On a clear summer and autumn night, the stars are shining in the sky, and a vast white galaxy runs across the north and south. On the east and west banks of the river, there is a shining star, facing each other across the river, which is Altair and Vega.
It is a folk custom to sit and watch the Petunia and the Weaver Girl on Tanabata. According to legend, this night every year is the time when the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd meet at the Magpie Bridge. The Weaver Girl is a beautiful, intelligent and ingenious fairy. On this night, ordinary women ask her for wisdom and skillful skills, and they also ask her for a happy marriage. Therefore, the seventh day of July is also called the Begging Festival.
It is said that on the night of Tanabata, you can look up and see the Milky Way where the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet, or you can eavesdrop on the love story when they meet in the sky under the melon and fruit shelf.
The custom of qiqiao tanabata
The most common custom in Chinese Valentine's Day is all kinds of begging activities carried out by women on the night of the seventh day of July.
Most of the ways of begging for cleverness are that girls try their best to make small items and put some melons and fruits on them. The ways of begging for cleverness in different regions are different and have their own interests.
The begging activities in Jinan, Huimin, Gaoqing and other places in Shandong Province are very simple, just displaying melons and fruits for begging. If there are spider webs on melons and fruits, it means begging skillfully. However, in Juancheng, Caoxian, Pingyuan and other places, the custom of eating clever rice and begging for cleverness is very interesting: seven good girls collect food and vegetables, jiaozi, and wrap a copper coin, a needle and a red date into three dumplings respectively. After begging for cleverness, they get together to eat dumplings. It is said that they are blessed with money, skillful with needles and early married with dates.
In some places, the activities of begging for cleverness festival are of the nature of competition, similar to the ancient custom of fighting cleverness. In modern times, it is customary to make clever bud soup by threading needles, steaming skillfully, branding skillfully fruits, and in some places. Generally, grains are soaked in water on the first day of July, and cut buds to make soup on Tanabata. Children in this area pay special attention to eating clever buds, and decorations made of dough sculpture, paper-cutting and colored embroidery are the evolution of the custom of fighting clever buds. The shepherd boy will pick wild flowers and hang them on the horns on Qixi Day, which is called "Happy Birthday to the Cow" (it is said that Qixi is the birthday of the Cow).
Zhucheng, Tengxian and Zouxian call the rain on Qixi "acacia rain" or "acacia tears" because it is caused by the meeting of cowherd and weaver girl. Legend has it that there are very few magpies in Jiaodong and southwestern Shandong, and they all went to the sky to build a magpie bridge.
There are still similar customs of begging for cleverness in various parts of Zhejiang today. Such as Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou and other places, on this day, all kinds of small objects are made of flour, which are called "proper fruit" after frying in oil, and proper fruit, lotus, white lotus root and Hong Ling are displayed in the courtyard at night. The girl puts a needle on the moon to pray for the weaver girl to give her a clever skill, or catches a spider and puts it in a box. If the box is opened the next day, it is called clever.
In the rural areas of Shaoxing, there will be many young girls hiding under the flourishing pumpkin shed that night. If you can hear the whispers when the cowherd and the weaver girl meet in the dead of night, the girl to be married will get this eternal love in the future.
In order to express people's hope that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl can live a happy family life every day, in Jinhua, Zhejiang, every family will kill a chicken on July 7, which means that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet this night, and if there is no cock to announce the dawn, they will never be separated.
In the west of Guangxi, it is said that on the morning of July 7th, the fairy would come down to the earth to take a bath, and drinking its bath water could ward off evil spirits, cure diseases and prolong life. This water is called "Double Seven Waters". When chickens crow on this day, people scramble to get water from the river, and then take it back and put it in a new urn for future use.
Guangzhou's Begging for Clevership Festival is unique. Before the festival comes, girls prepare colorful paper, medulla tetrapanacis, string and so on in advance, and weave them into all kinds of fancy gadgets. They also put the seeds and mung beans in a small box and soak them in water to germinate them. When the buds grow to more than two inches, they are used to worship the gods, which are called "worshipping the immortals" and "worshipping the gods". From the sixth night to the seventh night, for two nights in a row, the girls put on new clothes and jewelry. After everything is arranged, they burn incense and light candles and bow down to the stars, which is called "welcoming the fairy". From the third night to the fifth watch, they have to worship seven times in a row.
After worshipping the immortals, the girls hold colored threads in their hands and thread them through the pinholes. For example, those who can wear seven pinholes in one breath are called skillful hands, and those who can't wear seven pinholes are called skillful hands. After Tanabata, the girls gave each other small handicrafts and toys to show their friendship.
In Fujian and Chinese Valentine's Day, Weaver Girl should be allowed to appreciate and taste fruits and vegetables, so that she can bless the fruits and vegetables harvest in the coming year. The offerings include tea, wine, fresh fruit, five seeds (longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts and melon seeds), flowers, pollen for women's cosmetics and a incense burner. Generally, after fasting and bathing, everyone takes turns to burn incense and worship at the altar and pray silently. Women not only beg for cleverness, but also beg for children, longevity, beauty and love. Then, while eating fruit, drinking tea and chatting, everyone plays the game of begging for cleverness. There are two kinds of begging for cleverness: one is "divination", that is, asking yourself whether you are clever or stupid with a divination tool; The other is clever match, that is, whoever goes through the needle quickly gets clever, and the slow one is called "losing clever". The "losing clever" should give small gifts prepared in advance to the skillful one.
In some areas, "Seven Sisters' Clubs" are also organized, and the "Seven Sisters' Clubs" in various areas gather in Zongxiang Guild Hall to lay down all kinds of bright incense tables, offering sacrifices to the cowherd and the weaver girl from a distance. All the "incense tables" are paper-pasted, and the tables are filled with flowers, fruits, rouge powder, paper-made small flowered clothes, shoes, daily necessities and embroidery, and so on. 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. The incense table is usually prepared on the seventh day of July, and in the evening, it begins to beg the Weaver Maid.
Proper fruit is the most famous festive food for the Qixi Festival. Proper fruit, also known as "Kiki Kiki Fruit", has many styles. The main materials are oil, flour, sugar and honey. During the Song Dynasty, proper fruit was already sold in the market. proper fruit's practice was: first, put the white sugar in a pot and melt it into syrup, then mix it with flour and sesame seeds, spread it on a table, cool it, cut it into long squares with a knife, and finally fold it into spindle-shaped proper fruit embryos, and fry it until golden. Handy women will also create various patterns related to the legend of Qixi.
In addition, there are many changes in the melons and fruits used in begging for cleverness: either the melons and fruits are carved into exotic flowers and birds, or the surface of the melon skin is embossed with patterns; This kind of melon is called "flower melon".
Eat smart food
Chinese Valentine's Day's food customs vary from place to place, and they are generally called clever food. Among them, jiaozi, noodles, avocados, wonton and other foods are used for this festival. Eat cloud noodles, which have to be made of dew, and you can get clever meaning by eating it. There are also many folk pastry shops, which like to make some crisp candies with the image of Weaver Girl, commonly known as "homo habilis" and "Qiao Crisp", and when they are sold, they are also called "Send to homo habilis". This custom has been spread in some areas so far.
Folk activities on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is a traditional festival of the Han nationality in China, Chinese Valentine's Day. Because the main participants in this day's activities are girls, and the content of the festival activities is mainly begging for skills, people call this day "Begging for Skills Festival" or "Girls' Day" or "Daughter's Day". Chinese Valentine's Day is one of the most romantic traditional festivals in China, and it is also the most important day for girls in the past. On this night, women put on needles to pray for Fu Lushou's activities, and on the seventh day, the ceremony was pious and grand, and flowers and fruits were displayed. All kinds of furniture and appliances were exquisite and small, which made people love them.
On May 20th, 2006, Chinese Valentine's Day was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list by the State Council.
Tanabata is nicknamed "Week". Wang Bo's Qixi Fu, "Stay in the spirit on the week, and look at the moon and the evening as soon as possible", compares the week with the moon and the evening, and points out the two most beautiful and touching nights related to family and love throughout the year. Because of this, later generations called the auspicious day when men and women got married "week".
On a clear summer and autumn night, the stars are shining in the sky, and a white Milky Way crosses the north and south like a bridge. On the east and west banks of the river, there is a shining star across the river, which is Altair and Vega.
It is a folk custom to sit and watch the Petunia and the Weaver Girl on Tanabata. According to legend, this night every year is the time when the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd meet at the Magpie Bridge. The Weaver Girl is a beautiful, intelligent and ingenious fairy. On this night, ordinary women ask her for wisdom and skillful skills, and they also ask her for a happy marriage. Therefore, the seventh day of July is also called the Begging Festival.
It is said that on the night of Tanabata, you can look up and see the Milky Way where the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet, or you can eavesdrop on the love story when they meet in the sky under the melon and fruit shelf.
On this romantic night, facing the bright moon in the sky, the girls put seasonal fruits and vegetables to worship in the sky, begging the fairy in the sky to give them intelligent hearts and dexterous hands, so that they can master their needlework skills, and even beg for the marriage of love and marriage. In the past, marriage was a lifelong event for women to decide whether they would be happy or not. Therefore, countless sentient men and women in the world would pray for a happy marriage against the starry sky at this quiet night.
Folk activities on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is a traditional festival in China, Chinese Valentine's Day.
social customs and habits
Needle-piercing
This is the earliest way of begging for cleverness, which began in Han dynasty and flowed to later generations. "Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing" said: "Women in the Han Dynasty often wear seven-hole needles in the Kaijin Building on July 7, and people have Xi Zhi." The Chronicle of Jingchu Years Old by Liang Zongmou of the Southern Dynasties said: "On July 7th, it was the women of the evening family who tied the colored floor through seven holes, or used gold and silver as needles." "Geographical Records" said: "Emperor Wu of the Qi Dynasty began to view the city on the first floor. On July 7th, imperial court officials made many attempts to pierce the needle. The world calls it a needle-piercing building. " Wang Renyu's "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao" in the Five Dynasties said: "On Tanabata, the palace was built with brocade, which was hundreds of feet high, and it could beat dozens of people in the world. Chen roasted melons and fruits with wine, set up seats, worshipped cows and women with two stars, and his concubines each wore nine-hole needles and five-color lines to the moon. It was a good time to pass. Move the song of Qing merchants, and have fun. The home of the natives is effective. " Yuan Tao Zongyi's "yuanshi county Yeting Lu" said: "Nine tables are cited, and the Qixi Festival is a place for seeking cleverness. In the evening, the ladies-in-waiting go on stage to thread Kyubi no Youko needles with colorful silk. Those who finish first are clever, and those who finish late are called losers. Each contributes to the gift. "
Spider should be clever
This is also an earlier way of begging for cleverness, and its popularity is a little later than that of asking for cleverness with needles, which generally started in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. In the Southern Dynasties, Liang Zonggu said, "A Record of the Age of Jingchu"; "It's evening, Chen melon and fruit in court to beg for cleverness. If you have a happy subnet on the melon, you think it corresponds. " Wang Renyu's "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao" in the Five Dynasties said: "On July 7th, we all caught spiders in small boxes until dawn; Think of cobwebs as sparse and dense. A secret person has many clever words, but a rare person has few clever words. Folk works, too. "The Dream of China in Tokyo, written by Meng Yuan-yuan in the Song Dynasty, said that on the seventh day of July," put a spider in the zygote, and look at it the next day. If the net is round, it is just a coincidence. " Song Zhoumi's "When I was a year old" said; "How long does it take to store small spiders in the house and wait for the density of the web?" Tomita Rucheng's "Pleasure of Xi Chao" said that on Tanabata, "It is very clever to hold spiders in a small box and watch the density of their web the next morning." From this, it can be seen that the methods of testing ingenuity are different in the past dynasties. The existence of the visual network in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the thinness of the visual network in the Tang Dynasty, the roundness of the visual network in the Song Dynasty, and later generations follow the customs of the Tang Dynasty.
Needle throwing and skill testing
This is a variant of the custom of needlework on Tanabata, which originated from needlework and is different from needlework. It is a popular Chinese Valentine's Day custom in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Liu Dong and Yu Yizheng's "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital" in the Ming Dynasty said: "On the afternoon of July 7th, we lost a clever needle. When women are exposed to the water, the water film looks unfamiliar, while the embroidery needle floats and looks at the shadow of the underwater needle. Those who have clouds, flowers, birds and animals, shoes and scissors, and eggplant shadows are called clever begging; Its shadow is as thick as a hammer, as thin as silk, and as straight as axis wax, which is a mistake. " Zhili Records also said that in Liangxiang County (now southwest of Beijing), "On July 7th, women begged for cleverness and threw needles into the water, relying on the shadow of the sun to check their work, and they were still begging for cleverness at night." Please ask Yu Minzhong to quote Miscellaneous Notes of Wan Department from the Examination of Old News in the Sun: "On July 7th, Yan Dou women threw small needles into the water. Or scattered like a flower, moving like a cloud, as thin as a line, as thick as a cone, because of the ingenuity of divining women. "
Lan ye dou Qiao
The game originated from the court of the Han Dynasty. Jia Peilan, the maid-in-waiting of Mrs. Qi, the wife of Emperor Gaozu, often talked to people about the Qixi Festival in the Han Palace after leaving the palace to marry Duan Ru, a Fufeng man. She said: "On the 7th of July every year, the Han Palace is first played in Chi Pan, the ancient philosophers, and then it is tied with five colors, which is called" mutual affection ". Later, the palace ladies went to the closed-top building together, and everyone learned to wear seven clever needles to beg for cleverness. And there is a maid-in-waiting named Xu Jieyu, who can carve the raw lotus root into various exotic flowers and birds and present them to the emperor. The emperor will put these gadgets on the corner of the table in the palace at night for the maids to look for in the dark. This game is called' Dou Qiao'. "
Seed seeking
In the old customs, a few days before Tanabata, we first spread a layer of soil on a small wooden board, sow the seeds of millet, let it produce green seedlings, then put some small huts and flowers and trees on it to make it look like a small village in Tiansheren, called a "shell board", or soak mung beans, adzuki beans and wheat in a magnetic bowl, and then tie it 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. Wax is also used to mold various images, such as the characters in the stories of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, or the shapes of vultures, mandarin ducks and other animals, and float on the water, 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".
For Niu Qingsheng
Children will pick wild flowers and hang them on their horns on Qixi Day, which is also called "Happy Birthday to the Cow". Because it is said that after the Queen Mother of the West separated the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl with the Tianhe River, the old cow asked the Cowherd to scrape off its skin and drive its cowhide to see the Weaver Girl. In order to commemorate the sacrifice spirit of the old cow, people have the custom of "celebrating the life of the cow". [ 12]
Drying books and clothes
According to the report, Sima Yi was quite 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 Xin Yu", volume 25, said that on July 7th, everyone printed books, and only Hao Long went 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.
What festivals and folk activities are there on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month? China people's Valentine's Day, some people also call it Qiqiao Festival Qixi Festival or Daughter's Day, which is the most important day for daughters' families. The seventh day of July is called begging for cleverness because it is said in folklore that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet the Tianhe River, and the daughters' families will worship the sky with melons and fruits at night to beg for cleverness from the goddess.
The Gregorian calendar around April 5th is:
Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as Tomb Sweeping Festival, Ghost Festival and Ghost Festival, together with the Mid-Yuan Festival on July 15th and the Lower Yuan Festival on October 15th, is called Sanming Festival, which is related to offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods.
Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the outing festival, according to the solar calendar, it is between April 4th and 6th every year, which is the season when the spring is bright and the vegetation is green, and it is also a good time for people to have a spring outing (called outing in ancient times), so the ancients had the custom of going for an outing in Qingming and carrying out a series of sports activities. Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as the March Festival in ancient times, has a history of more than 2,000 years.
Tomb-Sweeping Day's customs are rich and interesting. Apart from paying attention to forbidding fire and sweeping graves, there are also a series of customs and sports activities, such as jogging, swinging, cuju, playing polo and inserting willows. According to legend, this is because Tomb-Sweeping Day wants to ban cold food and fire. In order to prevent cold food and cold meals from hurting people, we all take part in some sports activities to exercise. Therefore, this festival is a distinctive festival, with both sad tears to sweep the new grave and laughter for an outing.
What ethnic activities are there on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month? Qixi Festival
On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month every year, it is the traditional Qixi Festival in China, also known as Begging for Cleverness Festival or Seven Clever Days.
China, South Korea and Japan will celebrate Tanabata, but the Japanese changed it to AD during the Meiji Restoration, so Tanabata was also celebrated on July 7 in the solar calendar.
Shangsi Festival is an ancient traditional festival in China, commonly known as March 3rd. Before the Han Dynasty, it was designated as the third day of March, and later it was fixed on the third day of March in the summer calendar. "Shangsi" first appeared in the literature of the early Han Dynasty. "Zhou Li" Zheng Xuan's note: "When I was old, I was removed, but now March is like water." According to records, Shangsi Festival was popular in the Spring and Autumn Period. Shangsi Festival is the most important festival in ancient times. "The Analects of Confucius": "Those who are in the late spring, the spring clothes are accomplished, the champions are five or six, the boys are six or seven, the bath is almost seven times, and the wind is dancing and singing. "It was written about the situation at that time.
On the 14th day of the seventh lunar month (July 15th in some places), Taoism is called the Mid-Yuan Festival, Buddhism is called the Yulan Festival, and folks used to call it Ghost Festival, which is July and a half. Legend has it that on that day, the gates of hell will open and the ghosts of the underworld will be released. Go home with the Lord; Those who have no Lord wander around, wandering anywhere where no one can find something to eat. Therefore, people hold "Purdue" in July by chanting and other things in order to cross over the lonely souls in general, for fear that they will be a disaster to mankind, or pray for ghosts to help cure diseases and protect the safety of their homes. Therefore, the southern region has the custom of Purdue on this day.
Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional folk festival in East Asia, which falls on August 15th of the lunar calendar every year. The Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a Chinese festival, but also a traditional festival in Japan and South Korea under the influence of Chinese culture.
According to China's lunar calendar, August of the lunar calendar is the second month of autumn, which was called Mid-Autumn in ancient times. Therefore, it is called Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Autumn Festival, August Festival, August Half-Day, Moon Festival and Moon Festival, and because the moon is full on this day, it symbolizes reunion and is also called Reunion Festival.
Lantern Festival, also known as Shangyuan Festival, Yuanxi Festival or Lantern Festival, falls on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year, which is the first important festival after the Spring Festival. On this day, people eat Yuanxiao, have lantern festivals, hold solve riddles on the lanterns and carry lanterns. In many places, there is the custom of putting lanterns. It is one of the grand folk festivals in China.
In Foshan, Guangdong Province, there is a traditional custom of the Lantern Festival, which is "to help the economy without closing the door". It means that if you cross Tongji Bridge, you will be healthy and healthy.
In Taiwan Province, besides the lantern viewing and the famous Taiwan Lantern Festival, there is also a lantern display in Pingxi Township, Taipei County, northern Taiwan Province. In addition, there is a famous salt water cannon in Yanshui Town, Tainan County, southern Taiwan Province. In Taitung City in the east of Taiwan Province, there is a cold-fried single master, which is also based on the beacon gun, but it is not the same as the salt water beacon gun.
In the early days of Taiwan Province, it was said that unmarried women would steal onions on the night of the Lantern Festival to get a good omen. As the saying goes, "steal onions and marry a good man;" Stealing vegetables and marrying a good husband "(Taiwanese pronunciation)
origin
According to historical records, the Lantern Festival began in the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. According to legend, after the death of Emperor Liu Ying, the Lv Hou clan took control of the political power. After Lv Hou's death, elders zhou bo and Chen Ping rose up to quell the "Zhulu Rebellion" and supported Liu Heng mainly for the Chinese Emperor. Wendi learned from his ministers' suggestions and carefully governed the country to make the Han empire strong again. Because it was on the fifteenth day of the first month that Zhu Lu was swept away, every year on this night, Emperor Wen went out of the palace to play incognito and have fun with the people as a souvenir. Therefore, Emperor Wendi designated the 15th day of the first month as the Lantern Festival.
What are the customs of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month? The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the Valentine's Day of China people, and some people call it Qixi Festival or Daughter's Day, which is the most important day for daughters' families. The seventh day of July is called begging for cleverness because it is said in folklore that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet the Tianhe River, and the daughters' families will worship the sky with melons and fruits at night to beg for cleverness from the goddess.
In addition to begging for the skills of knitting women, they also beg for a clever match in marriage. Therefore, countless sentient men and women in the world will pray for a happy marriage against the stars at this night, in the dead of night.
The bright star in the west of the Milky Way is Vega. Vega is the alpha star in Lyra and the brightest star in Lyra. In ancient Greece, Lyra was regarded as a seven-stringed lyre, which was given to orpheus by Apollo, the sun god, and fascinated countless people. And next to Vega, there is a small diamond composed of four dark stars. Legend has it that this is the shuttle used by Weaver.
Across the river from Vega is the alpha star of Aquila, the Altair. The ancient Greeks imagined this constellation as an eagle soaring in the night sky, and Altair was the heart of the eagle.
There is a small star on each side of Altair in Aquila, both pointing to Vega. It is said that these two stars are two children carried by Altair with a pole and are struggling to catch up with Vega.
The origin of Tanabata Festival
A long time ago, there was an orphan who lived with his brother and sister-in-law. He was smart and diligent, but his sister-in-law still disliked him. Before dawn, he was driven to the mountain to herd cattle. Everyone called him Cowherd. A few years later, Brother Sister-in-law and Cowherd separated, and Wolf Heart's sister-in-law only gave him a shabby hut and an old cow. Since then, the cowherd has been herding cattle and chopping wood during the day, and sleeping with the old cow in that shabby hut at night. One day, the cowherd drove the cattle into a strange forest, where the mountains and rivers are beautiful and the birds and flowers are fragrant. The Cowherd saw nine fairies driving Xiangyun on the grass of the river, then took off their colorful clothes and jumped into the crystal clear river. The Cowherd stared at the youngest and most beautiful fairy and became fascinated. At this moment, the old cow suddenly said, "She is a weaver girl in the sky. Just take away the colorful clothes and she will be your wife." The cowherd quietly followed the tree and quietly took away the colorful dresses of the Weaver Girl. Near noon, other fairies dressed in colorful clothes and drove away in Xiangyun. Only the weaver girl with colorful clothes can't be found. At this time, the Cowherd walked out from behind the tree and asked the Weaver Girl to be his wife. Seeing that Cowherd is honest, hardworking and strong, Weaver Girl nodded shyly. After the cowherd and the weaver girl tied the knot, men plowed and women wove, respecting and loving each other. Two years later, Weaver Girl gave birth to a boy and a girl. However, the Emperor of Heaven was furious when he heard that the Weaver Girl had married the world. On the seventh day of July, the Queen Mother ordered the heavenly soldiers and generals to capture the Weaver Girl. The grief-stricken cowherd, with the help of the old cow, carried his children to catch up with the sky with a basket. Seeing that she caught up with him, the Queen Mother pulled out her golden hairpin and made a stroke, and a choppy Tianhe appeared at the foot of the Cowherd. The deeply grieved Weaver Girl and the Cowherd with their children on their shoulders, one in Hedong and the other in Hexi, are weeping from afar. The crying touched the magpies, and in an instant, countless magpies flew to Tianhe and built a magpie bridge, where the cowherd and the weaver girl could finally meet. The Queen Mother had no choice but to allow the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to meet on the bridge once a year on the seventh day of July.
Of course, this is just a legend. The ritual of begging for cleverness originated from the original belief of the ancient weaver girl Sang Shen. This belief, combined with the saying that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on July 7th every year, has become our folk belief in the Seven Skirts of Tanabata today.
In our country, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, people commonly call it "Chinese Valentine's Day", and some people call it "Begging for Skills Festival" or "Daughter's Day", which is the most romantic festival among the traditional festivals in China, and it is also the most important day for girls in the past. In fact, not only Han people, but also Zhuang, Manchu and Korean people have had the custom of "Chinese Valentine's Day". However, with the Western Valentine's Day flowing into China, "Chinese Valentine's Day" is gradually known as China's Valentine's Day. However, her influence among young people is far less than that of the Western Valentine's Day on February 14 in the solar calendar every year. What's more, festivals with such a long history, profound cultural connotation and such beautiful legends are getting less and less attention from the society and neglected, is the world changing too fast? Or is the festival not modern enough to keep up with the times? Will Cowherd and Weaver Girl really be abandoned by China people? The neglect of "Chinese Valentine's Day" forced our eyes to focus on the rise and fall of traditional festivals in China. The seventh day of the seventh lunar month-Chinese Valentine's Day.
The story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, one of the folk love legends.
Chinese Valentine's Day has always been connected with the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. This is a beautiful love story that has been passed down through the ages and is one of the four major folk love legends in China.
Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a clever and honest young man in Niujiazhuang, west of Nanyang City. His parents died early, so he had to live with his brother and sister-in-law. His sister-in-law Ma Shi was vicious and often abused him, forcing him to do a lot of work. One autumn, his sister-in-law forced him to herd cattle and give him nine cows, but he was told to wait until he had ten cows, so the Cowherd had no choice but to drive them out of the village.
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One day, the weaver girl in the sky played games with the fairies and bathed in the river. With the help of the old cow, the cowherd got to know the weaver girl, and they had mutual affection. Later, the weaver girl secretly came to the world and became the wife of the cowherd. The Weaver Girl also distributed the wild silkworms brought from the sky to everyone, and taught everyone to raise silkworms, spin silks and weave bright silks and satins.
After the marriage of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, men plowed and women weaved, and they had a boy, a girl and two children, and the family lived happily. But the good times didn't last long, and it soon made the Emperor of Heaven know that the heavenly queen herself came down to earth and forcibly brought the Weaver Girl back to heaven, and the loving couple were separated.
There is no way for the cowherd to go to heaven, or the old cow told him that after his death, he could make shoes out of his skin and wear them to heaven. Cowherd did as the old cow said, put on shoes made of cowhide, and took his children with him. When he saw that he was about to catch up, I'm afraid the Queen Mother pulled out the golden hairpin on her head, and a choppy Tianhe appeared. Cowherd and Weaver were separated on both sides, and they could only cry relatively. Their loyal love touched the magpies, and thousands of magpies flew in to build a magpie bridge, so that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl could meet on the magpie bridge. The Queen Mother had no choice but to allow them to meet on July 7 every year.
Later, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, according to legend, when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Magpie Bridge, the girls will come to the flowers and the moon, look up at the starry sky, and look for the Cowherd and the Vega on both sides of the Milky Way, hoping to see their annual meeting, begging God to make themselves as ingenious as the Weaver Girl, and praying that they can have a happy marriage, thus forming Chinese Valentine's Day.
Gregorian calendar April 5, fifth day of May, seventh day of July, fifteenth day of August and ninth day of September. What festival is it and what folk activities are there? Gregorian calendar April 05 = Tomb-Sweeping Day = Chinese grave-sweeping.
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month = Dragon Boat Festival = dragon boat race and dumplings.
The seventh day of the seventh lunar month = Qixi Valentine's Day = Chinese people are in pairs.
The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month = Mid-Autumn Festival = enjoying the moon and eating moon cakes.
The ninth day of the ninth lunar month = Double Ninth Festival = Respect for the Elderly Festival.