科举：唯有读书高 Education as a Social Ladder: Chinese Imperial Examinations

我们注意到中华文化是身份文化。孔子之前的封建制度就已经把人民分为六级：四个统治阶级的是高高在上的王族，接着是诸侯，大夫与士。最底层的是普通庶民与奴隶。

自古以来，强大的中国王朝通常是由一般平民出生的皇帝靠着有组织的军队推翻前朝而组成。但是，一旦控制了国家，这些皇帝立刻使体会到真正的治理需要上万的官僚。科举制度的成立就是为了制造这一群人。科举制度是中国独有的任人唯贤的策略，从605年隋朝开始，直到1905年清末废除为止，共有大约1300年的历史。

科举的基本目的是要以个人的能力而不是特别的或嫡传的因素来取士。历史上流传不少书生如何苦读，最终考取到功名而获得官职的故事。这些故事一代传一代，鼓舞了书生勤力苦读。读书于是成了一种传统。

所以自古以来， 华人把教育当成是提升社会地位的梯子。宋朝（960-1279）汪洙著名的《神 童 诗》就说“天子重英豪，文章教尔曹；万般皆下品，惟有读书高。”这首诗句成为千年中国人的金科玉律。它鼓励人们读书。

宋朝另外一首鼓励人们读书的诗说，“富家不用買良田，書中自有千鍾粟；安居不必架高堂，書中自有黃金屋；娶妻莫恨無良媒，書中自有顏如玉。”意思是好好地读书就能给你带来丰足的食物、完美的屋子与漂亮的妻子。

科举造就了士的阶级。非贵族或商家的读书人渐渐成为改变社会与推翻封建贵族的主力。这些读书人协助与维持了中国封建社会，与农业社会及统一皇族政权共存长达两千年之久。

.

.

We noted that Chinese culture is the ‘Status Culture’. In pre-Confucian China, the feudal system divided the population into 6 classes. Four noble classes are the king at the top, followed by the dukes, then the great men and finally the scholars. Below the noble classes were commoners and slaves.

Since the ancient time, the might of China was established militarily, often by emperors from humble origins who had toppled existing dynasties. However, once in control, these emperors soon realized that the actual governance of China would require the administrative services of thousands of bureaucrats. The imperial examination system was thus introduced as a means for creating such a body of men. The Imperial Examination System was a unique a meritocratic strategy in China that lasted for 1300 years, from its founding during the Sui Dynasty in 605 to its abolition near the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1905.

The fundamental justification for the Chinese Imperial Exams was that appointees to civil service positions were not to be chosen through special or inherited privilege, but through an individual's own abilities. There were numerous stories about how the scholars worked very, very hard, and finally passed the examination and succeeded in getting official positions. These stories encouraged generations of generations of youth in China to study hard, making it into a tradition.

It is therefore natural that Chinese has regarded education as a ladder of social ascendancy since ancient time. The most famous saying about "study" in China is from a poem in Song Dynasty (960-1279) by Wang Zhu, literarily translated as "The emperor values heroes, book can teach you (how to be). Everything else is low-grade, only study is above all." This poem has been considered as the golden rule in China for thousands of years. It encourages people to study.

There is also a poem persuading people to study from the Song Dynasty that says, "There is no need for the rich to buy land (to produce food), as plenty of food can be found in books. There is no need to invest in building a good house, as golden house can be found in books. There is no need to worry that no matchmaker is willing to introduce you a wife, as pretty girls can be found in books." It implies that studying can make you have enough to eat, a fancy house, and a beautiful woman.

It was the imperial examination system that created the scholar class. The scholars who were neither nobles nor merchants gradually became the main force of transforming society and uprooting the feudal nobles. These scholars helped to build and maintain a Chinese feudal society that lasted for 2000 years and co-existed with agricultural economy and unified royal power polity.

身份与平等 Status and Equality

通常说，华人的文化是‘身份文化’，而西方文化是‘平等文化’。

华人社会就基于阶层身份。这真情况有儒家思想的背景，所以华人把阶层结构当成是自然而然的事，自然如此。作为一个孩子，你生来就自然的有了阶层。父母有发言的权力，很自然地应用于孩子身上，就算是孩子已经长大成人。

就此而言，‘权威’一词有不同的理解。它并不是一个负面的名词，反而与正面的素质，如关怀、仁慈、责任、成熟，等联系。长者与父母受尊敬，以长辈为尊的原则控制了中国（包括东亚）人的生命与工作环境。既然国家与社会被看成是个大家庭，身份就随时随地变成很重要（名片就说明了身份，让你自我调整行为）。
一般上，华人领袖被赋予权力来决定什么是对族群与其成员最有利。事实上，他们的权力来自他们声称他们所拥有的高人一等的道德洞察力与政治智慧、他们对善政的知识。

在西方，看来最有名的语录是：‘人人生而平等。’作为政治的原则，平等表明在法律之下，没有一群的公民拥有特别的待遇。这种法律本身被视为治理的执行机制之一。就是说，不管哪一种信仰、族群与身份，这个法律都有效，没有一个人在法律之上。就算是在家庭里，父母与孩子是平等的。华人对家庭的每个成员有相同的权利的理念是不能理解的。

西方人却认为这些是这不证自明的真理，他们的创造者给予不可夺取的权利，这些权利还包括了生命、自由与快乐的追求。

.

It has often been said that the Chinese culture is a ‘status culture’ and the Western culture is an ‘equality culture’.

The Chinese society is a society which is based on hierarchical conditions. The background is the Confucian family thinking, that's why in China hierarchical structures are usually regarded as natural, as naturally given. As child you are namely born into a natural hierarchy. Parents have the saying, and they keep it towards their children, even though these grow up.

The term 'authority' has in this respect a different rank. It is not associated with something negative but with positive qualities, such as care, kindness, responsibility, maturity. Elders / parents are respected and the principle of seniority controls the life and working sphere of China (and generally in Eastern Asia). And since state and society are seen like a family, it is always and everywhere the respective status that matters (visiting-cards inform about it and let you accordingly adapt your behaviour).

Chinese leaders are normally credited with the ability to determine what is in the best interests of society and its members. Indeed, much of their authority to rule is based on their claim to superior ethical insight and political wisdom, their knowledge of the best way to govern. Even in a family, parents and children are equal. The Chinese will never understand this mentality of equal rights of family members.

In the West, arguably the most well known quotation is ‘All men are created equal’. Equality as a political principle implies that there is no class of citizens with a right to more favourable treatment under the law, which itself is seen as the enforcement arm of governance. In other words, it means that regardless of faith, creed and status all laws should apply equally to everyone and no-one was above the law.

But the Westerners hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

总统的客人 All The President's Guests

在美国，一对配偶在奥巴马总统为招待印度总理曼莫汉所设的白宫第一次国宴上，由于是不速之客而成为媒体宣传的对象。这对40多岁的配偶，塔里克与米雪，被他们的朋友形容为爱好喜乐、不畏惧追求成为众人关注的焦点、不回避扮演认识或被有所裨益的人认识的殷勤有礼的情侣。

白宫所发布的相片显示奥巴马总统迎接这对配偶。负责保护总统与高官安全的部门正在全面检讨有没有安全漏洞，虽然这对配偶申诉这项调查令他们为难，因为他们相信他们是真的被邀请的客人。

看来这对配偶相当享受公众的注意。在‘面簿’(Facebook) 上出现了不少他们与晚宴贵宾所拍的照片，包括与副总统拜登、华盛顿市长奋题、新闻主播库丽、白宫办公厅主任伊曼纽尔所拍的照片。

在中国，另一个人在十一月十六日会见总统奥巴马是，也得到了很多的媒体宣传。和这对配偶不同的是，她是为了一件外套。

美国总统访问上海与年轻人的对话会上，坐在总统背后的上海交通大学学生王紫菲被人拍到了相片。

她穿着一件黑衣加上红色的外套。她被拍到脱掉外套。网上论坛大谈她的美丽与沉着，网民详细介绍了她的容貌与穿衣品味。但是，王紫菲看来不大情愿成名。她在她的博客上说：‘希望快快恢复平静。希望此事过后我能继续做简简单单的自己。’

.

.

In USA, a couple who attended President Barack Obama’s first White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 24 Nov, has received a lot of publicity for being uninvited guests. The couple, Mr Tareq and his wife Michaele, who are in their 40s, were described by their friends as fun-loving and unabashed about pursuing the spot-light and playing debonair couple who know and are known by all right people.

A photo released by the White House has shown President Obama greeting the couple. The agency charged with protecting the president and other high-level officials is conducting a comprehensive review of the security breach, although the couple complained that the investigation was hard on them because they believed that they really were invited guests.

The couple seems to have enjoyed the publicity. A dozen pictures posted on Facebook appear to show the couple posing with dinner guests including Vice President Joe Biden, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, CBS News anchor Katie Couric, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

In China, another person who met President Obama on 16 Nov is also getting a lot of publicity, but unlike the couple, it’s about the coat she wore.

Shanghai’s Jiaotong University student Wang Zifei was snapped by photographers sitting behind the US President when he met Chinese young citizens at a town-hall style forum, while on his visit to Shanghai.

Clad in a black dress and red coat, she was photographed taking off her coat. Online forums have been gushing over her beauty and poise, with netizens describing in details her look and dress sense. Ms Wang, however, appears to be a reluctant celebrity. She said on her blog, ‘I’m hoping to quickly restore it to normal. I hope after all this, I can continue to be my simple self.’

書法治療 Calligraphy Therapy

.
据说，书法不但是一门高雅的艺术，练习书法还可以修身养性，延年益寿。
香港的一项研究看来好像证明这个观点是正确的。

It is said that Chinese calligraphy is not only a beautiful art, its practice is also an effective way to enjoy healthy life and longevity.

A study in Hong Kong seems to prove the above observation is correct.

欢迎，毛巴马同志！Welcome, Comrade Maobama!

美国总统奥巴马于十一月十五日至十七日访问中国。这次历史性的访问是亚洲八日访问中的一站。这也是这位总统第一次访问中国。

据报道，中国人，尤其是年轻人对他的印象很不错，因为他们期望他会维持对中国的温和政策。数据显示，在网民当中，奥巴马真的很受欢迎。在中国的谷歌网站，以‘奥巴马’来搜寻，所得到的搜寻结果超过七百八十万次，以此相比，‘胡锦涛’的搜寻结果少过四百万次。

奥巴马的受欢迎度也可以从以‘毛巴马’或‘奥巴毛’为标贴的产品在中国成为热门产品的这个事实看出来。这个设计是以奥巴马的脸带上毛主席的红卫兵帽和服装。这些展品，尤其是T-衬衫，自今年九月以来，在北京著名旅游区的礼品店大受欢迎。

奥巴马这次北京之行已经带来了‘毛巴马’与‘奥巴毛’旋风，虽然传说中国政府禁止这些产品在奥巴马总统访问中国期间售卖，以免得罪美国总统或导致难堪。

听到一个店员说：‘大多数中国人喜欢奥巴马。我觉得他是个好人，很幽默。况且，他是美国首个黑人总统。’

欢迎，毛巴马同志，您来到一个有创意的资本主义中国。

.

.

U.S. President Barack Obama visited China from 15 to 17 Nov. This historic three-day visit to China was part of an eight-day tour of Asia. It was the president's first trip to China.

It was reported that the Chinese people, especially young people’s impression of him was quite good, as it is expected that he would maintain a moderate policy toward China. Statistics shows that Obama is indeed popular among the netizens in China. A search for Obama on the Google China Web site will result in more than 7.8 million entries as compared to less than four million entries for President Hu.

Obama's popularity in China is also evidenced by the fact that ‘MaoBama’ or ‘ObaMao’ labelled products are fast becoming a hot commodity in China. The design is President Barack Obama’s face dressed in Chair Mao’s Red Guards’ cap and uniform. The products, especially the T-shirt, were selling like hot cakes at small souvenir shops in famous tourist areas in Beijing since September 2009.

Obama's visit to Beijing has already started a ‘MaoBama’ and ‘ObaMao’ cyclone, although it was reported that the Chinese government banned the products during Obama’s presidential visit in China for fear of offending the U. S. President and causing embarrassment.

A shopkeeper was heard saying, ‘Most Chinese people like Obama. I feel he is a very good man, and humorous. Also, he is the first African American president.’

Welcome, comrade Maobama, to the creative capitalist China.

老子：负阴抱阳 Laozi: Yin and Yang as Vital Forces

老子认为‘道’是所有个别原理中的最高原理。至今，华人心理文化的深层结构中还可以寻找到这种道的功能的踪迹与影响。老子说：

‘道生一， 一生二，二生三，三生万物。

万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和。’

一是指天与地最终来源的整体。二是指阴与阳这两种主要力量。三是指阴阳相交之后所形成的调和之气。

气有三种。第一种阴气强于阳气，而第二种气刚好相反，阳气压倒阴气。第三种是调和之气，阴阳调和而形成之气。

在道与阴阳的概念中含有自然的概念。自然有着自然而然之意，也有自发性和自我显露的意思。自然就是‘自我如此’或‘我或其他物体之本然’。这个概念把世间自然形态与人类在其间的活动联系起来。自然并不把自然规律当成严谨而先决来看待，而是当成自然运作。

自然的秩序被看成是无目的、已经决定了的，因为自然就是物体本来的状态，而不是与某种神灵的关系。这就给予由个别物体构成的自然世界天生的价值。

.

Lao Zi thinks that the Dao is the supreme principle of all individual principles. The function of the Dao in general can still find its traces and influences deep in the psycho-cultural structure of the Chinese people today. He says:

‘The Dao produces the One. The One turns into Two. The Two gives rise to the Three. The Three brings forth the myriad of things.

The myriad things contain Yin and Yan as vital forces, which achieve harmony through their interactions.’

The One refers to the Whole as the ultimate origin of heaven and earth. The Two refers to two vital forces known as Yin and Yang. The Three is usually supposed to be a harmonised type of Qi which results from the interactions between Yin and Yang.

There are three type of Qi. The first type of Yin Qi overwhelms the Yang Qi, whereas the opposite happens in the second type of Yang Qi, i.e. Yang Qi overwhelms Yin Qi. The third type of Qi is a well-balanced one, both the Yin Qi and Yang Qi form into a harmonious realm.

In the ideas of the dao, the One, and Yinyang lies the idea of Ziran, most often translated as ‘naturalness’, but also containing the ideas of spontaneity and self-unfolding. Ziran basically means ‘self-so’ or ‘the self (or any other object) as it is naturally.’ This concept is most often associated with the natural ways in which the world and the people within it move. Ziran is considered not a law in the strict and determinative sense, but as the way things operate naturally.

This natural order is to be considered non-teleological and determined, for Ziran is the way things are in and of themselves, not as they are in relationship to something divine beyond themselves. This gives inherent worth to the cosmos as they conform to the natural ways in which they are constituted.

子曰：一阴一阳之谓道 Confucius Said: The Successive Movement of the Inactive Yin and Active Yang….

我们可以很肯定地说阴阳概念是中国伟大哲理流派之一儒学的意识基础。

阴阳家虽然可能是最先讲述阴阳关心，而《道德经》是最先明确地说明道与阴阳协调的哲学阐述。

可是在中国历史里，并没有有关孔子明确阐述阴阳学说的记录，就算是《论语》里也没有提到阴阳。

最早采用道家意识形态的儒家学者可能是荀子（公元前312–230），因为他以天地与阴阳的合一为宇宙之开始。荀子以道家的最高与永恒的道之理来融入儒家所关心的政治行动与伦理教化。

同时期的其他学者亦通过《易经•十翼》来解释阴阳思想。就如庄子所说，‘《易》以道阴阳’，《易经》基本上是以阴阳为基础的二元系统。

虽然我们并不知道《易经•十翼》的作者是谁，《易经》还是被认为是儒学的代表作。事实上，它一直被看作是五经之首。历来，《易经》都被用来理解儒家伦理与哲学学说的途径。

所以，在《易经》中，孔子还是被引用来子曰：‘一阴一阳之谓道。’

.

One may confidently say that the concept of yinyang forms the metaphysical foundation for Confucianism, one of the great philosophical schools of China.

While the philosophers of the Yinyang School may be the ones who first started to elaborate on the yinyang relationships, the first philosophical work which spoke explicitly about Dao and the harmony between yin and yang was the Daode Jing.

However, there is no written record in Chinese history to show that Confucius had elaborated in certain terms on yinyang, and even in the Analects of Confucius there is no mention of yinyang.

Probably the first known Confucian to adopt Daoist metaphysics was Xunzi (312–230 BC), as he made the unity of nature (tiandi) and yinyang the origin of the universe. Xunzi amalgamated the Daoist metaphysics of a supreme and constant rule of Dao with his Confucian concern for political action and ethical education.

Other intellectuals of this period such as the authors of the Ten Appendixes to the Yijing did much the same thing. As observed by Zhuangzi, ‘The aim of Yijing is to explain yin and yang’, at the root of the Yijing is the binary system known as yin and yang.

While the actual authors of the Ten Appendixes of Yijing were not known, Yijing has been regarded as the representative work of Confucianism. In fact, the Yijing is considered to be the best of the five classics of Confucianism. Historically, the Yijing has been viewed through the lens of Confucian ethical and philosophical commentary.

Therefore one can always quote Confucius to have said in Yijing, ‘The successive movement of the inactive yin and active yang operations constitutes what is called the Dao.’

华人的阴阳概念 The Chinese yinyang Concept

阴阳概念可以说是华人的基本世界观。

阴与阳代表宇宙所能找到的所有的对立事务的原则。阳代表雄、太阳、创造、热、光、天、支配等理则，阴代表雌、月亮、完成、冷、暗、地、顺从等理则。

天以阳理创造事物之理念，地以阴理产生事物之形态，天以阳理造之，地以阴理成之，以此类之。

阴中生阳与阳中生阴的过程周期性与不断地发生，以致没有一种理则能压倒或支配另一种理则。我们所体验到的对立 -- 健康与病痛、富贵与贫穷、权利与顺从 -- 都可以一种理则暂时支配另一理则作为参照来加以解释。既然没有一种理则可以永远占有支配地位，就是说所有的状况都会变换为其对立的状况。

阴与阳的周期性，宇宙中对立力量的转变，就意识着几样东西：

第一，所有事物周期性地逆转为他们的对立事务；第二，所有的现象都具有其对立现象的种子，就是说，病痛含有潜在的健康，健康潜伏着病痛，富贵会导致贫困，等等；第三，由于一个理则会导致另一个理则，虽然对立理则并没有显现，没有一种现象可以避免对立现象。一个人不可能永远健康，因为健康本身就含有其对立的理则，那就是病痛。

所以，阴阳学说中的各种力量并不是敌对的关系。了解这点是很重要的。

它和西方的‘二元论’是不同的。‘二元论’认为世界是由本质上分开的与敌对的力量所构成，例如：真与假、好与坏。

.

The concept of yin and yang is often said to be fundamental to the Chinese view of the world.

The yin and yang represent all the opposite principles one finds in the universe. Under yang are the principles of maleness, the sun, creation, heat, light, heaven, dominance, and so on, and under yin are the principles of femaleness, the moon, completion, cold, darkness, material forms, submission, and so on.

Heaven creates the ideas of things under yang, the earth produces their material forms under yin, and vice versa; creation occurs under the principle of yang, the completion of the created thing occurs under yin, and vice versa, and so on.

This production of yin from yang and yang from yin occurs cyclically and constantly, so that no one principle continually dominates the other or determines the other. All opposites that one experiences - health and sickness, wealth and poverty, power and submission - can be explained in reference to the temporary dominance of one principle over the other. Since no one principle dominates eternally, that means that all conditions are subject to change into their opposites.

This cyclical nature of yin and yang, the opposing forces of change in the universe, mean several things.

First, all phenomena change into their opposites in an eternal cycle of reversal. Second, all phenomena have within them the seeds of their opposite state, that is, sickness has the seeds of health, health contains the seeds of sickness, wealth contains the seeds of poverty, etc. Third, even though an opposite may not be seen to be present, since one principle produces the other, no phenomenon is completely devoid of its opposite state. One is never really healthy since health contains the principle of its opposite, sickness.

It is therefore essential to understand that the nature of such forces in yin-yang thought is not an antagonistic relationship.

It is different from the western ‘dualism’, an assertion that the world is comprised of forces that are intrinsically separate and hostile, like ‘truth and falsehood’, or ‘good and evil’.

二元对立与二元论 Binary Opposition and Dualism

二元对立是用来表示一对相反的东西。在西方，这个观念可以追溯到西方传统信念，认为现实的本质是二元的。希腊哲学家柏拉图 (公元前429-347) 的哲学可能是最早的有系统的二元概念。

在柏拉图的哲学中，存在着的最终的二元是永恒存在与变易、心与物、物体与灵魂。柏拉图相信真正的本质不是物体而是理念，物体只是理念的非完美摹本。这些理念不但构成世界，也使这个世界可被理解。因为理念是理解的根据，学者在理解的过程中一定要了解理念。

笛卡尔开始了现代版的二元论。笛卡尔相信存在着两种物质：物体或身体的主要性质是空间的伸延，而心灵的主要性质是思考。笛卡尔声称思考的心灵与伸延的身体分开存在。所以，心灵的本质是思想，是与身体不同的物质。

笛卡尔的二元论使他很难阐述心物如何关联及互相沟通。以柏拉图而言，他认为灵魂在持续的轮回或转生的过程中先存在于物体，并于物体消灭后继续存在。对笛卡尔来说，心灵如何与物体相互联系的问题实际上无法解决，因为他假设心物代表两种不同的物质。

两种对立力量间的挣扎看来是西方社会的基本错觉。在西方历史里的矛盾纠纷中，它一直被用来当作消灭‘他者’的凭据。

我们可以这么说，如果西方今日用相同的托词来解决世界纠纷，这个世界会变得更加危险。

.

Binary opposition is a term used to mean a pair of opposites. In the West, the idea can be traced to the traditional believe in western philosophy that reality is essentially dual in nature. Probably the earliest systematic concept of dualism stems from the philosophy of the Greek philosopher Plato (429-347 BC).

In Plato’s philosophy there is an ultimate dualism of being and becoming, of ideas and matter, of body and soul. Plato believed that the true substances are not physical bodies, but the eternal Forms of which bodies are imperfect copies. These Forms not only make the world possible, they also make it intelligible. Because Forms are the grounds of intelligibility, they are what the intellect must grasp in the process of understanding.

Descartes originated the more modern versions of dualism. Descartes believed that there were two different kinds of substance: matter or body, of which the essential property is that it is spatially extended; and mind, of which the essential property is that it thinks. Descartes argues that the mind, a thinking thing, can exist apart from its extended body. And therefore, the mind is a substance distinct from the body, a substance whose essence is thought.

Descartes’ dualism made it difficult for him to describe how the body and mind could relate and interact upon each other. In the case of Plato, he argued that the soul both pre-existed and survived the body, going through a continual process of reincarnation or "transmigration". For Descartes, the question of how the mind interacts with the body was virtually unsolvable because he assumed that mind and body represent two distinct substances.

The struggle between the two competing forces seems to be the standard delusion of the Western society and it has been used as the justification for the demonization of the "other" in almost all conflicts in their history.

One can assume that the world is getting more dangerous if the West today use the same justification to resolve war conflicts.

王维《九月九日忆山东兄弟》 Wong Wei: On the Ninth Day of the Ninth Lunar Month Thinking of my Brothers in Shandong

昨天（阳历十月二十六日）是农历九月九日。每年这一天，全世界的华人都在庆祝传统的重阳节。在这个节日，人们喜欢登高，所以重阳节又叫登高节。

很久很久以前，王维 (701-761) 就在这一天写了一首诗《九月九日忆山东兄弟》，立刻成为经典之作而传播全中国。

王维被认为是唐朝三大诗人之一，与杜甫及李白同列。虽然他没有杜甫的人工精致，也没有李白般的天才，可是他有丰富的想象力。他的诗歌常常包含奇妙的玄学意味，显示他对佛学的长期经营。

在唐代，重阳节登高是一种流行的风俗。对许多人来说，这是冬季来临前最后的一次户外活动。这个风俗演变到目前的形式，人们把登高当着是一种运动，和欣赏秋天美景。

对王维而言，登高远眺，是希望能够看到住在远方的兄弟与亲友。但是，他看不到他们，所以兴叹：

独在异乡为异客，

每逢佳节倍思亲。

遥知兄弟登高处，

遍插茱萸少一人。

.

Yesterday (26 Oct 09) was the 9th day of the 9th lunar month. Every year, Chinese all over the world celebrate the traditional Chongyang Festival on this day. People like to climb mountains on this festival, so Chongyang Festival is also called “Mountain-climbing Festival”.

It was also on this day a long, long time ago, Wang Wei (701-761) wrote a poem ‘On the Ninth Day of the Ninth Lunar Month Thinking of my Brothers in Shandong’ which became an instant classic and spread all over China.

Wang Wei is sometimes classed as one of the three greatest poets of the Tang dynasty, along with Du Fu and Li Bai. While he was neither as brilliant a craftsman as Du Fu nor as exuberant a genius as Li Bai, he excelled in imagery, and his poems often hold a subtle metaphysical flavour testifying to his long study of Buddhism.

Mountain climbing was a popular custom on Chongyang Festival during the Tang Dynasty. For many, it was the last outing of the year before the onset of winter. The custom evolved into its present form, when people go climbing to get some exercise as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.

For Wang Wei, it was his hope that by climbing to the mountain top and looking far into the distance, he could see his brothers and other relatives who lived far away. But he could not, therefore he sighed:

All alone as a stranger in a strange land,

I am twice as homesick on this day.

When brothers carry dogwood up the mountain,

Each of them a branch, and mine missing.