To the Chinese, the seventh lunar month is usually known as the month of the Ghost Festival but it is also this month where many Chinese celebrate their own version of Valentine's or Lover's Day. That particular festival is on the night of seventh day of the seventh lunar month or is popularly known as the double seventh festival in English.
Why is 7/7 considered a day for lovers? This is because of the romantic tale of Niu Lang and Zhi Nu (The legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl).
Here is how the legend goes:
A long, long time ago in in the Hexi area to the West of China, there lived Niu Lang. He was a cowherd who had a kind heart. His parents had died and he was living with his brother and brother-in-law. He was ill-treated by them and finally was driven out of his home by his sister-in-law. After that he met a fairy who was in the guise of an old man who guided him to the sick celestial ox in heaven. With tender loving care Niu Lang was able to help the cattle recover. In gratitude to Niu Lang, the celestial ox helped him get acquainted with Zhi Nu - a fairy from heaven. They fell in love with each other, got married. Their time married life was happy with Niu Lang planting in the field while Zhi Nu weaving at home. They became parents to a boy and a girl. However their marital bliss was not to last as the Jade Emperor found out about their unionr and ordered the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens to bring the Weaver Maid back to where she was supposed to belong. With help from the ox, Niu Lang flew to heaven with his son and daugher as they pursued his wife and theirmother. It was just at the instant before he could reach his beloved wife that the Heavenly Queen created a huge river between them by making a stroke with one of the golden hairpins from her hair. Tears from the two lovers flowed continuously so that even the queen was moved. Therefore, the day that Niu Lang and Zhi Nu (牛郎 織女) meet is the present Double Seventh Festival. Their loyalty to love touched the heart of the Phoenix who called tens of thousands of magpies to build a bridge for the Cowherd and Weaver Girl to meet each other. The Queen Mother was eventually moved and allowed them to meet each year on the 7th of the 7th lunar month. Hence their meeting date has been called "Qi Xi" (Double Seventh).
How the double seventh day is celebrated
On the night of 7/7 one might find some Chinese girls praying to Zhi Nu for skillful hands for sewing as this heavenly princess is regarded as a beautiful woman who is skilled at weaving. I guess those girls and ladies in the tailoring profession would sew some needlework articles as competition with their rivals and offer fruits and flowers to Zhi Nu in order to be endowed with nimble hands. Ahem! I don't really think that most girls would be so interested in being blessed with needlework skills but rather their main objective of praying would be to for their Mr Rights to turn up and sweep them off their feet. During the prayer ceremony to Zhi Nu, the girls also ask to be blessed with wisdom as well. Personally, I think that Zhi Nu would be too busy spending time with her beloved instead of granting the wishes of all the maidens. Why not they pray to her on the 364 days of the year. Wouldn't that be more considerate?
In the Tang Dynasty about 1,000 years ago, rich families in the capital city of Chang'an would set up a decorated tower in the courtyard and name it :Tower of Praying for Ingenuity. They prayed for various types of ingenuity. Most girls would pray for outstanding sewing or cooking skills. In the past these were important virtues for a woman. Girls and women would gather together in a square and look into the star-filled night sky. They would put their hands behind their backs, holding needle and thread. At the word,Start,they would try to thread the needle. The one who succeeded first would be granted her wish by Zhi Nu, the Girl Weaver. The same night, the girls and women would also display carved melons and samples of their cookies and other delicacies. During the daytime, they would skillfully carve melons into all sorts of things. Some would make a gold fish while thers preferred flowers, still others would use several melons and carve them into an exquisite mastepieces. These melons were called Hua Gua or Carved Melons. The ladies would also show off their fried cookies made in many different shapes.They would invite the Girl Weaver to judge who was the best. Of course, Zhi Nu would not come down to the world because she was busy talking to Niu Lang after a long year of separation. These activities gave the girls and women a good opportunity to show their skills and added fun to the festival.
In places like Taiwan and China, some young people celebrate this day as the Chinese version of Valentine's day complete with the flowers, chocolates and romantic dinners.
In places like Taiwan and China, some young people celebrate this day as the Chinese version of Valentine's day complete with the flowers, chocolates and romantic dinners.
I used the commercial illustration for the movie Butterfly Lovers to post here as I find it to be really romantic. Also, the story of Liang Shan Bo and Chu Ying Tsai is just as romantic and poignantly sweet as that of Niu Lang Zhi Nu. Both feature underlying love.
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