Chinese and Japanese citizens welcome autumn with Chrysanthemum Day. An auspicious flower, chrysanthemums are also known as one of the “Four Gentlemen of China” along with the plum blossom for spring, the orchid for summer and the bamboo plant for winter. Chinese speakers pronounce chrysanthemum: ju. It’s phonetically similar to the word jiu, which can mean either “long time” or the number nine. Chrysanthemum Day falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (usually 9/9 but sometimes 10/9), one of the luckiest days of the year. People also decorate their homes with chrysanthemums, symbolic of longevity, to honor their elders.

The Legend of Fei Ch’ang-Fang

According to myth, Fei Ch’ang-Fang, a clairvoyant of the Han dynasty, advised a follower to take his family far from their home to a distant hill on the 9^th day of the 9^th month. He told each family member to carry a red bag with a spray of dogwood inside. They wore the dogwood while climbing the hill and drank chrysanthemum wine at the top. Upon retuning home, they realized they’d averted great tragedy and the trip was a lucky excursion. Ever since, on Chrysanthemum Day, climbing hills, wearing dogwood sprays and drinking chrysanthemum wine invoke good luck and help people avoid misfortune. Today, people celebrate by visiting gardens, creating paintings and poetry about flowers, drinking chrysanthemum wine and eating rice cakes.

An Ancient Apothecary’s Flower

More than 3,000 varieties of chrysanthemums currently bloom in China. The Chrysanthemum Book of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) documents many of the earliest varieties, cultivated over hundreds of years. The flower has proven medicinal properties, and herbalists use chrysanthemum tea to treat a variety of ailments. To prepare the tea, they steep dried chrysanthemum blossoms in hot water. Then, they mix it with sugar or wolfberries.

A Stone With A Story

Chrysanthemum stones originate in China’s Hunan Province. Many thousands of years ago, these limestone specimens formed from volcanic activity. Over time, celestite crystals solidified to resemble chrysanthemums, the official symbol of the Imperial Family of China. The Hunan Dam flooded many areas where the stones were mined, limiting their availablity. Chrysanthemum stones possess deep symbolic meaning and are truly collectors’ items.

Many believe that having a Chrysanthemum stone helps one experience the passage of life in the same way the petals of a flower unfold. In this worldview, change is not unsettling or disruptive, but fluid and harmonious.

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