Qi Xi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Qi Xi (Chinese: 七夕; pinyin: qī xī; 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 in Japan, Chilseok (칠석) in Korea, and That Tich in Vietnam. It is sometimes called Chinese Valentine's Day in recent years.
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 2009, this festival is coming on August 26.
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[edit] The story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl
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", the star Altair) happens across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he steals their clothes and waits to see what will happen. The fairy sisters elect 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 does so, but since Niulang has seen her naked, she must agree to his request for marriage. She proves to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang a good husband. They lived happily and had two children. But the Goddess of Heaven (in some versions Zhinü's mother) finds out that a mere mortal has married one of the fairy girls and is furious and orders her return to Heaven. (In another version, the Goddess forced the weaver fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds in the sky because she could not do her job while married to the mortal.) Down on Earth, Niulang is very upset learning that his wife is gone. Suddenly, his cow begins to talk telling him that if he kills him and puts on his hide, he will be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife. With tears flowing, he killed the cow, put on the skin and carrying his two children with him and off he went to Heaven to find Zhinü. The Goddess found out he had come and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratches a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever (thus forming the Milky Way, which separates 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 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, the seventh night of the seventh moon.
It is said that if it rains on the night of Qi Xi, they are the tears of Niulang and Zhinü crying at the misery of their life.
See also: The Princess and the Cowherd
As an interesting note, Barry Hughart's fantasy tale "Bridge of Birds" is loosely based upon this celestial story, though the two figures are switched here. The girl is forced to remain on earth, and her male paramour in heaven. She is a peasant girl, and he shepherds the stars.
[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. She was touched by their love for each other.
- It is the Emperor of Heaven, or his father (other times, his mother), who keeps the lovers separate and he does so in order that they focus on their work instead of romance. (the Maoist work-ethic version)
- The star Deneb is a fairy who acts as a chaperon when the lovers meet on the magpie bridge. (the G-rated version)
- Rather than once a year, there was another version where the lovers were allowed once a month.
- It is also a Chinese myth 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] 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 is believed to be an indication of the girl's being a skilled embroideress.
[edit] Schedule
The seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar in the coming years.
- 2008-08-07
- 2009-08-26
- 2010-08-16
- 2011-08-06
- 2012-08-23 (Note: The Japanese date is 2012-08-24 because of the time difference.)
- 2013-08-13
- 2014-08-02
- 2015-08-20
- 2016-08-09
- 2017-08-28
- 2018-08-17
- 2019-08-07
- 2020-08-25
[edit] Other romantic days in Chinese culture
Two other days have, or had, romantic associations in China: 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] Vietnam: "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 after that, the Jade Emperor felt sorry for them and permitted that they can meet each other once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month on the lunar year.
However, they cannot cross the Milky Way. To fix this, the Jade Emperor ordered crows and Racquet-tailed treepie 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, they 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] 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
