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Lessons from China's history
LifestyleChinese culture
Wee Kek Koon
Reflections
Wee Kek Koon

How national holidays in ancient China aligned with emperors’ birthdays, so all could revel

In 729, Emperor Xuanzong marked his birthday with official ceremonies and festivities across China in a tradition that endured for centuries

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A portrait of the Tang dynasty’s Emperor Xuanzong, whose Qianqiu Jie, or “Thousand Autumns Festival” in 729, established China’s tradition of positioning emperors’ birthdays as national celebrations. Photo: Wikipedia
Wee Kek Koon
Having lived his whole life in the modern cities of Singapore and Hong Kong, Wee Kek Koon has an inexplicable fascination with the past.

Malaysia celebrates its Independence Day (“Hari Merdeka” in Malay) on August 31. This year, it will mark the 69th anniversary of the Malayan Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom.

Note that it was a “Malayan”, not “Malaysian”, declaration.

Sixty-nine years ago, in 1957, Malaysia did not yet exist; the modern nation of Malaysia came into being only on September 16, 1963, with the merger of the 11 states of the Malay Peninsula with British North Borneo (renamed Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore. Most Malaysians would rather forget that brief union with Singapore, which was forced to leave Malaysia after two acrimonious years and become an independent city state.

For decades, August 31 was observed as the country’s de facto national day, despite periodic grumblings from Sabahans and Sarawakians, who felt that celebrating the 1957 independence of the peninsula’s Malayan states overlooked their own place in Malaysia’s history. It was only in 2010 that September 16 was officially celebrated nationwide as Malaysia Day (“Hari Malaysia”).

Malaysia, therefore, is unique in having not one, but two “national days”: public holidays commemorating its independence and national sovereignty.
Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman (second from left, with arm raised) declares his country’s independence from British rule at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur on August 31, 1957. Photo: AFP
Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman (second from left, with arm raised) declares his country’s independence from British rule at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur on August 31, 1957. Photo: AFP
In ancient China, the emperor’s birthday was perhaps the closest equivalent to what we would now call a national day. The tradition began in the Tang dynasty (618-907), when Emperor Xuanzong established the Qianqiu Jie, or “Thousand Autumns Festival”.
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