Do you know the origin of Qixi Festival?

The origin and evolution of the Chinese Valentine’s Day

1. The origin of Qixi Festival

The origin of the Chinese Valentine’s Day has become a focus of academic debate. How and when the Chinese Valentine’s Day was formed, and whether its origin is related to the myth of the Morning Bull and the Weaver Girl. These are three aspects that cannot be avoided when researching the origin of the Chinese Valentine’s Day. Judging from the current research status, various theories are consistent. When analyzing the relationship between the Qixi Festival and the myth and legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, they also discussed their respective origins. However, scholars have not reached a consensus on the origin of the Qixi Festival. Regarding the relationship between the Chinese Valentine’s Day and the myth of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, there are generally two views: one is that the two have no relationship at all, and merged into one at a certain time during their respective development; the other is that the two are one and not two, and have a mutually derived relationship in origin. Did the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl create the Chinese Valentine’s Day, or did the Chinese Valentine’s Day coincide with the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl and it has been passed down to this day? This depends on the time when the two appeared in people’s field of vision.

The classic record of the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was first seen in the Book of Songs · Daya · Dadong》 : “The weaver girl has seven armrests all day long. Even if she has seven armrests, she will not be able to make a newspaper. The cows in Anhui will not be fed into the box.” The second one is “The Book of Songs” · Zhou Nan · “Han Guang”: “There are trees in the south, you can’t rest. There are goddesses in the Han Dynasty, you can’t ask for death.” These records are just the prototype of the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. These few sentences describe that the Weaver Girl did not weave and the Altair did not pull a cart. Obviously, the Vega and Altair depicted at this time mainly appeared as two stars with symbols of farming civilization and cottage industry civilization. The main characters, mutual relationships and related plots in the legend did not appear. At this time, the Weaver Girl and the Altair did not have a male-female relationship. Later “Nineteen Ancient Poems” · “Altair”, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl began to have the image of lovesickness facing each other across the river. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it became the legend of the Weaver Girl crossing the Magpie Bridge on the Chinese Valentine’s Day. The “Customs of Customs” written by Yingshao of the Eastern Han Dynasty recorded: “The Weaver Girl will cross the river on the Chinese Valentine’s Day and use the magpies as bridges. It is said that the bridges will be closed for no reason on the seventh day because the beams are used to cross the Weaver Girl.” Chen Yuanliang of the Song Dynasty quoted “Huainanzi” from “Guangji of Sui Shi” as saying, “The magpies fill the river to form a bridge and cross the Weaver Girl.” There is also a record in “Historical Records”: “Four Seasons” The star is on the dangerous side, and the morning glory is the sacrifice. The north is the Weaver Girl, and the Heavenly Lady is the grandson. The heavenly official star is the Heavenly Chicken, and the morning glory is the Heavenly Drum in the east of the river drum. If the morning glory is not in harmony with the Weaver Girl, the relationship between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is determined. The story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meeting on the Magpie Bridge as a couple was roughly formed during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The “Jingchu Sui Shi Ji” at that time recorded: “To the east of the Tianhe River, there is a Weaver Girl, the son of the Emperor of Heaven. Every year, she works as a weaver, weaving cloud brocade and heavenly clothes. The Emperor of Heaven pitied her for being alone, and promised to marry the Cowherd in Hexi. After the marriage, she abandoned the weaving and moved to the east of the river. The Emperor of Heaven was angry and ordered her to return to the east of the river. Only on the night of July 7th every year, she would cross the river for a while.”

It can be seen that the songs about the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were circulated for hundreds of years from the weekend through the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and then from the early Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, before mentioning their meeting on July 7th. At that time, July 7th was already a large-scale annual festival.

Chinese Valentine’s Day originated very early, and it was just a festival at the beginning. Judging from historical documents, the Qixi Festival originated at least three to four thousand years ago, and its origin is closely related to astrology and phenology.

It is said Qixi Festival in Warring States Period It may already be there. According to Luo Qi in the Ming Dynasty Records in “The Origin of Things” : “King Huai of Chu first established the Qixi Festival.” However, because the author is too far away from the time stated, it may not be reliable. The earliest record of the custom of begging for tricks during the Chinese Valentine’s Day is “Xijing Miscellaneous Notes” by Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, The article records: “Mrs. Qi’s servant Jia Peilan came out later and was the wife of Duan Ru, a native of Fufeng. She said that when she was in the palace, she went to the Baizi Pond to compose Khotan music on July 7. After the music was completed, the five-color strands bound each other, which was called ‘love connection’.” It is also recorded: “Han silk women often pierce the seven-hole needle in their jackets on July 7th.” These two records can illustrate the grand occasion of celebrating July 7th in the palace in the early Western Han Dynasty.
However, there are no records of the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl among these customs and activities in the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that the Chinese Valentine’s Day is not an annual festival derived from the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

Regarding the origin of the Chinese Valentine’s Day, we can explore it from the Chinese Valentine’s Day customs.

“Qixi Festival” originated from people’s worship of the Star God, that is, the worship of nature. Volume 31 of “Taiping Yulan” quotes from the “Wind Master” written by Zhou Chu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: “On the seventh day of the seventh month, a few banquets were served in the courtyard, with wine and preserved fruits, and fragrant powder spread on the banquet to pray to the River Drum and the Weaver Girl, saying that the two star gods would meet.” The River Drum and the Weaver Girl here refer to Altair and the Vega. Altair is regarded as the god of grain, and Weaver is said to be the goddess of silkworms, the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven. Both the god of grains and the god of silkworms are gods that the ancestors of our farming nation attached great importance to. People at that time believed that there were seven stars representing directions in the east, west, south, and north, which were collectively called the twenty-eight stars. As for worshiping the two stars Altair and Vega on Chinese Valentine’s Day, it is because the movement of these two stars is most prominent in July.

“Qixi Festival” also comes from ancient people’s worship of time. According to “Taiping Yulan”: “In July, millet is ripe, and the seventh day is Yang, so elk is the most precious.” “July 7 is a good day,” so it is regarded as an auspicious day to celebrate the autumn harvest. During the Han and Wei Dynasties, this day was regarded as a day for gathering and recreation. This day is also the day when the heavenly gods gather together. “Xu Qixie Ji” records: “The Weaver Girl crossed the river, and all the immortals returned to the palace.” The number of sevens in the folk is expressed as a stage in time, and when calculating time, “seven to seven” is often regarded as the final outcome. Therefore, in the Qixi Festival customs, there are customs such as begging for skill, blessings, and love, which all originate from the fact that July 7th is a good day, so as to pray for a good harvest. The worship of time also extends to the worship of life. Among the customs of Qixi Festival, there are the customs of begging and worshiping ancestors. When Yang Lin studied the origin of the Qixi Festival, she made a detailed analysis of the origin of the Qixi Festival by combining the relevant principles of folklore, combined with related books, literati’s notes, local chronicles and other related records: The cause of the Qixi Festival is that “seven has reproductive magic in ancient culture” Number, the ancients regarded July 7th as a festival as a result of worshiping the mysterious number seven. Its essence is the expectation and worship of reproduction. “Therefore, in ancient times, many women often engaged in begging for children on the Qixi Festival in order to improve their status in social life.

The Qixi Festival was not integrated with the myth and legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl until the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were a period of great turmoil in the history of our country. The people were in war for a long time, and their desire to pursue a happy and stable life was difficult to realize in reality, so they turned to legendary figures for begging. At this time, the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was further perfected and integrated with the Qixi Festival, making the Qixi Festival a universal festival. In addition to the custom of begging for clever things, there are also customs of begging for wealth, longevity and children during the Qixi Festival. The faithful love of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has also become people’s emotional sustenance. Since women have a lower social status and are usually regarded as a tool for reproduction in feudal society, giving birth to a baby boy has become one of the ways for women to improve their social status. Seeking a child has therefore become an important part of the Chinese Valentine’s Day folk activities.

Through the exploration of the myth and legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl and the Qixi Festival, it can be seen that the origin of the Qixi Festival mainly comes from the ancient people’s worship of the stars, nature and time. Its origin has nothing to do with the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. However, with the development and evolution of the myth of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl and the human emotions conveyed in the story, it was not until the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties that they gradually merged.

1. The evolution of Qixi Festival

   Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties , the plot of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was further improved and integrated with the customs of the Chinese Valentine’s Day. The Chinese Valentine’s Day became a universal festival, and its activities became increasingly rich. According to the records in “The Chronicles of Jingchu” written by Liang Zongmao of the Southern Dynasties : “July 7th is the night for the gathering of Morning Glory and Weaver Girl… On this eve, women tie colorful threads, thread seven-hole needles, or use gold, silver, or jade stones as needles, and display melons and fruits in the courtyard to beg for cleverness. If there are happy nets on the melons, they think they are lucky.” This fully reflects the scene of folk women threading needlework and offering sacrifices to stars to beg for cleverness on the Chinese Valentine’s Day. Divining one’s knitting talents by watching spiders weave webs is also a method often used by women when begging for skills. The practice in the Southern Dynasties was to put spiders on melons and let them form webs on the melons, and then judge whether they were lucky or not based on the density and sparseness of the webs. Because the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl attached to it has been widely spread, The original taboo meaning of Chinese Valentine’s Day has completely disappeared at this time, and the seventh day of July has become an auspicious day to enjoy the gatherings in heaven and to beg for happiness on earth. Original annotation of “Jade Candle Book: Mengqiu in July” : “The customary day of July is the most important day. At night, people sweep the courtyard, prepare a banquet with wine and wine, spread fragrant powder on the banquet, make rice into the rice, and pray to the river drum and the Weaver Girl, saying that the two star gods will meet.” This record clearly shows that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl met on the Chinese Valentine’s Day, thus linking the Chinese Valentine’s Day to the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and gradually fixed it, forming a love story that is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Therefore, during this period, the Qixi Festival not only inherited and developed the existing custom of “begging for cleverness”, but also added the customs of begging for wealth, longevity, and begging for children. At the same time, because of people’s yearning and pursuit of the steadfast love between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, the Chinese Valentine’s Day has become people’s emotional support. The custom of climbing the stairs to dry clothes in the Han Dynasty evolved into the custom of drying books in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. “Shishuoxinyu” says : “On July 7th, when Hao Long saw his neighbors all drying their clothes, Long Nai raised his head and lay down, saying: : ‘Post books. “Mr. Ruan Xian also saw that his neighbors were exposing their clothes on Chinese Valentine’s Day, but his family also took out his own rags and torn trousers to hang out. This shows that Chinese Valentine’s Day customs have a great influence among the people. Among them, begging for love and begging for children are closely related to women’s lives and spirits. The emphasis that feudal society placed on heirs also directly determined women’s status. Therefore, begging for children was also an important activity for women at that time, and praying for love was a beautiful wish that was difficult to realize for feudal women. Chinese food customs on Chinese Valentine’s Day were also formed in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The earliest relevant record is “Fengtu Ji” written in the Jin and Zhou Dynasties. July 7th is a good day, and the food on this day is also different from the past. Northerners will eat soup cakes. Soup cake, also known as “butuo”, is a simple food such as boiled noodles. People eating cakes during the Chinese Valentine’s Day has its own cultural connotations. First, the cake is round in shape. The ancients believed that “roundness is a phallic object.” The phallic object has the function of warding off evil spirits, and eating the phallic object can bring good luck. Secondly, the circle also implies that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the Magpie Bridge on the night of the Chinese Valentine’s Day, which means reunion. The ancients called Chinese Valentine’s Day cakes “qiaobing”.

   Tang Dynasty Various Chinese Valentine’s Day customs are popular in Chang’an. In “The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao”, The poem “Qixi” by Cui Hao of the Tang Dynasty once vividly described the custom of women threading needles and begging for skills on the Qixi Festival in Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty. The poem goes: “The moon in Chang’an City is like a drill, and every family is holding a needle and thread this night. The fairy skirt and jade pendant know that the sky is empty, and there is no relationship between heaven and earth. See you.” During the Qixi Festival, every young girl and woman in every household in Chang’an city would bring needlework, offer melons and fruits, and place incense tables to ask for help from the Weaver Girl. The purpose was just to prove their talents and talents in needlework. During the Tang Dynasty, the custom of using spiders to beg for cleverness was also very popular in the palace. According to the “Heritage of Kaiyuan Tianbao”, at that time, every Qixi Festival, the palace maids would “catch spiders and close them in small boxes. At dawn, they would open the spider webs and look at them to see how dense they were, thinking that they would get a chance. The secret ones said more clever things, and the rare ones said less clever things, and the folk also followed this.” During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Chinese Valentine’s Day cakes changed again, as recorded in “Liu Dian of the Tang Dynasty” : “Add ground cake on July 7th and eat it regularly.”

   Song Dynasty Later, agricultural civilization further developed, from the court to the people, Cowherd, : “On the Chinese Valentine’s Day, beggars and beggars were bought and sold in front of Panlou. From July 1st, the carriages and horses were stuffed with food, and three days before the Chinese Valentine’s Day, the carriages and horses were blocked, and they could no longer move forward. They dispersed at night.” From this, we can know the lively scene of the Chinese Valentine’s Day at that time. In the third year of Taiping and Xingguo AD, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty issued a decree about drums. The Chinese Valentine’s Day was often called Girls’ Day in the Yuan Dynasty. It can be seen that by this time, the customs of the Chinese Valentine’s Day were basically dominated by women. “Analysis of Jinzhi” contains detailed records of the lively celebrations of the festival in the city, court and palace on the Qixi Festival. The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is already very common. Volumes 1 and 3 of Luo Yuan’s “Erya Wings” of the Southern Song Dynasty also say : “For seven days in autumn, ( magpie ) The head is all Kun for no reason. According to legend, it was believed that on that day, the river drum and the Weaver Girl met in the east of Han Dynasty, and the black magpies were used to cross the beams, so their hair was shed. “At this time, many poems and articles praising the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl also emerged. For example, “Magpie Bridge Immortal” by Qin Guan in the Northern Song Dynasty “The thin clouds make tricks, the flying stars spread hatred, and the silver man is far away in darkness. As soon as the golden wind and jade dew meet, they win over countless people in the world. Tenderness is like water, good times are like dreams, and you can’t bear to look at the Magpie Bridge on your way back? If the love lasts for a long time, how can we stay together day and night?” It is a famous poem praising the Chinese Valentine’s Day .

“On the 7th day of the seventh lunar month, a skillful needle is thrown. A woman is exposed to a lot of water in the middle of the day. After a while, the water film forms on the face, and when the needle is thrown, it floats. If you look at the shadow of the needle on the bottom of the water, there are clouds, flower heads, shadows of birds and beasts, and there are shadows of shoes, scissors, and water eggplants. This is called begging for skill. Its shadow It is as thick as a mallet, as thin as silk, and as straight as a shaft of wax. This is a sign of clumsiness. Women may sigh, and women may cry.” This skillful divination method has similar records in the “Di Jing Sui Sheng” and some local chronicles of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It can be seen that it has been circulated for a long time and has a wide coverage.

1. References:

   [1] Ma Bingyan Tang Juhong “A Preliminary Study on the Origin of Chinese Valentine’s Day” Journal of Xiaogan University 2009 year

   [2] Zhang Meng Wang Yan “Review of Chinese Valentine’s Day” Journal of Heilongjiang Institute of Education 2009 year

   [3] Qiu Qi’s “The Evolution and Modern Transformation of the Traditional Chinese Valentine’s Day” Master’s thesis of South Central University for Nationalities 2012 year

   [4] Wang Aike “Myths and Legends of the Morning Glory and the Weaver Girl and the Origin of the Chinese Valentine’s Day” Qingdao University Master’s Thesis 2007 year

   [5] Wu Tianming’s “Five Tests on Chinese Valentine’s Day” Journal of South Central University for Nationalities 2003 year

   [6] Li Changmao “On the Causes of the Origin and Popularity of the Chinese Valentine’s Day” “Literary History” 2012 year 5 period

   [7] Yu Qianwen “Looking at the Legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl and the Customs of the Chinese Valentine’s Day from the Poetry of the Tang Dynasty” “Chinese Journal” 2012 year 6 period

   [8] Chen Lianshan “On the Origin of Qixi Festival” “Tianzhong Journal” 2013 year 1 period