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What is the love story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl?

Cowherd and Weaver Girl is a beautiful love story that has been passed down through the ages, and it is one of the four folk love legends in China. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a passage in Ren Fang's Different Classics: A river of no return, a beautiful woman like a cloud, the son of the Emperor of Heaven, a female weaver, worked hard year after year, knitting clothes with clouds. Hard work and unhappiness, too much appearance to clean up. God took pity on his loneliness and married the morning glory in Hexi. Since then, he has abolished knitting and greedy work. The emperor was very angry. He is in charge of Hedong and holds a meeting once a year.

According to legend, there is a Vega and an Altair in the sky. Vega and Penny are like-minded soul mates. However, God forbids men and women to love each other in private. Weaver Girl is the daughter of Jade Emperor and Yao Ji. The queen mother turned the morning glory into dust, and the weaver girl continued to brocade as punishment.

The weaver's job is to weave layers of beautiful clouds on the loom with magical silk and change their colors with time and season. This is called tianyi. Since Penny was demoted, Weaver Girl often thinks of Lacrimosa, and whenever she is sad, she will think of Penny. She sat by the loom and kept knitting beautiful brocade to win the mercy of the queen mother and let the morning glory return to the sky as soon as possible.

One day, several fairies begged the Queen Mother to see the Lian Bi Pool on the earth. Today, the queen mother was in a good mood and promised them. Seeing that the Weaver Girl was unhappy all day, they begged the Queen Mother to let the Weaver Girl go with them. After being punished, the Queen Mother felt sorry for her granddaughter, so she let them go and hurried back.

It is said that after being demoted, Penny was born into a peasant family and named Cowherd. Later, when his parents died, he lived with his brother and sister-in-law. My brother and sister-in-law are very mean to Cowherd. They want to be separated from him. They only gave him an old cow and a broken car, and the rest were monopolized by my brother and sister-in-law. Then, they left the cowherd.

Since then, the cowherd and the old cow have lived together. They overcame the difficulties in the wasteland, reclaimed land and built houses. A year or two later, they built a small house and barely made ends meet. However, except for the old cow who can't talk, Niulang is the only one in this abandoned family, and his life is quite lonely. The cowherd doesn't know that the old cow is the Taurus star in the sky.

On this day, the old cow suddenly spoke. He said to Cowherd, Cowherd, today you go to Bilianchi, where some fairies are taking a bath. If you hide that red fairy robe, the fairy in the red fairy robe will become your wife. The cowherd was surprised and happy when he saw the old cow talking. He asked, Niu Ge, can you really talk? Is it true what you said? The old cow nodded, and the cowherd quietly hid in the reeds beside the Lian Bi pool, waiting for the arrival of the fairies. After a while, the fairies really floated, took off their light clothes and jumped into the clear stream. The cowherd ran out of the reeds and took the red fairy's clothes. When fairies saw someone coming, they quickly put on their clothes and flew away like birds, leaving only fairies who could not escape without clothes. She is a weaver girl. When the Weaver Girl saw that her fairy costume was taken away by a young man, she was ashamed and anxious, but there was nothing she could do. At this time, Cowherd came forward and told her that he could only return her clothes if she promised to be his wife. The weaver girl looked intently and realized that the cowherd was the morning glory she wanted very much. She felt ashamed and agreed with him. In this way, the Weaver Girl became the wife of the Cowherd.

After marriage, men plow and women weave, love each other and live a very happy life. Soon, they gave birth to a son and a daughter, both of whom are lovely. Cowherd and Weaver Girl thought they could grow old together. However, when Empress Dowager Cixi learned about this incident, she flew into a rage and immediately sent a god to bring the Weaver Girl back to heaven to repent. On this day, the weaver girl was cooking, and the cowherd who went to the field came back in a hurry. His eyes are red and swollen. He told Weaver that Niu Ge was dead. Before he died, he said he wanted me to peel off his cowhide and put it away. One day, put it on and you can fly to the sky. Vega was very surprised when she heard this. She knew that this old cow was the golden bull in the sky, because she said a few fair words for the morning glory that was demoted to the sky. How can you suddenly die? The weaver girl asked the cowherd to peel off the cowhide and bury the old cow.

At this time, the wind is blowing in the sky, and the soldiers in the sky will fall from the sky. This does not mean that Vega will fly into the sky after being escorted. Fly, fly, Weaver Girl heard Cowherd's voice: Weaver Girl, wait for me! Looking back, Weaver Girl saw Cowherd carrying two children, wearing cowhide and carrying a pair of baskets. Slowly, the distance between them is getting closer and closer. The weaver girl can see the lovely appearance of her children. The children shouted to their mother with open arms. See the cowherd and the weaver girl are about to meet. But at this moment, the queen mother came to Xiangyun. She took off the golden hairpin on her head and rowed among them. Suddenly, a Tianhe river was caught between the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd, which could not be crossed.

The weaver girl looked at the cowherd and the children across the Tianhe River and cried her eyes out. Cowherd and children also cried their eyes out. Their cries, the children's cries to their mothers, are so heartbreaking and tearful that even the fairies and immortals watching from the sidelines feel sad and sad. The Queen Mother was moved by the faithful love of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and agreed to let the Cowherd and the children stay in the sky and let them meet once a year on July 7th. Since then, the Cowherd and his children have lived in the sky, facing the Weaver Girl from a distance through a galaxy. In the autumn night sky, we can still see two bigger stars on both sides of the Milky Way. They are Vega and Altair. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl have two little stars, a son and a daughter.

On July 7th, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl met, and countless magpies flew in to build bridges for them. On the Magpie Bridge, Cowherd and Weaver Girl meet again! Weaver Girl and Cowherd are affectionate, hugging their children, and have countless words to say and endless feelings to say!

Later, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, it was said that Cowherd and Weaver Girl met at the Magpie Bridge. Girls will come to the moon before the flowers bloom, look up at the starry sky, look for cowherd and weaver girl on both sides of the Milky Way, hope to see their annual meeting, and pray that God is as smart as weaver girl, pray for happiness in marriage and love, thus forming Valentine's Day in China.

This story contains the core values of matriarchal society, that is, matriarchal families raise children, and husbands can only reunite with their wives and children occasionally. This shows its long history.

Sources and courses

Words such as "Weaver Girl" and "Morning Glory" appeared in Chinese characters, which first appeared in Dadong in the Book of Songs. The Weaver Girl and Penny in the poem are just the names of two constellations in the sky, and there is no relationship between them. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, one of the nineteen ancient poems written by Anonymous jumped morning glory, from which we can see that morning glory and Weaver Girl are already a pair of lovers who respect each other as guests, but they don't admit that they are husband and wife in the poem. In written records, the first person who called Cowherd and Weaver Girl husband and wife should be Xiao Tong's Liang Wenxuan in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. A sentence in "Ode to Luoshen" is written like this: Penny is the husband, Weaver is the woman, and Weaver plays drums everywhere by the river. July 7th is a short time. At this time, the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl and the plot of Tanabata meeting have begun to take shape, from two stars in the sky to husband and wife. But in the imagination of the ancients, the husband and wife in heaven and the husband and wife on earth are basically the same, so this story is not tragic. As for the morning glory and the Weaver Girl, why did they stay for a while on July 7th? There is no explanation in the original text. According to later generations, on the one hand, the stars in the sky are the brightest in July every year, and the morning glory and the weaver girl are very close; On the other hand, July 7th was a pleasant folk custom at that time. The working people regard Weaver Girl as a skilled worker, who can weave hundreds of horses to please her in ten days.

Therefore, people combine the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl with folk customs. As time goes on, the story continues to enrich and develop. According to "Jingchu Chunqiu", there is a weaver girl in the east of Tianhe, and the son of the Emperor of Heaven also weaves labor every year to make a brocade day. The Emperor of Heaven lamented loneliness, betrothed Hexi as a cowherd, and abandoned weaving after marriage. The emperor was very angry and ordered him to go back to Hedong for a period of time on the evening of July 7 every year. The story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has changed a lot from here to now. Because the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were greedy for pleasure after marriage, they gave up knitting, angered the Emperor of Heaven and were punished. This brings a tragic atmosphere to the story. Besides, there are two kinds of legends. First of all, the Weaver Girl is the seventh granddaughter of the Emperor of Heaven. She weaves brocade in the east of Tianhe and looks at cows in the west of Tianhe. They are both diligent. God loves them and lets them get married. After marriage, they covet happiness and waste their own labor. The emperor was angry and separated them. He ordered the crow to tell them that they would meet every seven days. The crow was wrong, saying that it would get together once a year on July 7th. Second, the Weaver Girl is the granddaughter of the Queen Mother, weaving clouds in the sky. Cowherd is a cowherd on earth and is abused by his brother and sister-in-law. One day, the cow told him that the Weaver Girl was going to take a bath in the Milky Way with other fairies and asked the cow to put on a fairy robe. Give it back to the weaver girl when she is looking for clothes and propose to her, and she will definitely agree. So is the cowherd. After the Weaver Girl married the Cowherd, she gave birth to a boy and a girl. When the Queen Mother knew about it, she brought back the Weaver Girl. The cow told the cowherd that he could put his skin on his body and chase him to the sky. When the Cowherd picked two children and chased them to the sky, the Queen Mother pulled out her hair and painted it behind the Weaver Girl, forming a galaxy to separate the loving couple. They have to cross the river in tears every day, which touched the queen mother and allowed them to meet once a year on July 7. When they meet, magpies will build their bridges. The basic plot of the previous story is similar to that of Jingchu era, but the story of raven is added. The latter legend greatly enriched and developed the original story. From the love between stars for God to the love story between man and God. As for other legends, most of them are based on this. Then, why should we add the role of the old cow to the later legends and let it play a huge role in the story? Because cows are the treasures of the farm, farmers love cows and even pin their life ideals on them. When the ideal of life is hindered, farmers often have the illusion of helping cows, hoping that cows can exert their magical power and help them tide over the difficulties. At the same time, animal personification is also one of the commonly used artistic techniques in various folklore.

In the middle of Yunxi County, Hubei Province, there is a river winding from north to south, named Tianhe. Tianhe is the third largest river in Yunxi and the only river in the world called Tianhe. It enjoys the name of Tianhe on the world map. There is a beautiful legend flowing in the Tianhe River in Yunxi. The ancient Tianhe is located in Yunxi, and the legend of Qixi originated from Tianhe. The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is a beautiful love story that has been passed down through the ages, and it is also one of the four major folklore in China. This legend is always associated with Valentine's Day in China. Tanabata is a folk custom of sitting together and watching morning glory and Vega. According to legend, the Weaver Maid and the Cowherd meet at the Queqiao Bridge in Tianhe every year, which is the most romantic festival among the traditional festivals in China. Tianhe originated in Zhao Chuan, Shaanxi Province, southeast of Qinling Mountains, with a total length of 69 kilometers. It is one of the important tributaries of the Han River, which flows through Yunxi for 62.7 kilometers. To the east of Tianhe are Yangjia River and Guixian River, and to the west are Mei Mei River and Xianhe River, just contrary to the astronomical phenomena. However, the scenic spots along the Tianhe River, such as Stone Palace, Stone Temple, Xinggu Temple and Tianchi Temple, are contrary to the map, showing the expectation of Yunxi people to break through the barrier of Tianhe River. There are Tianhe, the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, and the unique folk customs of Qixi. In Yunxi, people passed down the love story of the cowherd and the weaver girl from generation to generation. Old people always warn the younger generation that men should be as hardworking, simple, kind and persistent as cowherd, and daughters should be as smart, loyal, thrifty and filial as weaver girl. This Tianhe seems to be lost. I don't know where to swim. Because the Tianhe River in Yunxi is spiritual, she is a tour guide, and the direction of Tianhe is the direction people want to go. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, people celebrate George's Day every year. On that day, women organized various labor competitions to improve their skills. As night falls, people come to the river to set off river lanterns, which drift along the river, bearing people's grief for their deceased relatives, carrying people's blessings to their families and relatives, and guiding the cowherd to meet the Weaver Girl as soon as possible. The river lights are on, and the songs of Cowherd and Weaver Girl are widely circulated in Yunxi County.

Tanabata is in China and Tianhe is in Yunnan.

There is Han, and there is light in prison. Three of the three, Vega, seven times a day. Weaver girl is busy, but the stripes are not good. Take care of the morning glory, not the service box. The records of Vega and Petunia in The Book of Songs Xiaoya Dadong are regarded by experts as the bud and embryo of the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. There is also a poem about the Weaver Girl. Han Guang in The Book of Songs said that Han has a wanderer, so he can't think. According to historical records, the Han in these poems refers to both Hanshui and Tianhan. There is Hanshui River in Yunxi. According to Yunxi County, there is Hanshui River in the territory. Hanshui River extends 9 1.8km along the county seat, which is the boundary river between the southern section of Yunxi and Shaanxi Province and Yunxian County. It starts in Xianhekou, Xunyang County, Shaanxi Province, and reaches the county river sandwiched between Yingzuishi and Yunxian County in Xianhekou. Tianhe is the place where cowherd and weaver girl meet. There is Tianhe in Yunxi, with a total length of 65 kilometers. It originated in Zhao Chuan, Shaanxi, and entered the Han River through Chengguan and Guanyin. It is the third largest tributary of the Han River and flows into the Han River in Tianhe. At present, the earliest written records about Tianhe can be found in the official records of Huguang Yunyang in Jiajing, Ming Dynasty: Tianhe is in the west of the county seat. Water flows from the tiger, down the mountain to Han. It looks like heaven, hence its name. There are Tianhe and Hanjiang River in Yunxi, which is the only place where the Hanjiang River connects with Tianhe, and it has its name and its thing. Therefore, as far as place names are concerned, Yunxi is closely related to the origin of the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl.