What's the clever folklore in ancient China?

What's the clever folklore in ancient China?

Coincidentally, the custom of China 18 years old is the custom of Qi Mei's birthday (July 7th). From the first day of July to the first night of July in the lunar calendar (seven days and eight nights), girls in new clothes beg for ingenious ideas from the weaver girl in the courtyard, which is called "begging for ingenious ideas". It is said that qimei is an expert in weaving heaven. In the past, women "begged" Qi Mei to teach her clever skills. In fact, the so-called "seeking cleverness" is just "fighting cleverness". Most girls try their best to make small things and put some melons and fruits on them. Traditional folk begging varies from place to place and has its own interests. In modern times, threading needles, steaming steamed bread, branding proper fruit, making clever buds, and decorations made of dough sculpture, paper-cutting and colored embroidery are also an extension of the custom of begging for cleverness.

Brief introduction of customs

Begging for cleverness is a popular custom on Seven Sisters's birthday (Chinese Valentine's Day), and it is a variety of begging activities carried out by girls on the night of the seventh day of July. The seventh day of July is the birthday of Qi Mei in the traditional sense. Because the sacrificial ceremony was held on the seventh day of July, it was named Tanabata. According to folklore, the weaver girl is a beautiful, clever and ingenious fairy when the cowherd and the magpie bridge meet in the sky on Tanabata night every year. This night, the girls put seasonal fruits and vegetables in front of the bright moon in the sky, prostrating themselves in worship, begging the goddess of heaven to give them intelligent hearts and dexterous hands, so that they can master their knitting skills, and even beg for the marriage of love and marriage. In ancient China, there was a legend of cowherd and weaver girl, which is a reflection of the weaving mode of male plowing and female weaving in agricultural society. In the Han Dynasty, this legend emphasized that the Weaver Girl was the seventh daughter of the Jade Emperor, and she fell in love with the farmer who tied the cow rope. Ge Hong's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty recorded that "women in the Han Dynasty often put seven-hole needles on the Jinkai Building on July 7, and everyone took them", which is the earliest record of begging for cleverness in ancient literature we have seen. In later Tang and Song poems, women's begging for cleverness was repeatedly mentioned. In the Tang Dynasty, Ning He wrote a poem, saying, "When the stars are dim, pearls are adorned, and Gong E is busy seeking cleverness.". According to "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao", every time Emperor Taizong and his concubines held a banquet in the Qing Palace on Tanabata, the ladies-in-waiting begged with their own skills. This custom is also enduring among the people of China, handed down from generation to generation.

During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Qiaqiao was quite grand, and there was also a market in Beijing that monopolized Qiaqiao goods, which was called Qiaqiao City by the world. Song He's "Talking about Drunken Weng" series said: "On Tanabata, in front of the building, there is a clever thing." From the first day of July, the horses and chariots became angry. Three days before Tanabata, the horses and chariots were not allowed to pass, so they stopped coming and dispersed at night. Here, we can infer the lively scene of the Jocci Festival from the grand occasion of buying Qiao Qi goods from Qiao Qi. People have been putting up flattering articles since the first day of July, and people are coming and going in the flattering market. By the time of Tanabata, the market of Qiqiao was already crowded with people, as if it were the biggest festival-Spring Festival, which showed that Qiqiao Festival was one of the favorite festivals of the ancients. Nowadays, most of the ways to get smart are for girls to try their best to make small things and put some melons and fruits on them. Different regions have different ways to please others, and each has its own interests.