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The Chongyang Festival (重阳节 Zhongyang Jie; Cantonese: Chung Yeung Jit) remains a little known event and is hardly practised among the Chinese in Malaysia, although there are attempts to revive the festival in Penang. But it retains deep cultural values concerning respect, family and the appreciation of nature, making it an important day in the Chinese calendar.

In China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, the festival is actively celebrated to honour the elderly and to promote health and well-being and the enjoyment of the beauty of autumn.

It is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, giving rise to its alternate name Double Ninth Festival. It also happens to coincide with the last day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival.

Traditional practices to mark Chongyang:

• Climbing mountains to enjoy the seasonal clear skies, fresh air and the stunning autumn scenery.
• Chrysanthemum (juhua菊花) is the focus of attention: believed by many as a symbol of longevity, the flower is in full bloom then; chrysanthemum tea and wine are consumed; writers compose elegant poems about it and many localities host chrysanthemum exhibits.
• Eating Chongyang cakes (重阳糕, Zhongyang gao), which is made of chrysanthemum, jujubes, pecans and seasonal fruit.
• Family Gatherings: It’s a time for family reunions, especially to honor and spend time with elderly members. In 2013, the Chinese government designated it Senior’s Day and parties are widely held and trips organised for senior citizens. The festival is also called Chongyang Respect for the Elderly Festival重阳敬老节 (Zhongyang Jinglao Jie).
• Visiting and cleaning up graveyards, worshipping ancestors and praying for blessings – similar practices as for Qingming. 

The festival had its origins in the Warring States period, but the traditions of mountain hiking and drinking chrysanthemum wine date from the Han dynasty.

Significance of the Chrysanthemum 

The chrysanthemum is a unique symbol in Chinese culture.  Chrysanthemum, the plum blossom, orchid and bamboo have all been regarded as the four symbols of noble character since ancient times. It blooms in bright colors in the chill of autumn, at a time when most flowers wither. It is a symbol of strong vitality and tenacity in the eyes of scholars, and it has inspired poets to wax lyrical on it beauty.

Chongyang is also observed in Korea, where it is known as Jungyangjeol and in Japan, where

it is known as Chōyō and the Chrysanthemum Festival (but celebrated on 9^th September in the western calendar, not on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month).

Sources: https://www.tju.edu.cn; https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/the-double-ninth-festival.htmn/; chinadaily.com; CGTN; Wikipedia; ChatGPT

Over a long and illustrious career Professor Wang Gungwu, the doyen of China scholars and historians, has produced a large corpus of books, essays, articles, lectures and conference papers. Many of them have been published or reprinted over the years. But owing to Prof Wang’s prolificacy and many decades of research, teaching, writing and publishing, many of them have either become out-of-print or been overlooked for publication.

MPL has secured the agreement of Mr Chong Ton Sin, the proprietor of Gerakbudaya, to publish or reprint these works to make them available to students, researchers, scholars and academics to display the astonishing range of topics, fields and eras of Chinese history and Chinese studies that have occupied the attention of Prof Wang over nearly eight decades.

Prof Wang has expressed tacit support for the project, and we are in the process of identifying and locating the relevant materials and sources and establishing copyright ownership.

Danny Wong, Professor of History at Universiti Malaya, will serve as the project adviser as well as editor. The compilation will bear the joint imprint of Gerakbudaya and the Malaysian Public Library.

To celebrate the 160^th anniversary, the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple (仙四師爺廟) will hold the Qi An Da Jiao (Grand Prayer Session; 齐安大醮) ceremony and parade in Kuala Lumpur from 26 to 28 October 2024, marking a welcome return after 76 years.

Sin Sze Si Ya Temple is the oldest Daoist temple in Kuala Lumpur. It was established by Yap Ah Loy and dedicated to two deities who he believed guided him in the Selangor civil war.

Over the 3 days the public is welcome to visit the temple and participate in the ceremonies and donate items to pray for peace and prosperity.

The highlight of the event is the procession through Chinatown on Sunday 27 October from 8.00am to 10.00am, making a return after an absence of 63 years.

In May 2024, Puan Sri Chelsia Chan, a Hong Kong-based actress and singer-songwriter who subsequently married Tan Sri William Cheng, Chairman of Lion Group, produced her autobiography titled My Life, My Light in 3 slim volumes thematically named Food and Memories, Words of Wisdom and Mom’s Quotes.

Of bibliographic interest, the book subverts the conventional autobiography. At 96 pages, the longest volume is no. 3 (Mom’s Quotes), and all the volumes are minimalist in execution with little text but exquisitely laid out on high quality paper.

A welcome alternative to the art of autobiographical endeavour.