Day of the Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum courtesy of Wikipedia

Chrysanthemum courtesy of Wikipedia

Of the five seasonal holidays in Japan,1 or sekku (節句) that existed since antiquity, the Day of the Chrysanthemum is the last and in some ways the least understood. The festival was known as the kiku no sekku (菊の節句) or Chrysanthemum festival in ancient times, and has its roots in Chinese culture (which still observes the festival to this day) as the ninth day of the ninth month. In the modern calendar, the lunar cycle was replaced with a Western calendar, and thus the festival is observed on September 9th of each year.

This festival, according to my good ol’ cultural guidebook, derives from two aspects. First, the number “9″ in Chinese numerology is considered the biggest of the “yang” numbers (in yin-yang numerology), so two 9′s was “double-yang” and thus especially auspicious. It’s also a homophone. In Japanese, 9 and 9 are read as kyūkyū (九九), but it also sounds like “enduring peace” (久久).2 Second, chrysanthemums tend to bloom around this time, and a tradition developed around it. In this tradition, people wipe their skin with a clean cloth dampened with evening dew from a chrysanthemum as a way to stay young.

This tradition of gathering the dew from a Chrysanthemum can be found even as far back as the 11th century in Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book:

[7] … It’s charming when a light rain begins to fall around daybreak on the ninth day of the ninth month, and there should be plenty of dew on the chrysanthemums, so that the cotton wadding that covers them is thoroughly wet, and it brings out the flowers’ scent that imbues it.

Among other places in her diary. Also, in Robert Borgen’s book on the life if Sugawara no Michizane, there’s a brief note on page 258 about the Day of the Chrysanthemum being a day of poetry and parties at the Court too, so it probably was a lovely time to be there. Nowadays, the Day of the Chrysanthemum is probably the least famous of the five festivals, but it still has deep roots in Japanese culture as well as Chinese culture. The Chrysanthemum is also the symbol of the Imperial Family too. So, if you’re a fan of chrysanthemums, poetry, or if you want to try collecting the dew, this day is for you. :)

Enjoy!

1 The other four being:

  1. Nanakusa (Jan. 7), the 7 Grasses Festival
  2. Girl’s Day (Mar. 3)
  3. Boy’s Day (May 5)
  4. Tanabata (July 7)

Notice a trend on the dates too: 3/3, 5/5 and 7/7.

2 It also sounds to me like the modern Japanese word kyūkyūsha (救急車), or “ambulance”, but of course they didn’t have those in ancient times. ;) Also, 九 sounds like ku which is a homophone for 苦 or “suffering”, hence it is usually a bad luck number in Chinese culture as with 4 (四) which also is a homophone for death (死). Numerology in general seems very ad hoc to me, and inconsistent. This is why superstition can be so troublesome sometimes.


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