What is the origin of Qixi, a traditional festival in China?

? Valentine's Day in China is one of the important traditional festivals in China, and it is also an important festival for young men, women and couples. Tanabata is as important to China people as Valentine's Day in the West. Every year before Tanabata, major shopping malls, flower shops and hotels will start to promote sales.

Valentine's Day in China was originally a festival with women as the main body. On this day, women can visit friends, pray for good luck, learn embroidery, worship the weaver girl and other activities, while men watch and join in the fun. The engagement between men and women is only a by-product of Tanabata. As for why the ancients designated the seventh day of July as a female-only festival, there have been different opinions, but what is certain is related to the implication of the number "seven" in China culture.

There are only two stories about the origin of Valentine's Day in China, but there are still many customs of Valentine's Day in China. By the way, introduce three customs of Valentine's Day in China. Let's take a look:

First,? The origin of Valentine's Day in China?

? One of the origins of Valentine's Day in China: The Story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl?

The origin of Valentine's Day in China is related to the folk story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. Its earliest origin may be in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, such as The Book of Songs Dadong: "In autumn, the weaver girl has seven waves all day long. Although it is seven, it is not a service seal; You can't recognize the box when you look at the cow. " There is also Luo Qi's "The Source of Things" in the Ming Dynasty: "Chu Huaiwang first decides Tanabata." However, Tanabata at that time was a sacrifice to Altair and Vega, and there was no story behind it. It was not until the Han Dynasty that its details were linked with the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and it officially became a festival for women.

Once upon a time, there was an honest and kind young man named Niulang. His parents died when he was a child. Later, he was kicked out by his sister-in-law. So he lives by grazing himself. One day, a fairy fell in love with him and married him. They live a happy life of farming by men and weaving by women. Soon gave birth to a boy and a girl. Unfortunately, the God in heaven soon discovered this fact and ordered the Queen Mother to take the Weaver Girl back to heaven. ?

With the help of the old cow, the cowherd and his son and daughter flew into the sky. Just as he was about to catch up with his wife, the Queen Mother took one of her golden hairpin, turned it into a galaxy, and separated the Cowherd from the Weaver Girl. Cowherd and Weaver Girl are separated forever. Their faithful love touched the magpies, and thousands of magpies came to build a bridge to let the cowherd and weaver girl meet on the magpie bridge. The Queen Mother was finally moved and allowed them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. After historical development, Tanabata has been endowed with the beautiful love legend of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl", which has become the origin of Valentine's Day in China.

? The second origin of Valentine's Day in China: from people's worship of time and numbers?

As a festival, "the seventh day of July" originated from the ancient people's worship of numbers and time. In ancient times, people listed the first month, February 2nd, March 3rd, May 5th, June 6th, July 7th and September 9th as auspicious days. In ancient China, "Double Ninth Festival" was considered as a day of "harmony between heaven and earth" and "communication between heaven and man". [5] In these "emphasis on the sun", it is not difficult to see the ancient people's worship of numbers, such as nine and five are important numbers, and the ninth five-year plan is a symbol of status. And "one" means the beginning of everything and is a symbol of achievement, status and honor. "Seven" is the number of beads in each column of the abacus, which is romantic and rigorous, giving people a mysterious aesthetic feeling.

Valentine's Day in China is on the seventh day of every month. In ancient times, China people combined the sun and moon with the five planets of water, fire, wood, gold and earth, and called them "Seven Obsidian". "Seven" is manifested in the stages of time among the people, and the calculation of time often ends with "July 7". Using "seven obsidians" to calculate the current "week" is still reserved in Japanese. In Taiwan Province Province, July is called "Joy brings good luck" month. "Seven" and "Ji" are homophonic, and "July 7" means double happiness, which is an auspicious day. Because the happy character in cursive script looks like "seventy-seven", 77 years old is also called "Happy Birthday".

Second,? Valentine's Day custom in China?

? One of the customs of Tanabata: Needle-piercing for cleverness?

This is the earliest way to beg for cleverness, which began in the Han Dynasty and flowed to later generations. This was the custom in China when he was twenty years old. It is held on July 7th every year. On the night of Chinese Valentine's Day, a woman holding a five-color silk thread and a nine-hole needle (or a five-hole needle or a seven-hole needle) arranged continuously passes through the silk thread quickly and completely, which is called "Qiao". ? It shows the wisdom and life ambition of the working people in ancient China.

"Miscellanies of Xijing" said: "Women in the Han Dynasty often wear seven-hole needles in Jinkai Building on July 7, and people have the ambition of Xi." The Chronicle of Jingchu Years Old by Liang Zongmou of the Southern Dynasties said: "On July 7th, it was a woman of Xijia family, who was wearing a colorful building with seven holes, or with gold and silver as needles." "Geographical Records" said: "Emperor Wu of Qi began to visit the city on the first floor, and on July 7, the imperial secretary tried to pierce the needle many times. The world calls it the needle-piercing building. " The Five Dynasties Wang Renyu's "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" said: "On Qixi Festival, the palace was made of brocade, which was hundreds of feet high and could beat dozens of people in the world. Chen baked melons and fruits with wine, set a banquet, worshipped cows and girls, and each of his concubines wore a nine-hole needle, with five-color lines facing the moon. This is a wonderful time. It's fun to play the song of Qing business. The home of the natives is effective. " Yuan Taozong Yi's Record of Ye Ting in Yuanshi County said: "Chinese Valentine's Day is a place of ingenuity. In the evening, the ladies-in-waiting went on stage to wear Kyubi no Youko needles with colored silk. The person who finishes first is smart, and the person who finishes late is called a loser. Everyone contributed a gift. "

There is a special way of begging for cleverness in Begging for Cleverness Festival. The most famous way is to ask for cleverness by threading needles, that is, whoever wears needles quickly will be "clever", and those who wear them slowly will be called "clever". The loser will give the prepared gifts to the clever people. On the evening of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, that is, Valentine's Day (or Jojo Festival) in China, according to tradition, folk women in China will hold a banquet in the court, bow down to Vega devoutly, and beg for their intelligence and superb female skills.

? The second custom of tanabata: should spiders be smart?

This is also an early way of seeking cleverness, and its popularity is a little later than that of seeking cleverness with needles, which generally began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Liang Zonggu of the Southern Dynasties said "A Record of Jingchu Times"; "In the evening, Chen Guaguo begged for cleverness in court. If you have a happy subnet on melon, you think it is corresponding. "

The Five Dynasties Wang Renyu's "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" said: "On July 7, we all caught spiders in small boxes until dawn; Think of cobwebs as sparse and dense. Secret people have many clever words, while rare people have few clever words. So are folk works. " A Dream in Tokyo by Meng Yuanyuan, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said that on the seventh day of July, "Put a spider in the zygote and watch it the next day. If the net is round, it is just a coincidence. " Song Zhou Mi's "When I was one year old" said; "How long does it take to store small spiders in the house and wait for the density of the net?" Tomita Rucheng's "Pleasure of Xi Tide" said that Tanabata "put spiders in a small box and observe the density of the net the next morning." It can be seen that the methods of testing ingenuity in past dynasties are different. The existence of the visual network in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the thinness of the visual network in the Tang Dynasty, and the roundness of the visual network in the Song Dynasty, followed the customs of the Tang Dynasty in later generations.

The so-called "spiders should be clever" means putting some melons and fruits (mainly cantaloupes, golden melons, appropriate fruits, peanuts, red dates and so on). ) on the fruit bowl, it is usually prepared by adults before using needles to get clever. After the "needlework", everyone opened their eyes to see if there was a "spider" weaving a web on the fruit bowl. Whoever finds it first will be lucky.

The so-called happy spider is actually a little spider as big as a grain of rice. At the turn of summer and autumn, you can often see it on some flowers and trees. Occasionally, someone climbs on others or is found in the house, which is said to be a sign of happy events. Usually it will be released very carefully, and everyone will not kill it easily.

However, it is not easy to find the trace of this spider on the fruit bowl. Sometimes, in order to get the fruits and vegetables early, one of the children will secretly grab one and put it on the fruit bowl. In fact, adults also know that children "find" spiders, so they put melons and fruits in their hands and say, "Eat, eat, get smarter every year."

? The third custom of Tanabata: Celebrating Niu Qingsheng?

The story happened in the Han Dynasty. Hundreds of years later, a man named Wang Mang overthrew the regime and became emperor himself, which made the world in a mess and many people rose up to rebel.

At that time, in Henan, there was a child named Liu Xiu. His father died when he was nine years old and was raised by his mother. Liu Xiu's mother goes begging on Tanabata every year, hoping to master more skills and earn more money in order to raise Liu Xiu. She often tells Liu Xiu the story of Tanabata. Under the influence of this story, Liu Xiu is also full of love and respect for the cows on the pasture. Play with cows every day and treat them as family. When he herded cattle, he often picked wild flowers and decorated them on the horns.

When I grew up, the world was still in chaos. Liu Xiu saw it in his eyes and led his younger brother to rebel together. They are few and poorly equipped, and can't even afford a horse, so they can only ride an ox. The enemy laughed at him as a general riding an ox.

Liu Xiu doesn't care about this, because he grew up with cattle and cooperated with each other, and he never lost to those who rode horses when he came to fight. Later, he killed a senior official and took his horse away. After riding the horse, Liu Xiu realized that the cow really ran too slowly. In many cases, speed is needed for fighting. Moreover, his cow is getting older and older, so he has to go home to ride and fight.

Liu Xiu has been fighting for this battle for more than ten years. His mother is very worried about her son's death on the battlefield and prays to heaven every day, hoping that her son will be safe.

Many things happen. After many battles, Liu Xiu finally wiped out the enemy and became emperor himself. When he became emperor, he knew the sufferings of the people. The first thing he did was to recuperate, strive to improve people's living standards and become a beloved emperor.

He thought of his mother and the old cow who had accompanied him. After dealing with the DPRK-China affairs, he hurried home to visit his mother and found the old cow head wearing wild flowers to meet him at the door. Liu Xiu was very moved and thought that his success was inseparable from Niu Lao's dedication. In order to commemorate the old cow, he let his son give birth to Niu Qingsheng every year on Tanabata, so this custom was slowly passed down.