Qixi Festival
Traditional Chinese	七夕節
Simplified Chinese	七夕节
Transliterations

Qixi Festival (Chinese: 七夕節; pinyin: qī xī jié; literally "The Night of Sevens"), also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; thus its name. It also inspired Tanabata (aka. Shichiseki [七夕]) in Japan, Chilseok (칠석) in Korea, and That Tich in Vietnam. It is sometimes called Chinese Valentine's Day (Simplified Chinese: 情人节 Pinyin: Qíng rén jié) circa late 1990s to 2000s.

Young girls traditionally demonstrate their domestic arts, especially melon carving, on this day and make wishes for a good husband. It is also known by the following names:

• The Festival to Plead for Skills (乞巧節; qǐ qiǎo jié)
• The Seventh Sister's Birthday (七姊誕; qī jiě dàn)
• The Night of Skills (巧夕; qiǎo xī)

In 2010, this festival falls on August 16.

Contents 1 The story of the cowherd and the weaver girl 2 Variations of the story 3 In popular culture 4 Traditions 5 Schedule 6 Vietnamese version: "Ngày mưa Ngâu" 7 Other romantic days in Chinese culture 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] 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: 牛郎; pinyin: niú láng; 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 Zhinü (simplified Chinese: 织女; traditional Chinese: 織女; pinyin: zhī nǚ; 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, Zhinü's mother) found out that Zhinü, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhinü 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 Zhinü. 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.

Zhinü 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 β and γ Aquilae or by their Chinese names Hè Gu 1 and Hè 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 (鵲橋, "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.

It is said that if it rains on the night of Qi Xi, it is the tears of Niulang and Zhinü crying for a lost year apart because the magpies will not come on a night that rains.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 Zhinü 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 Zhinü.

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.

[edit] Schedule

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar in the coming years.

1. 2010-08-16
2. 2011-08-06
3. 2012-08-23
4. 2013-08-13
5. 2014-08-02
6. 2015-08-20
7. 2016-08-09
8. 2017-08-28
9. 2018-08-17
10. 2019-08-07
11. 2020-08-25

[edit] Vietnamese version: "Ngày mưa Ngâu"

In Vietnam, this day is called "Ngày mưa ngâu" (Continual Rain Day). The tale is about a pair of lovers: Ngưu Lang, who is the Jade Emperor's buffalo man and an outstanding bamboo fluter, and Chức Nữ, 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 sông Ngân (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 cầu Ô Thước ("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: "mưa ngâu" ("continual rain" — a rain that last during a long period of time). This is why the people call them "ông Ngâu" and "bà Ngâu" (Sir and Madame Continual Rain).

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] References

• Qixi -- the Chinese Valentine's Day (China Daily August 10, 2005)

[edit] External links

• The Double Seventh Festival of China