Chinese Valentine's Day is Valentine's Day.

Chinese Valentine's Day began in ancient times, popularized in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. Among the numerous folk customs of Tanabata, some have gradually disappeared, but a considerable part has been continued by people.

Chinese Valentine's Day originated in China, and it is also celebrated in some Asian countries influenced by Chinese culture, such as Japan, Korean Peninsula and Vietnam. On May 21th, 2116, Chinese Valentine's Day was listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage by the People's Republic of China and the State Council.

Chinese Valentine's Day is not only a festival to worship the Seventh Sister, but also a festival of love. It is a comprehensive festival with the folklore of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" as the carrier, the theme of blessing, begging for skill and love, and women as the main body.

The "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" on Tanabata comes from people's worship of natural astronomical phenomena. In ancient times, people corresponded planetarium with geographical areas, which was called "dividing stars" in astronomy and "dividing lines" in geography. According to legend, on the seventh day of July every year, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet at the Magpie Bridge in the sky.

Qixi custom

1. Worship Seven Sisters

The Seven Sisters' Meeting on the seventh day of July is called "Worship Seven Sisters" in Guangdong. In the old days, beautiful girls begged Seven Sisters to teach them ingenious skills.

2. fighting skill

there are many forms of fighting skill on tanabata, such as "piercing the needle to seek skill", "liking spiders to be clever", "piercing the needle on the moon", "losing the skill", "fighting skill at night" and "throwing needles to test the skill".

3. Seven Qiaogong Case

In Pinghai Ancient City, Huidong County, Huizhou, every little girl, girl, daughter-in-law and wives in each family used to make all kinds of tributes by themselves before and after Tanabata. Common tributes include lanterns, flowers and fruits, palaces, embroidery, sugar arts and Four Treasures of the Study.

4. Welcome the immortals

In Guangzhou, Guangdong, before the arrival of Chinese Valentine's Day, girls will weave all kinds of gadgets with colored paper, medulla tetrapanacis and string prepared in advance, and will also soak the seeds and mung beans in water to germinate them. When the green shoots grow to about 2 inches, they will be used to worship the gods, which are called "worshipping the immortals" and "worshipping the gods".

From the night of the sixth day to the night of the seventh day, the girls will dress up carefully, burn incense and light candles, and bow down to the stars, which is called "welcoming the immortals", and they will worship seven times in a row from the third night to the fifth.