The Ninth Month, Chôyô by Keisai Eisen
The double ninth festival or chrysanthemum festival on the significant ninth day of the ninth month all throughout Asia. Nine has a lot of yang in it, so it’s a potentially dangerous date. To protect against evil it has become a custom to drink wine with chrysanthemum petals submerged in it.
protection –
floating in my wine
chrysanthemum
Since it occurs during autumn it has become a festival to celebrate ancestors. Burning incense and eating suckling pigs is a tradition in part of China. A very famous Chinese poem by Wang Wei from the Tang dynasty reads:
On the ninth day of the ninth month, I remember my brothers from Shan Dong.
As a lonely stranger in a foreign land,
At every holiday my homesickness increases.
Far away, I know my brothers have reached the peak;
They are planting flowers, but one is not present.
It has become more and more associated with the flower and today one can see wonderful events associated with the flowers and also as a harvest festival.
chrysanthemums
adorns her silk kimono
double ninth
Linked to Carpe Diem
—
September 24, 2013
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Beautiful post! I always learn so much from your posts! And enjoy your poetry too!
Thank you… I thought I would research a little for once.
For once!! You always have a wealth of information!
I love your lovely story!
Chrysanthemum
really nice, Bjorn
well done
Cheers!
JzB
I love the first one especially. And I agree with wabi – I love all the information and the bonus poem you included.
Beautiful haibun, and very interesting, too.
Shall we wait for her kimono petals to fall?
A Bunch Of Chrysanthemum
Protection in a glass…I like that.
White Chrysanthemum Petals
beautiful haiku and a didactic post. thanks!
Never liked the number nine–but never knew why. Fear, b/c of its ying vibrations. Also it alwys seems to block my notions of evenness of 8 and 10. Thanks for the information…if learning had always been this easy, I might have stayed awake during trig and physics–
Ha, but with wine and chrysanthemum leaves it might be easier to cope.
the first one on protection in the wine is very cool….tight and succinct…the second on missing your family, i have been there and felt that—not easy….
I loved the nines as well so used September. Beautiful use of the numerical significance.