数字九在古代被认为是“阳数”，月份九和日子九相重合，便有了“重阳”这层意思。古时民间在重阳节有登高祈福、秋游赏菊、佩插茱萸等习俗，现代社会中，重阳节又有了敬老感恩的含义。
佳节吟诗是中国人独享的乐趣。唐代诗人王维17 岁时所作的《九月九日忆山东兄弟》是非常有名的一首作品，写到了重阳节插茱萸的场景和思乡怀亲之情。清代的张谦宜在《茧斋诗谈》里评价这首诗：“不说我想他，却说他想我，加一倍凄凉。”九月九日忆山东兄弟
王维（唐）
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。
Thinking of my Brothers on Mountain Climbing Day
（许渊冲译）
Alone, a lonely stranger in a foreign land,
I doubly pine for kinsfolk on a holiday.
I know my brothers would, with dogwood spray in hand,
Climb up mountain and miss me so far away.
提及重阳节的其中一个主题——感恩与敬老，开国元勋朱德发表在《解放日报》上的《母亲的回忆》就表达了自己对妈妈的思念和敬爱。艰苦的环境里，造就的是逆境中奋斗的品格。
母亲是个“好劳动”。从我能记忆时起，总是天不亮就起床。全家二十多口人，妇女们轮班煮饭，轮到就煮一年。母亲把饭煮了，还要种田种菜，喂猪养蚕，纺棉花。因为她身材高大结实，还能挑水挑粪。
Mother was a hard-working woman. As far as I can remember, she would always get up before daybreak. In our household of more than 20 members, all women would take turns to do cooking for one year. Apart from cooking, mother did farming, planted vegetables, fed pigs, raised silkworms and spinned cotton into yarn. Tall and of strong build, she could carry two buckets of water or manure on a shoulder pole.
朱德认为，自己的无畏精神是妈妈教给他的，强健的身体也是母亲赋予他的。
我应该感谢母亲，她教给我与困难作斗争的经验，我在家庭生活中已经饱尝艰苦，这使我在三十多年的军事生活和革命生活中，再没有感到困难和被困难吓倒。母亲又给我一个强健的身体和一个劳动的习惯，使我从来没有感到过劳累。
I owe mother a debt of gratitude because she taught me how to cope with the numerous difficulties that I ran into at home so that later during my over 30 years of military and revolutionary life I have never bowed down to any difficulty. She also bequeathed me a strong constitution as well as a strong inclination for labour so that I have been able to work untiringly.
重阳节的另一部分活动就是赏秋了。谈秋天的现代作品里，郁达夫的《故都的秋》可能是最为人熟知的一个。如果你现在在北京，听到郁达夫的描述，可能会与数十年前的人通感。
还有秋雨哩，北方的秋雨，也似乎比南方的下得奇，下得有味，下得更像样。As for autumn rains in the North, they also seem to differ from those in the South, being more appealing, more temperate.在灰沉沉的天底下，忽而来一阵凉风，便息列索落地下起雨来了。一层雨过，云渐渐地卷向了西去，天又青了，太阳又露出脸来了；著着很厚的青布单衣或夹袄的都市闲人，咬着烟管，在雨后的斜桥影里，上桥头树底下去一立，遇见熟人，便会用了缓慢悠闲的声调，微叹着互答着说：A sudden gust of cool wind under the slaty sky, and raindrops will start pitter-pattering. Soon when the rain is over, the clouds begin gradually to roll towards the west and the sun comes out in the blue sky. Some idle townsfolk, wearing lined or unlined clothing made of thick cloth, will come out pipe in mouth and, loitering under a tree by the end of a bridge, exchange leisurely conversation with acquaintances with a slight touch of regret at the passing of time:'Oh, real nice and cool—''Sure! Getting cooler with each autumn shower!'泡一壶热茶，赏秋赏菊，为远方的老人致去电话。秋色将尽，快去抓住秋天的尾巴吧。
kinsfolk [ˈkɪnzfoʊk] n. （统称个人的）亲戚，亲属
dogwood [ˈdɔːɡwʊd] n. 山茱萸科梾木属梾木spray [spreɪ] n. （用作装饰的）小树枝，小花枝manure [məˈnjʊə(r)] n. 粪肥；肥料bequeath [bɪˈkwiːð] v. （在遗嘱中）把…遗赠给constitution [ˌkɒnstɪˈtjuːʃn] n. 身体素质；体格slaty [ˈsleɪti] adj. 深灰色的；石板色的townsfolk [taʊnzfoʊk] n. 市民；镇民
来源：China Daily Wikipedia 《唐诗三百首 英汉对照》 《英译中国现代散文选（一）》
