Tanabata custom

Needle-piercing begging for cleverness

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-loving should be clever

This is also an earlier way of begging for cleverness, and its popularity is a little later than that of needling for cleverness, which probably 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 needle-piercing and skill-seeking on Qixi, which originated from needle-piercing and was different from needle-piercing, and it was 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. "

It was an old custom to spread a layer of soil on a small wooden board a few days before Tanabata, sow the seeds of millet, let it grow green seedlings, and then put some small huts and flowers 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 until it grows. 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 Tanabata, which is also called "Happy Birthday to Niu". 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".

drying books and clothes

It is reported that Sima Yi was highly regarded by 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.

Dedicated to "Mohelie"

Mohelie is a children's plaything in Chinese Valentine's Day in the old days, that is, a small clay doll. Its image is mostly a half-arm dress with lotus leaves, holding lotus leaves. 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. Seeking cleverness on Tanabata

Worship the Weaver Girl

"Worship the Weaver Girl" is purely a matter for young girls and young women. Most of them make an appointment with their friends or neighbors in advance for five or six people, up to a dozen people, to jointly hold it. The ceremony was held by laying a table under the moonlight, and offering sacrifices such as tea, wine, fruit, five sons (longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts and melon seeds) on the table. There are a few more flowers, tied with red paper, inserted in bottles, with a small incense burner in front of them. Then, the young women and girls who have made an appointment to attend the worship of the Weaver Girl will fast for one day, take a bath and come to the host's home on time. After burning incense before the case, everyone will sit around the table, eating peanuts and melon seeds, and meditating on their own thoughts while facing the Weaver Girl sign. If girls want to be beautiful or marry a husband, and young women want to have a baby early, they can pray silently to Vega. Play until midnight.

worship kuixing

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 scholar's test luck, so every July 7th, his birthday, scholars all solemnly worship.

proper fruit

proper fruit is the most famous for eating the festive food on Tanabata. Proper fruit, also known as "Kiki Kiki Fruit", has many styles. The main material proper fruit

is oil surface molasses. "Dream of China in Tokyo" refers to "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 emboss patterns on the surface of melon skin, which is called "flower melon". Proper fruit and flower melon 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. How effective it is, only those who have tried it will know. Nowadays, in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou and other places in Zhejiang, people will also make various small items with flour and put them in a frying pan, which is called "proper fruit". In the evening, proper fruit, Lotus, White Lotus, Hong Ling, etc. will be placed in the cleaned courtyard, and relatives and friends at home will sit together.

Seventh Sister's Birthday

It was very lively to celebrate the Seven Qiao Festival in Guangzhou in the old days. Liu Kezhuang, a Song Dynasty poet, once said, "Melons and fruits are blessed with fists, and the throats are full of voices. Cantonese people are very clever, and the lights are till dawn. " Before the festival comes, girls prepare all kinds of fancy toys in advance, and make all kinds of flowers, fruits, ladies, utensils, palace models and other things with medulla tetrapanacis, colored paper, sesame seeds and rice grains. Soak the seeds and mung beans in a small box and make them germinate. When the buds grow to more than two inches long, they are used to worship the gods, which are called "worshipping Xianhe" and "worshipping the gods". On Tanabata night (Guangzhou people usually start from the sixth night to the seventh night for two nights in a row), the girls put on new clothes and jewelry, and even painted their nails red. Then they put all kinds of items already prepared, such as antiques, flowers, seasonal fruits and cosmetics, on the Eight Immortals platform in the hall, and an oil lamp is placed in the middle of Xianhe or ceramium. At this time, the halls of rich families are decorated with embroidered chairs and magnificent, and ordinary people try their best to arrange the halls well. After everything is arranged, the girls burn incense and light candles and bow down to the stars, which is called "welcoming the fairy". From the third watch to the fifth watch, you have to worship seven times in a row. At this time, in addition to inviting relatives and friends to visit, we should also invite the girls who know each other and don't know each other in the neighborhood to worship God together, watch and taste skillful arts and toys, and be happy and lively. For example, the more people praise skillful arts and toys, the happier and more honored the girls in the family will be. The girls in Guangzhou said that how many times have they voted to show their skills in front of everyone like this? After worshipping the immortals, the girls hold colored threads in their hands and thread them through the pinholes (known as people with golden needles in ancient times). Those who can pass through seven pinholes in one breath are called skillful hands, while those who can't pass through seven-hole needles are "skillful losers". As the poet in the Tang Dynasty described it: "It is easy to thread a needle into the moon, but it is difficult to straighten the line in the breeze. I don't know who is clever, but I will try to find it tomorrow. " Then the paper round box (dressing box) is burned, which contains paper clothes, shoes, powder, dressing mirror, comb, etc., in seven copies. After the worship ceremony, the decorations on the Eight Immortals Stage remained unchanged, and were reserved for the girls to visit and comment on each other the next day (seventh day). According to some books in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Republic of China, Guangzhou girls showed their skillful skills on Tanabata, including embroidered shoes the size of a grain, various fans the size of a nail, exquisite and light curtains, and special lotus flowers, jasmine flowers, roses, night flowers, etc. The flowerpot is only the size of a sprinkling cup, and there are two flowers in it, which is hard to distinguish. On the seventh night of the seventh day, they continue to worship the gods as they did last night, which is called "worshipping the cowherd". Generally, boys are the main priests. After Tanabata, the girls gave each other handicrafts and toys to show their friendship. In Guangzhou, married women are generally not allowed to attend the Qixi Festival, but the newly-married bride will hold a "farewell ceremony" on the first Qixi Festival. That is, when offering sacrifices to the gods on the night of the sixth day, in addition to offering sacrifices, red eggs, sour ginger, etc. (taking the omen to get the son), Sydney or sand pears should also be added to express the intention of leaving the girl's day. According to Volume 17 of Guangzhou Records, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, there was an old custom of women boating in Shimen's Shenxiangpu. Yachts are decorated with jasmine flowers and jasmine flowers, which are called flower boats. They believe this day is "Fairy Shower Day". The water quality of Shimenpu is clear, and it returns to the two mountains at sunrise and sunset in the morning and evening, and sometimes there are some illusions in the sky like a mirage. The boaters hope to have the luck to see the odd one, so the girls' tanabata tour of Shimen Shenxiangpu has become an important content, very lively and a holiday custom.

nail dyeing

nail dyeing is a custom of Qixi, which is popular in southwest China, and it is also popular in many county annals of Sichuan province, Guizhou and Guangdong. Young girls in many areas like to wash their hair with the sap of trees during festivals. It is said that not only can they be young and beautiful, but also unmarried women can find the right husband as soon as possible. Dyeing nails with flowers and plants is also a hobby of most women and children in holiday entertainment, and it is also closely related to reproductive beliefs.

Women shampoo

It is also a special custom for women to shampoo on Tanabata. It is recorded in Hunan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. For example, "You County Records" in Xiangtan, Hunan Province: "On July 7, women picked cypress leaves and peach branches, fried soup and soaked their hair." Qi Jun (Zhejiang), a famous prose writer, also mentioned in her "Ji" that her mother, uncle and aunt and other harem all had their hair bathed on Tanabata. This custom is related to the belief in "holy water" on Tanabata. It is believed that taking spring water and river water on Tanabata Day, just like taking water from the Milky Way, has the sacred power of cleanliness. Some places directly call it "the holy water of Tiansun (the Weaver Girl)". Therefore, it is of special significance for women to bathe their hair on this day, which means that with the holy water in the Milky Way, they will be protected by the Weaver Goddess. It is also popular to catch dew with a washbasin. Legend has it that the dew in Chinese Valentine's Day is the tears when the cowherd and the weaver girl meet. If it is put on the eyes and hands, it can make people nimble.

Ligating Qiaogu

In the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province, there are also various begging activities at night in Chinese Valentine's Day.