Why did Tanabata, which was supposed to pray for women, become Valentine's Day in China?

When it comes to Tanabata, people's first reaction is that Cowherd and Weaver Girl meet at Queqiao, equating Tanabata with Valentine's Day in China. In ancient times, Tanabata was indeed closely related to the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, but it was a comprehensive festival with women as the main body. On this day, women will visit close friends in the boudoir, worship the weaver girl, learn embroidery and pray for good luck, so Tanabata is also called "Daughter's Day". In the days when women are willing to compete and have fun, men also get together to enjoy it. The engagement between men and women is only a by-product of the "Daughter's Day" incident.

So why did the ancients set women's begging activities on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month? It turns out that Nu Wa made people on the seventh day, and the seventh day is "People's Day". "Seven" is still a very auspicious number: people have seven orifices, seven sounds of joy and seven emotions, there are seven fairies in the sky, and Cao Zhi becomes a poem in seven steps, and there are seven things in daily life. In addition, in Huangdi Neijing, seven is defined as the number of women's life: at the age of seven, women's teeth are more open, and at the age of seven, women have a month's development and are ready to give birth. At the age of three, seven, four and seven, she was strong and weak. At the age of six or seven, she began to have white hair and her fertility was terminated. In this way, the seventh day of July is a human day, and the seventh day is of great significance to women. Two auspicious figures are superimposed, and it is logical to pray for blessings on Qixi.

In the Southern Dynasties, the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was further completed. The weaver girl became the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven and promised to marry the morning cow in Hexi. However, after marriage, the weaver girl was passive, and the emperor was angry. He ordered to return to Hedong and let the cowherd and weaver girl meet once a year. The origin of the love story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is not accidental, but the product of China's "male ploughing and female weaving" production lifestyle.

Zongba's Chronicle of Jingchu records the process of begging for cleverness for seven nights in the Southern Dynasties, especially mentioning that cobwebs will bring good omen: "At night, women tie colored threads and wear seven-hole needles, salty people use gold and silver as needles, old melons and fruits beg for cleverness in court, and melons are happy, so they think it is a match."

In the Tang Dynasty, adhering to the style of the Southern Dynasties, the "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" recorded a grand ceremony of needlework: Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei hosted a banquet in Huaqing Palace. On the evening of July 7th, ladies-in-waiting filled the yard with fruits, flowers and wine, begging for morning glory and weaver girl, and catching spiders separately. They were kept in a small box. The next day, they looked at the cobwebs sparsely and spoke skillfully. As for the whispering in the Palace of Eternal Life, thanks to Bai Juyi's blessing, Tanabata became synonymous with love.

There are more than 80 poems with the theme of Qixi in Tang Dynasty, from which we can also see the grand occasion of begging for cleverness at that time. Cui Hao said, "The moon in Chang 'an City is like practicing. Every household is holding a needle and thread this night. Fairy Yu Pei knows that there is no meeting between heaven and earth. "

After the Song Dynasty, the prosperity of urban commerce promoted the development of Valentine's Day in China, and the festive atmosphere was very strong, with traffic and people buzzing. Ye Luo and Jin Yingzhi wrote in "Talking about Drunken Weng": "On Chinese Valentine's Day, there is a business in front of Panlou, asking for clever things. From July 1 ST, horses and chariots poured their throats. For the first three days in Chinese Valentine's Day, horses and chariots were not allowed to pass, and they stopped and stopped smoking. "

In the Song Dynasty, women used fruits, needles and cobwebs, similar to the previous dynasties. They will also soak mung beans and wheat in porcelain, sprout a few inches, and tie red and blue buildings. This is called "planting". In addition, they will build colorful buildings in the yard, which is called "Qiaoqi Building". Children can also take part in clever activities on Tanabata. Boys "seek cleverness" and girls "seek cleverness": "Every child in Shi Jing puts a pen, ink and paper in front of a cow, and the book says,' Beggars are clever'. The children put the sewing box in front of the weaver girl, and the book said' coup'. "

On Chinese Valentine's Day, the streets are full of "grinding and drinking music", also known as "Moluo" or "Moluo", which is a clay figurine based on wood carving and colorful clothes, or decorated with red gauze cages or gold beads and teeth. "Moheli" or "Moro" is a Sanskrit transliteration, which means the name of a god in Buddhist scriptures. Buddhist factors began to appear in the Qixi Festival in the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty can be said to be the heyday of Valentine's Day in China. Throughout the Song Dynasty, there were more than 100 works with the theme of Tanabata, and Queqiaoxian became a famous epigraph.

Vega's appearance in the night sky overhead heralds the arrival of July. Coupled with the custom of spinning and weaving, a fixed season of begging for cleverness, offering sacrifices and seeking happiness has been formed over time. As for the meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, it was on the basis of this custom that the ancient working people saw a corresponding bright star on the other side of the Milky Way in the night sky, and then made up such a beautiful legend through astronomical observation and imagination. As a result, a clever Qixi has evolved into a day when men and women meet, reflecting the beautiful wishes of the ancient working people.