The Cultural Connotation of Valentine's Day in China

1, couples get together and lovers meet.

According to folk stories, the weaver girl in the sky came to take a bath on earth, and the cowherd listened to the words of the god cow and stole the clothes of the weaver girl, so the weaver girl married the cowherd.

However, the marriage between the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd was opposed by the Weaver Girl's mother (the Queen Mother) or father (the Heavenly Father, the Miao legend). The couple, Weaver Girl and Cowherd, live on both sides of the Tianhe River (Tianhan and Yinhe). Only on the night of Tanabata every year can Weaver Girl and Cowherd meet, when magpies gather in Tianhe to form a bridge.

2. Jojo

Liang Zonggu, a scholar in the Southern Dynasties, wrote in the Chronicle of Jingchu: "July 7th is the night when morning glory and weavers get together. In the evening, women wear colorful ribbons, seven-hole needles, or gold, silver and jade as needles, and the old fruit is pleasing in court. If you have a happy subnet on melon, you think it is corresponding. "

3. The story of marriage between Yan and Huang.

A long-standing folk story in China, in which the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were punished for their intermarriage, recorded the social changes of young men and women from the drum tribe of Yan Di nationality and the marginal tribe of Huangdi nationality, who broke through the hostility between the two sides and the custom of matriarchal society and boldly fell in love and got married.

In fact, Yan Di and the Huangdi clan moved from war to integration, and the formation of the Chinese nation benefited from the love pursuit and mutual marriage of young men and women of Yan Di and Huangdi clan.

Therefore, Tanabata is not only a festival for couples' reunion, Valentine's Day, but also an anniversary for the formation of the Chinese nation, symbolizing the unity of 56 ethnic groups in the big family of the Chinese nation.

"Qixi" symbolizes the reunion of husband and wife and family, and "Qixi" is more like the Valentine's Day of the old couple. Among the traditional festivals in China, Valentine's Day in China is the most romantic one. The legend of the meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid in Tianhe has been circulated for thousands of years, adding a strong love atmosphere to this festival.

"We hope to fly in heaven, two birds become one, and grow together on the earth, two branches of a tree ..." The Song of Eternal Sorrow by Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, compared Tang Xuanzong and Yang Yuhuan to the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid, leaving this eternal farewell song. Qin Guan, a poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, also wrote a poem "Queqiao Fairy" based on the love story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, and also left a famous sentence: If the two love for a long time, sooner or later.

Valentine's Day in China has a long history and profound cultural connotations. However, traditional activities, such as blessing and needling, are mostly carried out in rural areas, which are difficult to be accepted by urban people and lack of activity carriers. In order to better inherit Valentine's Day in China, it is necessary to explore and innovate the connotation of the festival, so that it not only meets the tastes of young people, but also differs from western roses and chocolates, and truly has the traditional characteristics of China.

Japanese and Koreans also have "China Valentine's Day", both of which originated in China. The Tanabata Festival in these two countries retains the ancient tradition of "begging for cleverness" in China, which is worth learning from. With the development of the times, Tanabata itself is also developing, and its connotation and extension are also changing.

In fact, Tanabata doesn't have to care about the form, but more importantly, the exchange of feelings. Nowadays, Valentine's Day in China is increasingly recognized by young people in China. Although the form has changed, we should pay more attention to the spiritual significance and traditional culture it conveys. ?