double seventh festival 2011
double seventh festival 2011
double seventh festival 2011,double seventh festival,the Chinese Valentine’s Day,Seventh Evening,Niulang et Zhinu
double seventh festival is Chinese Valentine’s Day, and it also called Seventh Evening,Niulang et Zhinu day
double seventh festival to Plead for Skills
The Seventh Sister’s Birthday, especially in Cantonese,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:
double seventh festival 2011
double seventh festival 2011
A young cowherd, hence Niulang,came across with a beautiful girl–Zhinü the seventh daughter of the Goddess, who just has escaped from boring heaven to look for fun. Zhinü soon fell in love with Niulang, and they got married without the knowledge of the Goddess. Zhinü 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 while taking care of their two children (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae or by their Chinese names Hè Gu 1 and Hè Gu 3).
double seventh festival 2011 the Chinese Valentine’s Day
double seventh festival 2011 the Chinese Valentine’s Day
But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge 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.
double seventh festival 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 who has 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.
Similar stories are told throughout Asia; in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Laos and Indonesia. In South-east Asia the stories were known as Sudhana Jataka, believed to be one of the stories of the past lives of the Buddha, or the jataka.
double seventh festival 2011 Niulang et Zhinu
double seventh festival 2011 Niulang et Zhinu
double seventh festival 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.
In the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid, the protagonist attends this festival with his female companion and sees the story reenacted in a shadow play.
American post-hardcore band La Dispute’s song ‘Four’ is written about an alternative version of this story, with a Great King taking the role of separating the lovers, due to her neglecting her duties at the loom. In this version the lovers are a princess and a shepherd, and it replaces all the mythology in the original story. La Dispute’s first LP has a recurring theme of this story, including the album title: Somewhere At the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair.
double seventh festival Traditions
Qi xi originated from Han Dynasty. It came from people’s worship on stars.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 of the household. It is believed that 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.Single women also pray for finding a good husband in the future. And the newly married women pray to be pregnant quickly in the future.
People say that on this day it will rain, because of them crying in heavens. Others say that if you stand under grapevines on this night, you would even hear them talking.
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