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."
Qixi Festival will fall on August 7, 2008. 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.
(China.org.cn May 25, 2007)
