重陽 = 重九…?

重陽=重九…?

我們教導孩子數學，其中一個基本概念是單數、雙數。

其實，這並不是現代或西方傳來的數學概念。我們的先祖早就將單雙數分別歸類，只是當時的名稱和今天的不一樣。古時候，人們稱單數為「陽數」、雙數為「陰數」。早在我們最古老的「易經」之中已有記載。

So you have heard about YIN (陰) and YANG (陽).

Did you know that they also represent important maths ideas? One of such ideas is odd and even numbers.

九重天

在1-10之中所有的陽數 (單數) 之中，九最大，因此九也被稱為極數。天的最高處被稱為「九重天」。九月初九那天，日和月都是「九」，因此人們叫那天為「重九」(這裏的「重」是重複的意思)，又因為九是陽數，因此又稱為「重陽」。

重陽前後的時間，是秋收的季節。每年的秋收季節，祭天地總是一件重要的事。因此，早在戰國時期屈原已有記載關於重陽的詩辭了。後來到了三國時期，重陽慢慢成為了一個節日：重陽節，一直流傳到今日。

Since ancient time, the Chinese called even numbers YIN (陰), and odd numbers YANG (陽). Among all the numbers from 1 to 10, 9 is the largest YANG number. The highest level of the sky was referred to as 九重天 (/jiŭ chóng tiān/).

Because of the significance of 9, the 9th day of the 9th month of the lunar calendar is also named as 重九 (/chóng jiŭ/) which means “double 9”. Furthermore, as 9 is a YANG number, people also called this day 重陽. The name 重陽 was mentioned as early as around 350 BCE, in poems written by Qu-Yuan. (Qū-Yuán is the scholar and politician that people remember during every year’s Dragon Boat Festival).

As 重陽 usually falls upon the harvest season when people practice thanksgiving rituals to the gods, it has historically been an important day of the year. However, it was not until the time of the Three Kingdoms (around 190 CE – 280 CE) that it officially became a festival and was called 重陽節. We still celebrate this day every year.

中國老人節 Chinese Old People's Day

由於「九」是極數，又和「久」的發音一樣，人們往往以「九」寓意長遠、恆久；就像老人家要長久地健康、長壽、幸福。1989年，中國政府正式將每年的農曆九月初九定為「中國老人節」，推崇愛老、敬老。

In most Chinese dialects, the character 九 is pronounced the same as the character 久, which means “for a long, long time”. It is quite common for people to use this word to express wishes for their elders to live long, healthy and happy. In 1989, the Chinese government stipulated that 重陽節 will also be the “Old People’s Day” in China every year.

天長地久 Forever and ever

「九」字一向以來都得到中國人的喜愛：喜慶日子，尤其是日生或婚禮，人們送禮的金額都會含有「九」字；而廣東傳統，新娘的開門利是最好 $999999….. 只要新郎負擔得起，越多越好，天長地久嘛…哈哈~

Nine has always been a favourite number among the Chinese. Even nowadays, birthday or wedding presents often amounts to a number involving 9. In the Cantonese tradition, the groom has to pay Lai-See (利是) as a token for the bridesmaids to open the door so he can get to the bride. After rounds of negotiations, which involves the groom doing all kinds of tricks set out by the bridesmaids, it often amounts to $99999…. Depending on how much the groom can afford, the more 9 the merrier. After all, we all wish the couple stay together for a very long, long…. time.

「重」點學習 A study of 重

值得一提的是，重陽的「重」字是破音字。

Did you know that the character 重 is a heteronym, meaning it has more than one pronunciation?

粵語的發音有三種 The 3 pronunciations in Cantonese

音:/寵/ /cung5/，例如 e.g.：重量、舉重
音:/仲/ /zung6/，例如 e.g.：德高望重、重要
音:/蟲/ /cung4/，例如 e.g.：重複、重新做人

普通話的發音分別有 The 2 pronunciations in Putonghua

/chóng/: 重複、重出江湖
/zhòng/: 笨重、頭重腳輕

適逢佳節，不如就讓小朋友也一起來遊戲學習一下吧。

In celebrating the Chong Yang Festival, we have created some practice sheets. Please feel free to download the sheets for you and/or your kids to practice and learn.

下載練習 Free Download

以下的2頁練習大部份都在基礎漢字500課程範圍以內的喔。
Most of the words included in the practice sheets are within the Basic Chinese 500 course.

重陽 = 重九…?

重陽=重九…?