Qixi, or the Seventh Night Festival, falls on the seventh day of the
seventh lunar month, which is usually in early August. This year it falls on
Thursday, August 11.
As the story goes, once there was a cowherd, Niulang, who lived with his
elder brother and sister-in-law. But she disliked and abused him, and the boy
was forced to leave home with only an old cow for company.
The cow, however, was a former god who had violated imperial rules and was
sent to earth in bovine form.
One day the cow led Niulang to a lake where fairies took a bath on earth.
Among them was Zhinu, the most beautiful fairy and a skilled seamstress.
The two fell in love at first sight and were soon married. They had a son
and daughter and their happy life was held up as an example for hundreds of
years in China.
Yet in the eyes of the Jade Emperor, the Supreme Deity in Taoism, marriage
between a mortal and fairy was strictly forbidden. He sent the empress to fetch
Zhinu.
Niulang grew desperate when he discovered Zhinu had been taken back to
heaven. Driven by Niulang's misery, the cow told him to turn its hide into a
pair of shoes after it died.
The magic shoes whisked Niulang, who carried his two children in baskets
strung from a shoulder pole, off on a chase after the empress.
The pursuit enraged the empress, who took her hairpin and slashed it across
the sky creating the Milky Way which separated husband from wife.
But all was not lost as magpies, moved by their love and devotion, formed a
bridge across the Milky Way to reunite the family.
Even the Jade Emperor was touched, and allowed Niulang and Zhinu to meet
once a year on the seventh night of the seventh month.
This is how Qixi came to be. The festival can be traced back to the Han
Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).
Traditionally, people would look up at the sky and find a bright star in
the constellation Aquila as well as the star Vega, which are identified as
Niulang and Zhinu.
The two stars shine on opposite sides of the Milky Way.
In bygone days, Qixi was not only a special day for lovers, but also for
girls. It is also known as the "Begging for Skills Festival" or "Daughters'
Festival."
In the past, girls would conduct a ceremony to beg Zhinu for wisdom,
dexterity and a satisfying marriage in the future.
This was not the case all over China, as the festival varied from region to
region.
In some parts of Shandong Province, young women offered fruit and pastries
to pray for a bright mind. If spiders were seen to weave webs on sacrificial
objects, it was believed the Waving Girl was offering positive feedback.
In other regions, seven close friends would gather to make dumplings. They
put into three separate dumplings a needle, a copper coin and a red date, which
represented perfect needlework skills, good fortune and an early marriage.
Girls also held weaving and needlework competitions to see who had the best
hands and the brightest mind, both prerequisites for making a good wife and
mother in ancient China.
Young women in southern China used to weave small handicrafts with colored
paper, grass and thread.
Afterwards, they competed to pass a thread through the eyes of seven
needles in a single breath.
Nowadays, however, these ancient customs are in danger of being forgotten.
More and more young people celebrate Qixi in the same way that Valentine's Day
is celebrated in western countries. Hotels, restaurants and flower shops
capitalize on this by offering special sales on "Chinese Valentine's Day."
If it rains on the day, older people might say that Zhinu is crying on the
day she meets Niulang and her family again. Maybe she'll also be shedding tears
over the customs and traditions that are slowly being lost.
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