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The story of the cowherd and the weaver girl See also: The Princess and the Cowherd In late summer, the stars Altair and Vega are high in the night sky, and the Chinese tell the following love story, of which there are many variations: A young cowherd named Niulang (Chinese: ; pinyin: ni lng; literally "[the] cowherd"), came across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he stole their clothes and waited to see what would happen. The fairy sisters elected the youngest and most beautiful sister Zhin (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: zh n; literally "[the] weaver girl", the star Vega) to retrieve their clothing. She agreed to do so, but since Niulang had seen her naked, she agreed to his request for marriage. She proved to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children. But the Goddess of Heaven (or in some versions, Zhin's mother) found out that Zhin, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhin to return to heaven. (Alternatively, the Goddess forced the fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds, a task she neglected while living on earth with a mortal.) On Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife. Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhin. The Goddess discovered this and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair and Vega. Zhin must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar and takes care of their two children (his flanking stars and Aquilae or by their Chinese names H Gu 1 and H Gu 3). But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (, "the bridge of magpies", Que Qiao) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon. Variations of the story It was also said that the Goddess of Heaven, out of pity, decided to let them unite once on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month as she was touched by their love for each other. In some versions it is the Emperor of Heaven, or the cowherd's father, or the cowherd's mother have the role of separating the lovers in order for them to focus on their work instead of romance. The star Deneb is a fairy who acts as a chaperone when the lovers meet on the magpie bridge. Rather than once a year, there is another version where the lovers were permitted to reunite once a month. There is also a belief that sometime during the night of Qi Xi, the two stars Altair and Vega will actually unite on the same side of the Milky Way. In popular culture Barry Hughart's fantasy novel, Bridge of Birds, is loosely based upon this story, though the two figures are switched. The girl is forced to remain on earth, while her male paramour is in the heavens. She is a peasant girl, and he shepherds the stars. Traditions On Qi Xi, a festoon is placed in the yard and the single or newly married women in the household make an offering to Niulang and Zhin consisting of fruit, flowers, tea, and facial powder (makeup). After finishing the offering, half of the facial powder is thrown on the roof and the other half divided among the young women. It is believed by doing this, the women are bound in beauty with Zhin. Another tradition is for young girls to throw a sewing needle into a bowl full of water on the night of Qi Xi as a test of embroidery skills. If the needle floats on top of the water instead of sinking, it proves the girl is a skilled embroideress. Schedule The seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar in the coming years. 2010-08-16 2011-08-06 2012-08-23 2013-08-13 2014-08-02 2015-08-20 2016-08-09 2017-08-28 2018-08-17 2019-08-07 2020-08-25 Vietnamese version: "Ngy ma Ngu" In Vietnam, this day is called "Ngy ma ngu" (Continual Rain Day). The tale is about a pair of lovers: Ngu Lang, who is the Jade Emperor's buffalo man and an outstanding bamboo fluter, and Ch N, who is responsible for fabric weaving. They were too passionate for each other to do their work well. Because of this lost productivity, the Jade Emperor became angry and decided that they must live on opposite sides of sng Ngn (the Milky Way) . But later the Jade Emperor felt sorry for them and permitted them to meet each other once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar year. However, they are unable to cross the Milky Way on their own. Thus the Jade Emperor ordered crows and racket-tailed treepies to build a bridge across the Milky Way. From then on, the bridge has the name cu Th ("Crow and Pie Bridge"). Every year, when they meet each other, the lovers cry and cry and cry. Their tears fall down from the sky and make a special kind of rain on this day: "ma ngu" ("continual rain" a rain that last during a long period of time). This is why the people call them "ng Ngu" and "b Ngu" (Sir and Madame Continual Rain). Other romantic days in Chinese culture Two other days have, or had, romantic associations in Chinese-culture region: Valentine's Day on February 14th, borrowed from the West, and Lantern Festival Day, on which an unmarried girl was traditionally permitted to appear in public unescorted and thus be seen by eligible bachelors. The latter no longer has such implications nowadays, however. See also Lantern Festival used to serve as a day for love and matchmaking, on which an unmarried girl was traditionally permitted to appear in public unescorted and thus be seen by eligible bachelors. It was one of the few nights in ancient times without a strict curfew. It is sometimes regarded as another Chinese Valentine's Day. Young people were chaperoned in the streets in hopes of finding love. Matchmakers acted busily in hopes of pairing couples. Chinese mythology Chinese astrology Summer Triangle Tanabata Japanese Qi Xi The Legend of Love References Qixi -- the Chinese Valentine's Day (China Daily August 10, 2005) External links The Double Seventh Festival of China Categories: Chinese holidays Chinese calendars Chinese traditional religionHidden categories: Articles containing traditional Chinese language text Articles containing simplified Chinese language text Articles containing Chinese language text I am an expert from fiberopticsconnector.com , while we provides the quality product, such as China lc fiber connector , fiber optic st connectors Manufacturer, fiber optic connector,and more.
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