What are the customs of Valentine's Day in ancient China?

What are the customs of Valentine's Day in ancient China?

What are the customs of Valentine's Day in ancient China? The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the annual Valentine's Day in China. Valentine's Day in China has different cultures and customs among different ethnic groups. So what are the customs of Valentine's Day in ancient China? Next, I'd like to share the related contents of ancient Valentine's Day customs in China.

What are the customs of ancient Valentine's Day in China 1?

1, Stargazing on Tanabata

It is a traditional folk custom to sit and watch morning glory and Vega on Qixi night. On the night of Qixi, girls and women should place seasonal fruits prepared in advance to worship the bright moon.

Step 2 listen to whispers

On Qixi night, many girls will secretly hide under the lush pumpkin shed. If they can hear the whispers of Cowherd and Weaver Girl meeting in the dead of night, they will get married. These young girls will get eternal love in the future.

3. Water purification video

Take a bowl of clean water to the sun and spend the night in the open air. It is to pick up thin straw sticks and float in the water, all by their shadows. There are also many young women who use small needles to see the shadow of underwater needles to fulfill their wisdom and stupidity. Han people in other areas also use this method to make themselves smart and stupid.

Step 4 tie a red knot

It is said that if there are frail children in the family, parents often tie the red rope into seven knots and wear it around the child's neck, praying for God to bless the child's health and longevity.

5. needlework

Also known as "competition cleverness", that is, women wear needles in competitions. They tie colored thread and thread a seven-hole needle. The faster they dress, the more they beg for wisdom. Dressing slowly is called "carelessness". People who lose their cleverness should give gifts prepared in advance to smart people.

What are the customs of Valentine's Day in ancient China II?

1, ligating the ancient bridge

In the northwest of Shaanxi province, there is a custom of pleasing each year on Qixi Festival. Women want to insert grass, which is called the ancient bridge. There are also traditional folk activities such as threading needles and cutting window flowers. In addition, we should not only provide melons and fruits, but also plant bean sprouts and shallots. On Qixi night, women cut bean sprouts and shallots and threw them into the water, and predicted their fate by watching the shadows cast under the moon.

2. Seventh sister's birthday

In Guangdong and Lingnan, there is a traditional folk custom of worshipping immortals on Tanabata. Generally, married women can't take part in this activity, but married brides will hold a ceremony to bid farewell to the immortals on Tanabata. On the sixth night, when offering sacrifices to God, he said he would leave Daughter's Day.

According to historical records, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, there is also the custom of women boating to visit Shimen Aquilaria Shop, which is called Fairy Bath Day. The water in Shimenpu is cool, and boaters are eager to bring good luck, which is also the custom of a local festival.

paint one's nails

Nail dyeing is a folk custom in Chinese Valentine's Day, which is popular in southwest China, especially in Guizhou and Sichuan. Dyeing nails with flowers and plants is also an entertainment for most girls and children in festivals.

Many young girls dye their nails with flowers and leaves during festivals, which not only makes people younger and more beautiful, but also helps unmarried women find suitable husbands as soon as possible. It is also related to local beliefs.

4. Female shampoo

It is a very special folk custom for women to wash their hair on Tanabata. There are records in local chronicles in Hunan and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. For example, in Xiangtan, Hunan Province, "Records of Youxian County": "On July 7, women picked peach branches with cypress leaves and soaked them in soup." This custom may be related to the holy water of Tanabata.

Tanabata, taking spring water and river water, just like taking galaxy water, has the sacred power of cleanliness. On this day, women will bathe their hair and wash their hair with holy water in the Milky Way, and they will certainly be protected by the Goddess of Weaver. There is also the custom of catching dew with a washbasin.

5. Ask for children through education.

The custom of searching for children has spread in the north and south of China. A few days before Tanabata, a small wooden board was covered with a layer of soil, seeds were sown, green seedlings were born, and some small huts were built on it, making it look like a small village of Tian Sheren.

In the south, it is called soaking cleverness, bean sprouts are called smart buds, and even smart buds are thrown on the water instead of needles to seek cleverness. Wax is also used to shape various images, such as the animal model in the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. It floats on the water and is called water floating. Or a wax doll, bought home and floated in the water and soil for good luck, called metaplasia.

6. Worship Qi Nian Ma

Tanabata in Minnan, Fujian and Taiwan Province is Qi's birthday. People worship Qi very much and regard Qi as an idol to protect children's safety and health. In ancient times, people pinned all their hopes on their children, so Valentine's Day in China evolved into a blessing day for seven mothers.

Qi Niang became the patron saint of underage children. After the baby is one year old, the mother or grandmother will hold the baby in her arms and go to the temple to worship and pray for seven wishes with rich sacrifices.