In Hokkien tradition, the festival on the ninth day of Chinese New Year is Ti Kong Dan.
Ti Kong Dan, also called Ti Kong’s birthday or Pai Ti Kong, honors the Jade Emperor, known in Hokkien as Ti Kong, meaning “Heavenly Grandfather.” The observance is especially important among Hokkien communities in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and other parts of Southeast Asia. Worshippers commonly pray for protection, health, peace, and prosperity.
Ceremonies often take place late on the eighth day and continue into the ninth, because the ninth day marks the Jade Emperor’s birthday. Offerings may include fruit, cakes, incense, candles, and tall stalks of sugarcane placed near the altar. Sugarcane is particularly associated with the festival in Hokkien communities.
A popular legend says Hokkien people once hid in sugarcane fields to escape attackers during the New Year period and emerged safely on the Jade Emperor’s birthday. Whether understood literally or symbolically, that story helps explain why sugarcane remains central. Ti Kong Dan is distinct from Duanwu, Qingming, and the Double Ninth Festival, which occur at different times of the traditional calendar.