農歷九月初九，兩陽相重，故叫“重陽”，重陽節又是“老人節”。“九月重陽，金風送爽”，重陽自然是登高遠眺的好時節，在這一天，人們佩帶茱萸，攜酒登山，暢游歡飲。當然，“重陽登山”不僅僅是因為秋高氣爽的好天氣，做為重陽節一大重要習俗，“登山”源于一個“為民除害”的民間傳說。關于這個因“民間英雄”而興起的節日，雖然大部分人都可用漢語來講述，但若想把它送出國門之外，講給老外聽，似乎還是難了那么一點點。來吧，閱讀一下以下文字，相信會對您有所幫助。 溫馨提示：10月30日“重陽”佳節

爛漫菊花

The 9th day of September in the lunar calendar is "the Chinese Chong Yang Festival" and a happy occasion in autumn. According to the traditional theory of "Yin" and "Yang", both the 9th month and the 9th day of the month belong to "Yang", which means positive andmasculine, and "Chong" means double, thus it is called "Chong Yang". 

People often gather for a party, appreciatechrysanthemums, pin the leaves of Cornus on clothes. And the custom of climbing mountains and eating a special cake also features the day.

This custom of climbing mountains can be dated back as early as West Han Dynasty. Some old travel notes have it that, people climbed to mountain peaks not only for beautiful scenes and poetic inspiration, but also the avoidance of evil spirits and disasters.

This practice came from an ancient folktale. It is said long ago there appeared a devil ofplaguein the Ruhe River. People lay down and died wherever it came up. A boy named Heng Jing swore to help his neighbors and fellow people to get rid of it. He visited many famous mountains to seek a powerful master. Finally an old Taoist took him in and taught him how to defeat the devil. Heng Jing put his whole heart into study and practice.

One day, the Taoist called him up and said, 'Heng Jing, tomorrow is the 9th day of September and the devil will reappear. It is time for you to go home and stop the devil.' The master also gave him a pack of leaves of Cornus and a jar of liquor soaked with chrysanthemums. Riding a crane, Heng Jing went a great distance back home in a day. As instructed by his master, he told his fellow villagers to climb up the nearby mountain with a Cornus leaf pinned on their clothes and a glass of chrysanthemum liquor in hand.

When the devil of plague came up from under the water, it got dizzy by the scent of Cornus and chrysanthemums. Heng Jing fought with his master's sword and killed the devil in a few rounds. People held parties, drank chrysanthemum liquor to celebrate it. And the next year, the custom of mountain climbing became popular among the villagers.

In the golden September, chrysanthemum blooms, reminding people of the folktale. And later a special cake with dates, chestnuts and meat was made to add more festivity to the special day.

（China Online） 

Vocabulary:

Masculine: 有男子氣的；陽性的 Chrysanthemum: 菊花 Plague: 瘟疫 （東華大學傅麗莉供稿　英語點津陳蓓編輯）