The Origin and Significance of Valentine's Day in China

According to legend, the weaver girl in the sky and the cowherd on earth meet and date through the magpie bridge on Tanabata every year. This once-a-year opportunity is especially cherished. Later, the seventh day of July was called Valentine's Day in China. It means that husband and wife can join hands for life, and husband and wife can grow old together.

Valentine's Day in China began in the Western Han Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. In ancient times, Valentine's Day in China was an exclusive festival for beautiful girls. In fact, China's Valentine's Day is not to commemorate the love of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, but to worship the star (actress Wu), which later evolved into a mythical goddess, also known as "Seven Sisters" and "Seven Mothers" among the people.

Valentine's Day in China is a festival for women, and the Weaver Girl is regarded as the goddess of textiles and lovers, the protector of women and children. July 7th is the birthday of Weaver Girl. On the night of the seventh day of July, it is inevitable that ordinary women beg her for wisdom and skillful skills and ask for a happy marriage. The trick of Qixi is to pray for ingenuity to Seven Sisters (Weaver Girl), hoping for a happy marriage and a happy family.

In the old society, beautiful girls begged Qi Jie to teach her clever skills, but in fact, the so-called "begging for cleverness" was just "fighting cleverness". After historical development, Tanabata has been endowed with the beautiful love legend of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl", making it a festival symbolizing love, thus being regarded as the most romantic traditional festival in China, and even having the cultural meaning of "China Valentine's Day" in contemporary times.

The custom of Valentine's Day in China

1, eat the right fruit: the right fruit is a kind of food made of flour, oil, sugar, sesame and other ingredients. The skin is soft and the stuffing inside is sweet. It is said that eating proper fruit on Tanabata can pray for the sweetness of love. In addition, as we all know, the cowherd and weaver girl met on the bridge on Qixi, and the coincidence with the bridge is the yearning for a better life.

2. Qiao Ya noodles: The ingredients of Qiao Ya noodles mainly include mung bean sprouts and shredded pork. After frying, add some noodles and cook together. It's oily and delicious. It is said that eating smart bean sprouts will make you smart.

3. Jiangmi Tiao: In Nanjing, Jiangmi Tiao is eaten on Tanabata. Rice noodle is a kind of food made of glutinous rice. First steam the glutinous rice, then make it into dough, then twist it into strips and fry it in the oil pan. Especially sweet, symbolizing the sweetness of love.

4. Eat flowers and melons: Tanabata will also eat various melons with unique shapes. Some will carve melons and fruits into various flowers and birds, and also carve relief patterns on the surface of melons and fruits, which is particularly beautiful. These beautiful melons are collectively called flower melons.