Chinese Valentine’s Day

By staff reporter DANG XIAOFEI

THE seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar is the Chinese Qixi Festival， also called the Chinese Valentines Day in recent years and the Dexterity Praying Day or Girls Day in ancient times. It is a day to pray for a happy marriage and to be a woman of ingenuity. Qixi Festival is the most romantic festi- val among traditional Chinese festivals， and dates back over 2，000 years.

Origin

In the ancient past， Chinese people， amazed and awed by heavenly galaxies and other natural phenomena， imagined that every star in the sky represented a deity in charge of something in the universe. For instance， Vega， called the weaving lady star in Chinese， makes gorgeous brocade that appears as clouds. Starting in the Han Dynasty （206 BC - AD 220）， Chinese women prayed to this star to bestow on them excellent sartorial skills， a key quality for good wives， and help them find good husbands. This tradition continued into later centuries.

During the Song and Yuan periods （960-1368）， Qixi had evolved into a big festive event. In the capital city， there was a fairground for objects used on this day， which became crowded as early as one week before the festival. As Qixi approached， the crowds of visitors spiked， and carriages and pedestrians filled the roads. The number of people thronging the streets together with the general festive spirit was comparable to that of Spring Festival.

Later， as a result of the influence of Chinese culture， this tradition was adopted by people in neighboring countries， including Japan， Korea， and Vietnam. In May 2006， Qixi was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage by the Chinese government.

Folklore

The reason Qixi has been called the Chinese Valentines Day is because of an ancient love story about a cowboy and a weaving girl. According to the legend， the cowboys parents died when he was young. After they died， he lived with his older brother and sisterin-law for period of time， but was ill-treated by them. After he grew older， he was kicked out of his brothers house， with the only property under his name being an old ox， who was actually a deity in disguise. With its help the cowboy met a fairy girl who wove clouds in the heavenly palace， and married her. They later had a son and a daughter， and lived happily together. Years later， as the ox was dying of old age， it told the cowboy to keep its hide after it died， saying that it would come in handy someday.

The marriage between a mortal and an immortal violated the rules of the heavenly kingdom. Consequently， the Queen Mother of the West took the weaving girl away from her family. Remembering the oxs words， the cowboy placed his children into two baskets， carried them with a shoulder pole， and hopped on the cattle hide. The hide then carried them all into the sky. As he came close to his wife， the Queen Mother swiped her hairpin through the air， creating a billowy river， the Milky Way， between the woman and her family. From then on， the cowboy and weaving girl could only look at each other from opposite banks of the river， languishing in lovesickness.

Eventually the Queen Mother relented and allowed them to meet on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. On that night， a group of magpies gathered together to form a bridge across the Milky Way so the couple could be reunited. But the meeting could only last for a short time， because the birds had to leave before dawn.

Old Customs

Threading a needle： Girls raced to thread the needle， and the fastest one was believed to have the deftest fingers. Other girls presented gifts to the winner.

Planting seeds： Married women planted corn in soil or soaked beans and wheat in a bowl of water days before the festival. After the sprouts came out， they were tied with red and blue threads into a bundle. As seed is a homophone of child in Chinese， this practice was believed to help married women have children.

Worshipping the weaving girl： Women， married or not， gathered with friends in the yard under moonlight， where sacrifices were offered on a table. After burning incense and bowing， they sat down， ate some fruit， and silently told Vega their wishes.

Eavesdropping： In certain regions of China， girls hid in grape vines during the night of Qixi in the hope of overhearing the conversation of the cowboy and weaving girl during their reunion. Its believed that those who overheard the couples words would find loyal husbands.

Dexterity cookie： This food was especially served at the Qixi Festival， and was made in various shapes. Made of oil， flour， sugar， and honey， it was displayed as a sacrifice before being consumed by the family on the night of the day.

Washing hair： In some regions， women washed their hair with the sap of certain trees during the Qixi Festival. People believed doing this would not only give them shiny hair but also bring Mr. Right into the single womens lives.

Knot tying： The parents of children of poor health would tie seven knots on a red thread， and put it around the neck of the child on the day of Qixi， in the hope that it would bring their child good health and longevity.