The Chinese Valentine’s Day – Qixi Festival
Chinese Valentine’s Day is a Chinese festival celebrates the annual meeting of Zhinü and Niulang in Chinese mythology and it is known as Qixi Festival.
On the 28 August of every year, or on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar, Chinese people celebrates it.
In 2006, this occasion was included in the intangible national folklore list in China. So, in this article, we are going to talk about the legend behind this day.
The Legend of the Chinese Valentine’s Day
The myth says that a weaver, who is the divine emperor’ Wang’s daughter, grew bored with the life of heaven and decided to descend to the human life. One day, while she was playing among humans and taking a shower in the river, she met the shepherd who is the second hero in the legend. The shepherd was living alone and taking care of sheep after the death of his father. He was mistreated by his brother’s wife who fired him from home and left him alone.
The old cow was his only friend. And she helped him to meet the weaver and fall in love with her. Surprisingly , the weaver got into the human world, got married to the shepherd and gave birth to two children. So, the shepherd was farming the land and she was waving wool. And of course they lived a life full of love and pure feelings.
Later, the old cow was at death’s door and she asked the shepherd to keep her skin after his death and rib it when he needs help. Indeed, the shepherd and his wife skipped the cow’s skin after her death and kept it. They buried the cow at the top of the mountain.
However, the divine emperor and his wife realized that their daughter got married to a shepherd. They were very angry and decided to descend her to the human life to force the weaver to go back home.
READ ALSO: What are the ancient Chinese coins
The rest of our amazing story
When the shepherd come back, he did not find the weaver. He was gutted, but he remembered that he can use the cow skin to solve his problem. Therefore, the shepherd and his children rubbed the cow skin, and then they got on the clouds to follow the weaver.
They were about to find her when the queen used her super power. She took her hairpin, threw it and triggered the stormy waves of the sky river. And sadly, the weaver and the shepherd were separated again. There was nothing but tears and deep sadness.
The magpies sympathized with the shepherd story, so that ten thousand birds built a bridge to help the lovers meeting again. The queen allowed them to meet only on day every year on that bridge.
It was on 7/7 in the lunar calendar and called Qixi Celebration.
READ ALSO: Canada’s Provinces and Territories
The Qixi Festival (Double Seventh Festival)
On the Chinese Valentine’s Day , the Chinese express their love through certain gestures or presents. Like any romantic holiday, couples have a nice time, have dinner, exchange gifts and go to the cinemas.
The festival brings an atmosphere of romance to the Chinese streets. Love lights and candles are put in every street in China. They believe that this day will make the bonds of love so much stronger to face any problem that lovers may face.
Nowadays, Qixi which also known as the Qiqiao Festival, is still a very popular day in China, especially in the countrysides where people give special kinds of food as a corban.
Although, Qixi is not an official holiday in China, many people exchange flowers, chocolate and presents. Sweet and food stores do their best to serve people.
