What are the traditional folk customs of the Chinese Valentine's Day? Why is the Chinese Valentine's Day called the Qiqiao Festival?
The Chinese Valentine's Day, also known as the Seventh Sister's Birthday, is a festival where people worship the Seventh Sister, beg for skills, and watch the Altair and Vega stars. So what are the traditional folk customs of the Chinese Valentine's Day? Why is the Chinese Valentine's Day called the Festival for Begging for Skills? July is also called the "Qiaoyue". On July 7th every year, Chinese women "beg for cleverness" from the Vega star in the sky. You can visit Mr. Shuimo's website to learn more about the seventh month of the lunar calendar in 2019!What are the traditional folk customs of the Qixi Festival?1. Worship the Weaver Girl"Pray to the Weaver Girl" means that the girl begs the Weaver Girl for skills. Most of them make appointments with their friends or neighbors in advance to host the event together with five or six people, or as many as ten people. The ceremony was held by setting up a table under the moonlight, on which were placed tea, wine, fruits, five seeds (longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts, melon seeds) and other offerings; there were also a few flowers tied with red paper and inserted in a vase, and a small incense burner was placed in front of the flowers. Then, the young women and girls who had agreed to participate in the worship of the Weaver Girl fasted for a day, bathed, and came to the host's house on time. After burning incense and praying in front of the table, everyone sat around the table together, eating peanuts and melon seeds, facing the Weaver Girl constellation, and silently reciting their thoughts. For example, young girls who hope to be beautiful or marry a good husband, and young women who hope to have a baby soon, can pray silently to the Vega. 2. Competition of Cleverness On the Qixi Festival, there are several methods of "divination" to judge the cleverness of the contestants. There are mainly "threading a needle to pray for cleverness", "the spider responding to the call for cleverness", "threading a needle facing the moon", "losing cleverness", "competing for cleverness on the orchid night" and "testing cleverness by throwing a needle". 3. Praying for marriage On clear summer and autumn nights, the sky is full of shining stars, and a Milky Way stretches across the north and south. On the east and west banks of the Milky Way, there is a shining star on each side, facing each other across the river. They are Altair and Vega. Countless lovers in the world will pray to the starry sky for a happy marriage when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the Magpie Bridge on the night of Chinese Valentine's Day. 4. Visit Qijie Water. According to folklore, on Chinese Valentine's Day, seven fairies from the sky will come down to earth to bathe in the river. At this time, the river water is imbued with fairy spirit, so people who bathe in it will not only have good luck in love but also prevent diseases. People in Baise, Jingxi and other places in Guangxi believe that the water on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is very holy and clean. The water on the Chinese Valentine's Day can not only drive away evil spirits and avoid diseases, but also make their love life perfect and their life happy. This custom is related to the local legend of seven fairies coming down to earth to take a bath. 5. According to the old custom of planting seeds to pray for children , a few days before the Chinese Valentine's Day, a layer of soil is first applied on a small wooden board, and corn seeds are sown to let it grow into green shoots. Or you can soak mung beans, adzuki beans, wheat, etc. in a porcelain bowl, wait for them to grow inch-long sprouts, and then tie them into a bundle with red or blue silk ropes. This is called "seeding", and is used to pray for children. It is also called "Pao Qiao" in various parts of the south. The grown bean sprouts are called Qiao Ya, and people even use Qiao Ya to replace needles and throw them on the water to pray for cleverness. 6. Celebrating the birthday of the ox. In the old days, children would pick wild flowers and hang them on the horns of oxen on the Chinese Valentine's Day, which was also called "celebrating the birthday of the ox." According to legend, after the Queen Mother of the West separated the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl with the Milky Way, the old cow asked the Cowherd to peel off its skin so that the Cowherd could cross the Milky Way to see the Weaver Girl, so the old cow could ride on its skin to see the Weaver Girl. In order to commemorate the old cow’s sacrificial spirit, people have the custom of “celebrating the cow’s birthday”. Why is the Chinese Valentine's Day called the Qiqiao Festival?Answer: In ancient times, the Chinese Valentine's Day was a festival when young women begged the Weaver Girl for skills, so it was also called the Begging for Skills Festival.The Chinese Valentine's Day, also known as the Qiqiao Festival, originated in the Han Dynasty. In the Western Capital Miscellaneous Records by Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there is a record that "beautiful women of the Han Dynasty used to thread seven-hole needles in the Kaijin Tower on July 7th, and everyone was accustomed to it." The original Qiqiao Festival was not to commemorate the love between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, but to commemorate the Weaver Girl herself, who was called "Seventh Sister" by the people. Therefore, the Chinese Valentine's Day is first and foremost a women's festival, and the Weaver Girl is regarded as the goddess of weaving and the object of worship for women in ancient times. On the night of the seventh day of the seventh month, mortal women would beg her for wisdom and skills, and of course, they would also pray for a happy marriage and a husband of their dreams. According to the "Dongjing Sui Shi Lu", "On the Qixi Festival, every family decorates with colorful decorations to make a begging tent." This shows how grand the occasion was. The activity of "begging for wisdom and skill" is actually begging for wisdom and skill from the Weaver Girl. The custom of begging for skill has already existed in the Han Dynasty. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, women tied colorful threads and threaded seven-hole needles. The custom was particularly popular in the Tang Dynasty, and people would use needle throwing to predict skill. That is, take a bowl of clean water and expose it to the sun, then throw a small needle to float on the water. The shape of the needle's shadow on the bottom of the water is used to predict whether the woman who threw the needle is smart or stupid. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Qixi Festival evolved into the "Seven Girls Gathering", where seven girls would get together and use paper, colored paper, rice and flour as materials to wrap various flowers, fruits, figures, and palace utensils. They would then be displayed on the Eight Immortals Table in the courtyard on the evening of the Qixi Festival for tourists to appreciate, and then they would compete in threading needles and worship the Weaver Girl. As the saying goes, "A good fate is not as good as good luck." A person's destiny is already determined, and the only thing that can be controlled is his or her "luck." Unexpected changes in the world may happen at any time, so use Mr. Shui Mo's [Premium Calculation] function to learn more about your fortune in 2019! |
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