Chinese Valentine's Day, also known as "Begging for Cleverness Festival", is the most romantic festival among the traditional festivals in China. According to legend, the night of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month every year is the time when the "Weaver Girl" and the "Cowherd" meet in the sky. "Weaver Girl" is a beautiful, intelligent and ingenious fairy. On this night, ordinary women begged her for wisdom and skill, and also asked her for a happy marriage.
This festival has been celebrated by fewer and fewer people. In the 1950s and 1960s, on this day, Chinatown was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations everywhere, and it was like a fairyland. Seven Sisters' Clubs from different regions gathered here to lay down all kinds of colorful incense tables, offering sacrifices to the cowherd and the weaver girl. The incense tables were all paper-pasted, filled with flowers, fruits, rouge powder, paper-made small flowered clothes, shoes, daily necessities and embroidery. The "Seven Sisters' Clubs" in different regions will work hard on the incense table to see who makes it exquisitely. Today, this kind of activity has been forgotten, and only a few ancestral halls still set up incense tables on this festival to worship the cowherd and the weaver girl. Incense tables are usually prepared on the seventh day of July, and in the evening, they begin to beg the weaver girl for help.
As the origin of the festival is full of romance, Begging for Cleverness Festival should be developed into a "Valentine's Day" for Chinese people, so that this day is full of warmth and sweetness of love, and people can express their appreciation and care to their loved ones.
Thin clouds are clever, flying stars spread hatred, and silver and Han people cross the river in secret. On the seventh day of the autumn dew in the autumn, the meet meet, more than the world of those who are together, but the appearance husband and wife.
Tenderness is like water, ritual is like a dream, and you can take care of the bridge and go home! If the two feelings last for a long time, are they in the morning and evening? (Qin Guan's "Queqiao Fairy")
As far as night is concerned, Tanabata is equally beautiful except the moon and the evening. ......
There is a beautiful and touching story behind the nickname "Zhou" on Qixi. According to folklore, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on July 7th, so they are called "Cowherd and Weaver Girl". Wang Bo's "Qixi Fu" compares the week with the moon and the evening, and points out the two most beautiful and touching nights related to family and love in the four seasons of the year. Because of this, later generations call the auspicious day when men and women get married a week.
According to legend, Cowherd's parents died young, and he was often abused by his elder sister-in-law, only accompanied by an old cow. One day, the old cow gave him a plan to marry the weaver girl as his wife. On that day, the beautiful fairies did bathe in the Milky Way and play in the water. Then the cowherd, who was hidden in the reeds, suddenly ran out and took the Weaver Girl's clothes. The panicked fairies hurried ashore, dressed and flew away, leaving only the weaver girl. At the request of the Cowherd, the Weaver Girl agreed to be his wife. After marriage, the cowherd weaves and the girl weaves, and they love each other and live a very happy life. Weaver gave birth to a son and a daughter to Cowherd. Later, when the old cow was dying, he told the cowherd to keep its skin and put it on for help when it was in trouble. After the old cow died, the couple reluctantly peeled off the cowhide and buried the cow on the hillside.
When the marriage of the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd was known by the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of Heaven, they flew into a rage and ordered the gods to take back the Weaver Girl. The gods took the Weaver Girl while the Cowherd was away. Cowherd went home without seeing Weaver Girl, so he quickly put on cowhide and took two children to chase him. On the verge of catching up, the Queen Mother was in a hurry and pulled off the golden hairpin on her head and rowed to the Milky Way. The once shallow Milky Way suddenly became stormy, and the Cowherd could no longer pass. From then on, the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid can only look at each other across the river with tears in their eyes, and for ever and ever, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother are also unable to overcome their sincere feelings, allowing them to meet once a year on July 7. According to legend, on the seventh day of July, the magpies on earth will fly to heaven and build a magpie bridge for the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid in the Milky Way. Besides, in the dead of night on Tanabata, people can still hear the love stories of Cowherd and Weaver Girl in the sky under grape racks or other fruit racks.
Of course, this is just a legend. The ritual of begging for Qiao originated from the primitive belief of the ancient weaver girl Sang Shen, which combined with the saying that cowherd and cowherd meet on July 7 every year and became our folk belief in the Seven Qiao on Qixi today.
● Qixi Qiqiao
On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the legendary Cowherd and Weaver Girl crossed the Tianhe River from Queqiao to meet each other. The Weaver Girl in people's hearts is an industrious, kind and ingenious fairy, so on the night of July 7th, young girls and young women will come out to pay homage and beg for her skills, hoping that they can have dexterous hands and a smart heart like the Weaver Girl and live a happy life.
Because Chinese Valentine's Day is closely related to women's affairs, it is also called "Daughter's Day", which is a traditional women's day in China.
Chinese Valentine's Day has the custom of eating smart food. The contents of clever food include melons and fruits and various kinds of pasta, and customs vary from place to place. After all kinds of clever food are made, they should be displayed on several cases in the courtyard, as if to invite the weaver girl in the sky to taste it. Then, while watching the distant night sky, everyone eats all kinds of clever food, thinking that this will make people smart.
In the Han dynasty, the people began to beg for ingenuity from the weaver girl. Not only pray for ingenuity, but also pray for wealth, a happy and sweet marriage and children at an early date.
● Customs in Chinese Valentine's Day (related links: local customs)
The story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl has been spread for thousands of years, and many interesting folk customs have been derived.
The highlight of Tanabata is mainly on girls! Because according to legend, the Weaver Girl's craftsmanship is very skillful, and she can weave a sky dress as beautiful as a cloud. In order to make oneself have the skillful hands like a weaver girl, a custom of "begging for cleverness" has been developed among girls. The custom of begging for cleverness was formed as early as the Han Dynasty, but it was only later that it was combined with the stories of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. Clever needles are divided into two eyes, five holes, seven holes and nine holes. On the night of Qixi, it is "clever" to hold a silk thread and thread a needle in the moonlight to see who passes first. Another way to throw a needle is to put a pot of water in the sun at noon on Tanabata. After a while, the dust in the space will form a film on the water. At this time, throw the needle into the water, and with the support of the film, the needle will float on the water. Look at the needle shadow in the water again, if it becomes the shape of clouds, flowers, birds and animals, it is clever. On the other hand, if it presents a shadow as thin as a line and as thick as a hammer, it is not clever. Some women collect all kinds of flowers, put them in copper pots filled with water, expose them in the courtyard, and take them to rub their faces the next day. It is said that they can make their skin delicate and white. Some women pound impatiens, take juice and dye the ring finger and the finger of the little nail, which is called "red nail". Some women also sang "Begging for Cleverness": "Begging for dexterity, begging for looks, begging for heart, begging for looks, begging for my parents for thousands of years, begging for my sisters for thousands of years." In addition, on the day of Tanabata, there will be an incense table under the moon for offering fruits and fairy flowers to the Weaver Girl. According to reports, there was a woman named Ding in Cai Zhou who was very good at needlework. One year on Tanabata, when she was begging for cleverness, she saw a meteor fall on her sweetmeats. When I saw it the next morning, it turned out to be a golden shuttle. Since then, her "ingenuity has benefited." There are so many ways to beg for cleverness that even the offerings to the Weaver Maid can come in handy. Melons and fruits are indispensable in the offerings. If there is a playful child (a small spider) spinning a web on the melons and fruits at night, it means that the woman has been skillful. A little fastidious, such as the ladies in the Tang Dynasty, put Xizi in a small box and open it the next morning. If you don't make a good net, you beg less skillfully.
There is another theory of eavesdropping on crying. It is said that you must be a virgin. When the night is quiet, you will quietly walk into the ancient well or under the grape trellis and hold your breath. If you can hear the voice of Cowherd and Weaver Girl talking or crying, this girl will be very clever.
Women ask for cleverness, and men are not idle. It is said that July 7th is Kuixing's birthday. Kuixing literature, scholars who want to seek fame especially admire Kuixing, so they must worship him on Tanabata and pray for him to bless their success in the exam. Lord Kuixing is the Kuidou star, the Kuixing in the Twenty-eight Nights, the first star of the Big Dipper, and also the Kuixing or the champion. In ancient times, scholars were called "the greatest scholar in the world" or "winning the championship in one fell swoop" because Kuixing was in charge of the exam.
According to folklore, Lord Kuixing was ugly, his face was covered with spots and he was lame. Someone wrote a limerick to make fun of him: if you don't promote it, why decorate it? Even if it is lead, don't cover it. Marrying Ma Gu into two beauties is no worse than coming to the hive. Leave claws under the eyebrows, and geese tread on the sand beside the nose and mouth. It is nothing more than taking a nap in front of the eaves, and the wind blows plum blossoms on your forehead. Xiang Jun's jade toe is the most bizarre, with one step higher and one step lower. When you walk leisurely, you want to dance, and the fluttering degree is like a mouth. Only the roads in the world are dangerous, and I am so tired that I am surprised. Don't laugh, the waist branches are often half folded, and the temporary swaying is also colorful.
However, this Lord Kuixing was extremely ambitious and worked hard, and he went to high school. When the emperor palace examination visited him, he asked him why his face was covered with spots. He replied, "The pockmarked face is full of stars"; Asked why he was lame, he replied, "Jumping on one foot". The emperor was very satisfied and accepted him.
Another completely different legend says that Lord Kuixing was full of knowledge before his death, but unfortunately he failed in every exam, so he threw himself into the river in grief and indignation. Unexpectedly, he was rescued by the turtle fish and ascended to heaven to become a champion. Because Kuixing can influence the literati's test luck, so every July 7th, his birthday, scholars solemnly worship.
Young men and women seek wisdom and ingenuity, hoping that their skills will be superior, while married, old, poor and rich all have their own wishes, so Tanabata has become a day of wishing. On the night of Chinese Valentine's Day, when you worship the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, you immediately bow down and express your wishes, whether it is begging for wealth, longevity or begging for children. But there can only be one wish at a time, and it will take three years to be effective.
It is said that Tianhe on Tanabata can also predict the harvest of that year. Tianhe is obvious, the harvest is good, and the food price is low; Tianhe is gloomy, the harvest is not good, and the food price is expensive. In some areas, it is also a kind of wishing activity to make a "Young Seedling Meeting" on Tanabata.
After Buddhism was introduced into China, the Han people absorbed this name from Buddhist scriptures and used it to name dolls. On July 7th, every year, in Kaifeng, "the tile outside Dongsongmen in Panlou Street, the tile outside Xiliangmen in Zhouzhou, the tile outside Beimen, the street outside Nanzhuquemen and Xingjie Ma, they all sell grinding and drinking music, which is a small plastic puppet". In fact, the music of grinding and drinking after the late Song Dynasty is no longer a small puppet, on the contrary, it has become more and more refined. The size and posture of Mohelie vary, and the biggest one is as high as three feet, which is comparable to that of a real child. The materials made are carved with ivory or carved with bergamot incense, and the dressing of grinding and drinking music is extremely exquisite. There are painted wood carvings as column seats, or red sand cages as covers, and the toys held in the hands are mostly decorated with precious stones. The cost of grinding and drinking music is often as high as thousands of dollars.
The grinding and drinking music sold in Tokyo is the most exquisite from Suzhou, which is known as the best in the world. The grinding and drinking music used to pay tribute to the palace is self-evident, lovely and exquisite, extravagant, and even made of gold and silver. In fact, Mohelie should be an auspicious thing for women to beg for children, but from Mohelie's life, we can't find any deeds related to Tanabata or begging for children. Despite this, people who worship grinding and drinking music often hold a lotus leaf in their hands on Tanabata, so many children also dress up brightly and parade and play in the streets and lanes with lotus leaves in their hands.
In addition to grinding and drinking music, a few days before the Qixi Festival in Bianjing City in the Northern Song Dynasty, various special products will be launched on the market. For example, wax is cast into the characters in the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, or made into the shape of vulture, mandarin duck and other animals, which is called "floating on the water". There are also baby dolls made of wax, which women can buy home and float in the water and soil, so as to be auspicious for their children, which is called "metaplasia". A few days before the Chinese Valentine's Day, we first spread a layer of soil on the small wooden board, sow the seeds of millet, and let it produce green seedlings. Then we put a small hut and flowers and trees on it, and make it look like a small village in the field, called a "shell board", or soak mung beans, adzuki beans and wheat in a magnetic bowl, and wait until it grows buds, and then tie them into a bunch with red and blue silk ropes. All parts of the south are also called "bubble cleverness", and the sprouted bean sprouts are called clever buds, and even the needles are replaced by clever buds, which are thrown on the water to beg for cleverness. July is also the time when the lotus flowers are in full bloom. Some people use their brains to break off the unopened lotus flowers and make fake double-headed lotus flowers, which are cute and popular with people at that time.
The colorful patterns of these many seasonal plants fully show the vitality of a midsummer festival. The unique hot sunshine in summer has contributed to another custom of Qixi-drying books and clothes. Modern scientific reports point out that ultraviolet rays contained in sunlight do have bactericidal effect. There are several interesting short stories about the custom of literati drying books and clothes in history.
According to the report, Sima Yi was very suspicious of Cao Cao because of his high position and power. In view of the political darkness at that time, in order to protect himself, he pretended to be crazy and hid at home. Wei Wudi is still not at ease, so he sent a close friend to make history secretly explore the truth. It was July 7th, and Sima Yi, who pretended to be crazy, was also drying books at home. Make history back to leave Wei Wudi, Wei Wudi immediately ordered to sima yi back to the office, otherwise can be taken into custody. Sima yi only obediently obeyed and returned to the DPRK. Another kind of people, in troubled times, express their depression by being a degenerate. They despise etiquette and oppose customs. Liu Yiqing's "Shi Shuo Shi Yu", Volume 25, said that on July 7th, everyone printed books, only Hao Long ran to lie in the sun. When people asked him why, he replied, "I printed books". On the one hand, this is to despise the custom of printing books, on the other hand, it is also to boast about the talent in one's belly. Drying your belly is also drying books. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the custom of drying clothes in the Han Dynasty created opportunities for rich families to boast about their wealth. Ruan Xian, one of the "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest", looked down upon this style. On July 7, when his neighbor was drying clothes, he saw that the shelves were full of silk and satin, dazzling. Ruan Xian unhurriedly picked up a worn-out dress with a bamboo pole. Someone asked him what he was doing, and he said, "I can't avoid customs, talk to you!" From these short stories, we can see how prosperous the custom of drying books and clothes on Tanabata was. Most of the above complaints are anecdotes of folk celebrating Tanabata, but how did the ancient court spend Tanabata? You are the king of a country, and the ostentation and extravagance of the royal family is naturally incomparable to civilians. In the Southern Dynasties, Emperor Wudi of the Qi Dynasty once built a tower. Every Tanabata, the imperial secretary went upstairs to get a needle, which was called the "needle-piercing tower". Tang Xuanzong, a famous romantic emperor in history, also attached great importance to Qixi Festival. He built a Qiqiao building in the palace, which was 100 feet high and could accommodate dozens of people. In addition, various kinds of melons, fruits and wine jars were arranged upstairs to offer sacrifices to the cowherd and the weaver girl. The concubines in the palace were given nine-hole needles and five-color threads, and it was clever to thread the needles under the moon, and at the same time, there were music performances, which made everyone follow suit.
● Tanabata food
Proper fruit is the most famous festival food on Tanabata. Proper fruit, also known as "Kiki Kiki Fruit", has many styles. The main material is oil surface molasses. "Dream of China in Tokyo" refers to it as "laughing at children" and "fruit eating patterns", while the patterns include holding incense and winning. During the Song Dynasty, there were already Tanabata proper fruit for sale in the city streets.
If you buy a catty of proper fruit, there will be a pair of dolls dressed in armor, such as door gods, known as "General Fruit Food". Proper fruit's practice is: first put the white sugar in the pot and melt it into syrup, then add the flour and sesame seeds, mix well, spread it on the table, cool it, cut it into long squares with a knife, especially fold it into a spindle-shaped dough, and fry it until it is golden. Handy women will also create various patterns related to the legend of Qixi. In addition, the melons and fruits used for begging for cleverness can also be varied. Or carve melons and fruits into exotic flowers and birds, or embossed patterns on the surface of melon skin. It is called "flower melon"
Proper fruit and flowers and melons are the most common Qixi foods. In history, however, different dynasties had different food customs. For example, soup cakes were popular in the Wei Dynasty on July 7th. In the Tang Dynasty, the festival foods included cakes on July 7th, and July 7th was designated as the book-drying festival. Each of the three provinces and six departments was given a certain amount of money for the banquet, which was called "book-drying party". Tanabata is also a suitable day for dispensing medicines. It is said that it is a secret recipe with pine and cypress as medicinal materials. This magical pill is compounded with dew on July 7th. Taking one pill can prolong the life span for ten years, and taking two pills can prolong the life span for twenty years. In addition, there are bait pine nuts, cypress seeds, folded lotus leaves, etc., all of which are called immortal medicines. More practical prescriptions include drying Sophora juice to treat hemorrhoids, frying bitter gourd to treat eyes, picking melon pedicels to treat diarrhea and so on.
● Prince's Tanabata
Among many Qixi legends, the love story between Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Yang Guifei is the most popular. It is very common for the ancient emperors to have three palaces and six courtyards. Every harem belle tries her best to win the favor of the king, and their greatest asset is beauty. However, as the saying goes, even Yang Guifei, who is pampered by 3,000 people, can't help but have the fear of seeing donations from autumn fans.
On Tanabata one year, in the Palace of Eternal Life, where the night was as cool as water, Yang Guifei looked at the Petunia and Vega in the sky, admiring their faithful love, and at the same time, she felt deeply about her status. I can't help but confide in my heart. After listening to this, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty was deeply moved, so he made a vow of "wishing to be husband and wife forever". This sad and beautiful love has become a household name after being described by later generations of literati.
Bai Juyi's Song of Eternal Sorrow and Hong Sheng's Palace of Eternal Life are immortal masterpieces in the history of literature. "on the seventh day of the Seventh-month, in the Palace of Long Life, we told each other secretly in the quiet midnight world, wish to be a lovebird and and to grow together on the earth, two branches of one tree. in heaven" in Song of Eternal Sorrow. It is also a famous sentence that has been sung for a while.
Another romantic monarch, Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, lived an elegant life in his palace before he died. Every Tanabata, the woman was ordered to use a hundred red, white and Luo horses in the palace to open the symbolic Tianhe and put it away the next day. After the Song Dynasty, Li Houzhu lived under house arrest. One Tanabata, because he missed his old country, he filled in a poem "The east wind blew in the small building last night, and the old country was unbearable to look back on the moon and the moon" and called in his former maids to sing. Song Taizong was furious when he knew about it, and ordered him to die. A generation of poets died in seven.