? The story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is derived from the opposite Cowherd and Vega on both sides of the Milky Way in the sky. Altair, also known as Altair, is the second night of seven nights in northern Xuanwu, with six stars, three of which are in the shape of *-*-*, just like a person carrying a burden on his way. Vega, also known as Tiansun, is also three stars in the west of the Milky Way, opposite to the Altair in Hedong. The Book of Songs in the pre-Qin period has recorded two stars, a cow and a girl, but there is no story. Nineteen ancient poems in Han Dynasty? The Altair personifies the two stars: there are plenty of water between them, and there are no words. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ying Shao wrote "Customs Tong Yi", which has been recorded that cowherd can weave girl and black magpie can bridge the bridge.
According to Gaomi folklore, the cowherd lived with his brother and sister-in-law. After separation, he was driven out of the house and lived with an old cow. The Weaver Girl is the granddaughter of the Jade Emperor, and she can knit a brocade dress. Later, she went down to play with other fairies and took a bath in the water. Cowherd was instructed by the old cow, stole the clothes of Weaver Girl, and they got married.
After marriage, the young couple farmed and wove, gave birth to a son and a daughter, and lived a happy life. Unexpectedly, the heavenly queen found out about this and sent heavenly soldiers to escort the Weaver Girl back to heaven. The cowherd was very sad. Fortunately, before he died, the old cow told him to peel off his skin after he died, so that he could put it on his body in case of emergency. Cowherd flew into the sky in cowhide, and hurried after his beloved wife with a pair of children in a laundry basket. If you want to see it, you will catch up with it. The Queen Mother pulled off the golden hairpin on her head and rowed out of thin air. Immediately, a choppy Tianhe appeared, cutting them off. Finally, the Jade Emperor agreed that they could meet each other by a magpie bridge on the seventh day of July every year. Therefore, people say that the rain is the sad tears of the cowherd and the weaver girl, so it is called crying on July 7.
The old records of Gaomi recorded the folk custom of going to the grave and begging for cleverness on this day. For example, in Gaomi County Records of Kangxi, it is recorded that "the women who sacrificed to the new grave on the 7th day of Meng Qiujue went through needles to beg for cleverness". Begging for cleverness, wealth, beauty, good marriage, etc. In other places, dough molds are used to make seven kinds of food for children, some of which are round and square, and some of which are seven kinds of animals, such as pigs and puppies, which are also called Qiqiao skewers. In some places, there are also images of Tianhe Pei on this day.
Nowadays, many festivals and folk customs are gradually drifting away, and their contents are constantly evolving. July 7th has gradually become a Valentine's Day for young people. It is also a good day for hotels to solicit business by giving flowers and gifts and reuniting for the holidays.
? Around July 7, the story of brushing oil bottles was derived. It is said that after the July 7th meeting, the Weaver Girl was busy doing housework for the Cowherd, but she forgot to wash two oil bottles and returned to brush the oil bottles two days later. Therefore, people say that you have to brush the oil bottle on the seventh day, the eighth day and the ninth day, which means that it often rains lightly on the ninth day.
Gaomi xia zhuang is also one of the important cradles of half-printed and half-painted New Year pictures in history. At present, Qi Chuanxin, a descendant of Shunxing Qiji in Zhujiacun, has carved nearly100000 pieces. The above picture shows Qi Ji's Tianhe Pei.
The picture below shows the hand-painted new year painting "Tianhe Pei" created by Shi Jingwen of Shijia Painting Hall in Jiangzhuang during the Republic of China.