According to
an old love legend a cowherd named Niu Lang and a fairy
from heaven, Zhi Nu, fell deeply in love with each other.
Sadly, Zhi Nu was eventually ordered back to heaven. The
lovers were devastated! The Queen Mother of heaven was
finally touched by their great love, and she allowed them to
meet on
the seventh day of the seventh lunar month
every year, which is
today.
last year's banner of the celebration of the event
The wikipedia version:
In late summer, the stars Altair and Vega are high in the night sky, and the Chinese tell the following love story, of which there are many variations:
A young cowherd named Niulang (Chinese:牛郎; pinyin: niú láng; literally "[the] cowherd"), came across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he stole their clothes and waited to see what would happen. The fairy sisters elected the youngest and most beautiful sister Zhinü (simplified Chinese:织女; traditional Chinese:織女; pinyin: zhī nǚ; literally "[the] weaver girl", the star Vega) to retrieve their clothing. She agreed to do so, but since Niulang had seen her naked, she agreed to his request for marriage.
asking for her hand in marriage because he saw her naked!!!
She proved to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children.
But the Goddess of Heaven (or in some versions, Zhinü's mother) found out that Zhinü, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhinü to return to heaven. (Alternatively, the Goddess forced the fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds, a task she neglected while living on earth with a mortal.) On Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife.
Idyllic life and domestic bliss with two children
But the Goddess of Heaven (or in some versions, Zhinü's mother) found out that Zhinü, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhinü to return to heaven. (Alternatively, the Goddess forced the fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds, a task she neglected while living on earth with a mortal.) On Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife.
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Suddenly his ox began to talk
Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhinü. The Goddess discovered this and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair and Vega.
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Zhinü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar and takes care of their two children (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae or by their Chinese names Hè Gu 1 and Hè Gu 3).
Niu Lang watcches her from afar and takes care of their two children
But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge鹊桥, "the bridge of magpies", Que Qiao) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon.
bridge of magpies and chinese couplets
It is said that if it rains on the night of Qi Xi, it is the tears of Niulang and Zhinü crying for a lost year apart because the magpies will not come on a night that rains.
the stars are tears of the lovers crying for a lost year apart
The Legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver
Immortalised in a snuff bottle
bottom and stopper of the snuff bottle
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picture of the lovers and children in a temple
Chinese brush painting of the lovers
Meeting for only once a year
Been made into countless movies
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papercut of the legend
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porcelain of the cowherd
Chinese Valentine Day's Card
(did you enjoy this story as much as I have put it together for you? hehe...all Chinese kids or kids of chinese ethnic origin ought to get in touch with thier chinese roots! I heard snippets and read lots on this festival, but this is the first time I researched it in its entirety, due largely to an advertisement by Pandora. Thanks Pandora!!)
| Qixi Festival (Chinese: 七夕節), also known as the Qiqiao Festival (Chinese: 乞巧節), is a Chinese festival that celebrates the annual meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl in Chinese mythology.  It falls on the seventh day of the 7th lunar month. It is sometimes called the Double Seventh Festival, the Chinese Valentine's Day, or the Magpie Festival. This is an important festival, especially for young girls. The festival originated from the romantic legend of two lovers, Zhinü and Niulang, who were the weaver maid and the cowherd. The tale of The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd has been celebrated in the Qixi Festival since the Han Dynasty. The earliest-known reference to this famous myth dates back to over 2600 years ago, which was told in a poem from the Classic of Poetry. The festival inspired Tanabata in Japan and Chilseok in Korea. |
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Today Chinese Valentine’s Day is celebrated. According to an old love legend a cowherd named Niu Lang and a fairy from heaven, Zhi Nu, fell deeply in love with each other.
Sadly, Zhi Nu was eventually ordered back to heaven. The lovers were devastated! The Queen Mother of heaven was finally touched by their great love, and she allowed them to meet on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month every year, which is today.
Sadly, Zhi Nu was eventually ordered back to heaven. The lovers were devastated! The Queen Mother of heaven was finally touched by their great love, and she allowed them to meet on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month every year, which is today.
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