The custom of July 7th.

Introduction of Valentine's Day in China

In China, on the night of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the weather is warm and the plants are fragrant. This is commonly known as China Valentine's Day, and some people call it Qiaoqi Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, Daughter's Day or Qixi Valentine's Day. This is the most romantic festival among the traditional festivals in China, and it is also the most important day for girls in the past. On the night in Xiguan, women prayed for Fu Lushou. On the seventh day, the ceremony was pious and grand, and flowers and fruits were displayed. All kinds of furniture and utensils are exquisite and small, which makes people fondle them.

Tanabata is nicknamed "Zhou". Wang Bo's Tanabata Fu "Stay in the Week, Full Moon and Evening" compares the week with the moon and evening, and points out the two most beautiful and touching nights related to family and love in a year. Because of this, later generations call the auspicious day for men and women to get married "Zhou".

On a clear summer and autumn night, the sky is full of stars, and a huge white galaxy spans the north and south like a bridge. On the east and west banks of the river, there is a shining star across the river, that is, Altair and Vega.

It is a folk custom to sit and watch morning glory and weaver girl on Tanabata. According to legend, this night every year is the time when the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd meet at the Magpie Bridge. The Weaver Girl is a beautiful, clever and clever fairy. On this night, ordinary women prayed to her for wisdom and skillful skills, and they also prayed to her for a happy marriage. Therefore, the seventh day of July is also called Begging Festival.

It is said that on Tanabata night, you can look up and see the Milky Way where the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet, and you can also eavesdrop on the love story when they meet in the sky under the melon and fruit shelf.

On this romantic night, facing the bright moon in the sky, the girls put the fruits and vegetables of the season in the sky, begging the fairy in the sky to give them intelligent hearts and dexterous hands, so that they can master their needlework skills, and even beg for the combination of love and marriage. In the past, marriage was a lifelong event for women to decide whether they were happy or not. Therefore, on this quiet night, countless sentient men and women in the world will pray for a happy marriage under the stars.

On May 20th, 2006, China Valentine's Day was listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage by the State Council.

The Origin of Valentine's Day in China

Qixi originated from people's worship of nature. According to historical documents, at least three or four thousand years ago, with people's understanding of astronomy and the emergence of textile technology, there was a record of Altair Vega. People worship the stars far more than Altair and Vega. They think that there are seven stars representing directions in the east, west, north and south, which are collectively called 28 nights, among which the Big Dipper is the brightest and can be used to tell directions at night. The first star of the Big Dipper is called Kuixing, also known as the champion. Later, with the imperial examination system, the top scholar in the middle school was called "Dakui Scholar in the World", and the scholars called Tanabata "Kuixing Festival" or "Book-drying Festival", which preserved the trace that the earliest Tanabata originated from worshipping stars.

Qixi also comes from the ancient people's worship of time. "Seven" and "period" are homophonic, and both the month and the day are "seven", giving people a sense of time. In ancient China, the sun and moon, together with the five planets of water, fire, wood, gold and earth, were called "Seven Obsidian". Seven figures are staged in time among the people, and the calculation of time often ends with "July 7th". In old Beijing, when doing Dojo for the dead, it was often done by "July 7th". Using "seven obsidians" to calculate the current "week" is still reserved in Japanese. "Seven" is homophonic with "auspiciousness", and "July 7th" has a double auspicious meaning, which is an auspicious day. In Taiwan Province Province, July is called "Joy brings good luck" month. Because the happy character in cursive script looks like "seventy-seven", 77 years old is also called "Happy Birthday".

Tanabata is also a phenomenon of digital worship. In ancient times, people listed the seventh day of the first month, the third day of March, the fifth day of May, the seventh day of July and the ninth day of September as auspicious days, plus the even number of February 2 and the multiple of June 6. "Seven" is the number of beads in each column of the abacus, which is romantic and rigorous, giving people a mysterious aesthetic feeling. "Seven" and "wife" are homophonic, so Qixi has largely become a festival related to women.

Legend of Qixi

The first one: According to legend, Cowherd's parents died young and were often abused by his elder sister-in-law, only accompanied by an old cow. One day, the old cow gave him a plan to marry the weaver girl. On that day, the beautiful fairies did bathe in the Milky Way and play in the water. Then the cowherd, hiding in the reeds, suddenly ran out and took the clothes of the Weaver Girl. The panicked fairies hurried ashore, dressed and flew away, leaving only the weaver girl. At Cowherd's request, Weaver Girl agreed to be his wife. After marriage, the cowherd and the weaver girl loved each other and lived a very happy life. Weaver gave birth to a son and a daughter to Cowherd. Later, the old cow was dying. He told the cowherd to keep its skin and put it on for help when he was in trouble. After the old cow died, the couple reluctantly peeled off the cowhide and buried the cow on the hillside.

When the marriage between the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd was known by the Jade Emperor and the Heavenly Queen Mother, they flew into a rage and ordered the gods to take the Weaver Girl back. When the Cowherd was away, the gods took the Weaver Girl. Cowherd didn't see Weaver when he came home, so he quickly put on cowhide and chased after him with two children. On the verge of catching up, the queen mother was in a hurry, tore off the golden hairpin on her head and rowed to the Milky Way. The once shallow Milky Way suddenly became stormy, and the Cowherd couldn't go any further. Since then, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl can only look at each other across the river with tears, forever and ever, and the Jade Emperor and the Empress Dowager can't resist their sincere feelings, allowing them to meet once every July 7th. According to legend, on the seventh day of July, human magpies will fly to the sky to build a magpie bridge for the cowherd and weaver girl in the Milky Way. In addition, in the dead of night on Tanabata, people can also hear the love story of cowherd and weaver girl in the sky under the grape trellis or other fruit trellis.

Second: A long time ago, there lived a family in the mountains. All the old people have passed away, leaving only two brothers at home. The boss married a daughter-in-law. She has a bad heart and always wants to monopolize the family business left by the old man.

One day, Erxiao took the dog to herd cattle. When he arrived in the field, he patted the cow on the back and said, "Whoa, whoa, I'm going to sleep. Don't run around." The old ox seemed to understand people's words, lowered his hair and let out a few "moo, moo" cries, swinging his tail and eating the draft around him. The second pupil fell asleep lying on the grass.

Missed noon, my sister-in-law brought a jar to deliver food to her brother-in-law. When she saw the second pupil sleeping, she gave him a good kick. The second child woke up to see her sister-in-law, hurriedly got up and stood on the ground like a chicken.

Sister-in-law put the rice jar on the ground and said angrily, "Don't worry, sleep with the cow, and I'll settle accounts with you if the cow is lost!" " Say that finish, she twisted her ass and left.

The second child's stomach is hungry. He just picked up the jar and was about to eat it. The big cow around him hit the jar and it broke into pieces. When the big black dog saw the rice on the ground, it opened its mouth and ate it. Soon, he licked the rice on the ground

The second child is scared when he looks at the broken jar and feels that it is not good to go home. He sighed; "Oh, how can I be so miserable!"

As soon as the second child sighed, the big black dog fell to the ground with a plop, bleeding from his nose and mouth, and soon died. Only then did he realize that his sister-in-law had poisoned the rice.

Second thought: It seems that I can't live with this pest, or I will die at her hands sooner or later. When the sun was about to set in the western hills, he drove the cows home. As soon as I entered the yard, I turned my head and saw my brother coming back from the outside. My second child's heart is sour and his eyes are crying. Seeing my brother so sad, my brother doesn't know what happened at home. He asked, "Why are you so sad?" "I broke the rice jar sent by my sister-in-law. The dog ate the rice on the ground and died." Hearing this, my brother understood that nine times out of ten, fighting can't beat a woman at home because it's difficult.

The second child cried and said, "Brother, let's separate." It made my brother see that he wanted to split up. For one thing, his brother is still young, and for another, he has gone out to do business. It's impossible without help at home. If we make do together, I'm afraid something will happen to my brother.

The second boy saw his brother in a hurry and said, "Brother, I don't want anything at home, just that cow." The two brothers said in the yard that they were separated, and the daughter-in-law was really happy when she heard it. She grabbed the door frame and said to her husband, "Let's live our own lives in the future. I took the lead in following my second brother! " "

My brother had tears in his eyes and couldn't say a word.

The next day, the second primary school drove away with an ox cart. Walking around, getting farther and farther. Second thought: How long will it take to go on like this? Let's live here! He stopped the ox cart, cut off many branches and built a shed on the hillside. The shed was set up, and the cow and I settled here.

That cow is the lower bound of Taurus in the sky. It followed the second primary school for more than a year and died that night. After the cow died, he gave the second boy three dreams in succession. In the dream, he said to the second novel, "Tomorrow at 3: 30, I will go back to heaven. After I leave, you peel off my skin and put it on you on July 7 to ensure that you can go to heaven. The Queen Mother has seven daughters. They went to Tianhe to take a bath that day. Remember that the fairy in green is your wife. You can't let them see you. When they are all in the water, you run back in your clothes and she will chase you. She won't leave as long as you go home. "

The next day, Erxiao saw that the cow was dead. He didn't eat or drink, but cried when he touched it. Later, the cowhide was peeled off, leaving the cowhide to bury the cow. He knelt in front of the cow grave and cried.

On July 7th, Erxiao put on cowhide and immediately floated off the ground to the bank of Tianhe River. He waited quietly in the Woods. After a while, the seven fairies of the Queen Mother came. They took off their clothes one by one and plopped into the water.

Take a good look at the green skirt, run over, grab it and run. The third fairy saw someone holding her clothes and jumped out of the water to run after her. Follow the slow pace and catch up with the second house. The third fairy asked the second child why she took her clothes, and the second novel wanted her to be his wife. The third fairy repeatedly said that heaven forbid, and the second fairy repeatedly said that the world is better than heaven. The third fairy was very moved when she saw that the second primary school was good-looking, so she agreed to him. After that, the third fairy came down to earth. She plays with flowers at home every day, and people call her Weaver Girl. The second primary school goes out to sell cloth every day to earn money. The young couple live a comfortable life.

After three or five years, the three fairies and two pupils gave birth to a man and a woman. One day, the second primary school went to work in the field, and a heavenly drum sounded in the sky. The Jade Emperor sent heavenly soldiers to take the Weaver Girl away. When the second child came home, he saw two children crying. I don't know where my daughter-in-law is, and I'm in a rash. When I asked the child, the older child pointed in the air with his hand, and the second thought the Weaver Girl had left. He quickly picked up two children and put on cowhide to catch the weaver girl.

The second boy was impatient and ran after him. Seeing that he was about to catch up with the Weaver Girl, he annoyed the Queen Mother: "Well done, second boy, are you going to catch up with the Lingxiao Hall?" She unplugged the silver tube from the beginning, drew a line between the second primary school and the Weaver Girl, and immediately drew a Tianhe. The second primary school couldn't cross the river, so it stamped its feet, and the two children in the basket called Niang. The Weaver Girl and the Second Primary School are crying. It's no use crying. The second boy wanted to leave a message for the Weaver Girl, so he took out the cow button and threw it at the Weaver Girl, and the Weaver Girl held it in her hand. The weaver girl thought about it, but there was nothing to send. She took out her loom and threw it by the second. The weaver girl's hand is weak, so she throws the woven fabric askew.

Until now, Vega on one side of Tianhe has a button star in her arms, and there is a shuttle star next to Altair on the other side.

Third: According to legend, a long time ago, there was a Niujiazhuang in the west of Nanyang. There is a clever, honest and diligent child named Linger in the village. Because my parents died early, I had to live with my brother. My sister-in-law, Ma Shi, is evil and often abuses Shiner. One autumn, just after the harvest, the horse forced Linger to go to the mountain to herd cattle and said to him, "Give you these nine cows, and you can't come back until you have ten cows!" " After listening, I linger; Helpless, I had to drive the cow out of Niujiazhuang.

The villagers rushed to the scene and expressed deep sympathy for Linger. Some brought food, some clothes, Linger thanked them one by one, and then a person drove the cow to the mountains.

When he arrived at Caoshan, he stopped to rest and sat under the tree crying. I thought, when do I use ten heads? Just then, an old man with white hair and frost suddenly appeared in front of him. The old man patted him on the shoulder and asked kindly, "Son, why did you go to this remote place to herd cattle alone?" Why are you so sad? "Linger abused his sister-in-law and forced him to herd cattle in detail. The old man smiled and said, "So that's it! Don't be sad, there is an old sick cow in Funiu Mountain. You feed it well and you can drive it home when it is ready. " With that, the old man disappeared. Shine seems to be dreaming. He followed the old man's instructions and went to Funiu Mountain.