill together, just one short, without him. So he wrote a poem, and two of its lines go: “Alone in a strange land, a stranger; at every festival I miss my family twice as much.” It means: when you’re far from home, every holiday makes you miss your family even more. That young man was Wang Wei, who became a famous poet. The day he missed his family was the Double Ninth Festival.
Why is the ninth day of the ninth month a festival? In traditional Chinese culture, nine is seen as the greatest yang number. On the ninth day of the ninth month, two nines come together, so it is called “Chongyang”, double yang. Also, “jiu” (nine) sounds like “jiu” (long-lasting), so it carries the meaning of a long life, and people think it is a good day.
The festival’s most important custom is “denggao”, which means going somewhere high, like climbing a hill. There’s a legend about this custom. In the Han dynasty, a young man was studying with a teacher. One day the teacher told him: on the ninth day of the ninth month something terrible will happen at your home; hurry, take your family up a mountain and drink chrysanthemum wine, and you will escape it. The young man did as he was told. When they came home that evening, the chickens and sheep were dead, but the family was safe and sound. From then on, the habit of climbing high on the Double Ninth was handed down.
Besides climbing, people look at chrysanthemums and drink chrysanthemum tea, because this is the season when they bloom best. In many places people also eat Chongyang cake. “Gao” (cake) sounds like “gao” (high), so some people joke that eating one piece of cake is as good as one climb.
Today the festival has a new meaning too. In 1989 the day became China’s Old People’s Day; in 2012 it was written into law as “Seniors’ Day”. So now many young people call their grandparents on this day, or take their parents for a walk in the park. More than a thousand years ago, Wang Wei missed his family from far away; today, one phone call can let your family know they haven’t been forgotten.