How did Valentine's Day in China come about? What's the point?

China Valentine's Day, also known as Qiaoqi Festival, Qijie Festival, Daughter's Day, Qiaoqi Festival, Qiniang Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, Niuniu Festival, Qiaoxi and so on. , mainly from the worship of stars, is the birthday of Seven Sisters in the traditional sense. Because Seven Sisters's worship was held in the evening of July, it was named Tanabata.

It is the traditional custom of Qixi to worship the seven sisters, pray, seek skillful art, sit and watch morning glory and weave stars, pray for marriage and store water on Qixi. After historical development, Tanabata has been endowed with the beautiful love legend of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl", making it a festival symbolizing love.

Valentine's Day in China began in ancient times, spread 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. Among the numerous folk customs of Qixi, some have gradually disappeared, but quite a few have been continued by people.

Meaning:

Tanabata culture praises the faithful concept of marriage and love, which embodies people's yearning and pursuit of ideal love. It inherits and carries forward the fine traditional virtues of the Chinese nation and embodies a strong sense of responsibility, which is different from the more romantic view of love in western culture.

In farming society, family is not only the basic unit of production and life, but also the cell of social composition. The love between husband and wife and the harmony of family directly affect the stability and development of society. Under the impact of the current western culture, it is of great practical significance to carry forward the concept of pursuing a better life and faithful love advocated by the stories and legends of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

Yingjie food

Suitable fruit

The dietary customs of Valentine's Day in China vary from place to place and are generally called "smart eating". An image of "Qiao" expresses the uniqueness of Tanabata's food customs and people's good wishes for ingenuity, family well-being and happy life. ?

Appropriate fruit: Appropriate fruit is the most famous festival food on Tanabata. Proper fruit, also known as "jojo fruit", has many styles. "Begging for clever fruit" is a traditional sacrifice and beauty of Valentine's Day in China. On the night of Tanabata, people came to the yard with "Qiaoqiao Fruit", and the family sat together and tasted the craft of making "Qiaoqiao Fruit". Now this custom is not popular in many places, and the traditional food "begging for clever fruit" has also evolved into various cakes.

There are many styles of proper fruit, and the main materials are oil, flour, sugar and honey. In addition, there are many changes in the melons and fruits used in Qiqiao: either the melons and fruits are carved into exotic flowers and birds, or the surface of the melon skin is embossed; This kind of melon is called "flower melon". ?

Crispy candy: In some pastry shops in China, some crisp candy with the image of a weaver girl will be made on this day, commonly known as "able person" and "skillful crisp candy", and it is also called "sending able person" when sold. People believe that people who eat this kind of shortbread will become ingenious.

Jojo rice: It's very interesting to eat Jojo rice on this day in Shandong, China. Seven good girls collect food and vegetables, jiaozi, and put a copper coin, a needle and a red date into three jiaozi. After Jojo's activities, they get together to eat jiaozi. It is said that they were rich, good at sewing and got married early.

Melon and Fruit: In Fujian and Tanabata, let the Weaver Girl appreciate and taste the melon and fruit, and let her wish the fruit and fruit harvest in the coming year. The offerings include tea, wine, fresh fruit, five kernels (longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts, melon seeds), flowers, female cosmetics pollen and so on. Generally, after fasting and bathing, everyone takes turns to burn incense and worship God and pray silently.