What are the holiday times and customs of Valentine's Day in China?

What are the holiday times and customs of Valentine's Day in China?

What are the holiday times and customs of Valentine's Day in China? For China people, you may not remember what February 14 is, but you will never forget the festival "Qixi Valentine's Day" handed down by Cowherd and Weaver Girl. Let me tell you about the time and customs of Valentine's Day in China. Let's take a look!

What are the holiday times and customs of Valentine's Day in China? 1 China Valentine's Day is on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

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 Festival, etc. , a traditional folk festival in China, originated from the worship of stars, and is the birthday of Seven Sisters in the traditional sense. It is named Qixi because it worships the seventh sister on July 7th.

Villagers, adults and children wrote down their wishes and poems on colorful long poems, hung them on a small bamboo pole together with decorations made of paper, and then stood this small bamboo pole in the yard with offerings, in order to wish the girl's craft as good as Weaver Girl.

Later, after historical development, Tanabata was endowed with the beautiful love legend of the myth "Cowherd and Weaver Girl", making it a festival symbolizing love, thus being regarded as the most romantic traditional festival in China. Contemporary, the cultural meaning of "Valentine's Day in China" came into being.

Chinese custom

First, weaving bridges and threading needles (seeking cleverness)

Qiaqiao originated in the Han Dynasty. Ge Hong's Miscellanies of Xijing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty recorded that "women in the Han Dynasty often put seven-hole needles upstairs on July 7, and everyone did it. Weave a bridge with the new wheat straw of that year, and put it on the desk with cloth woven by cowherd, weaver girl, boy, girl, old cow and magpie, or cut out the scenery on it with colored paper and stick it on the wall. After praying, take seven embroidery needles and thread them through the pinholes with colored thread. Those who can successfully pass through the seven pinholes at one time are regarded as begging for luck.

Second, species produce children.

A few days before Tanabata, we first spread a layer of soil on a small wooden board, sow the seeds of millet, let it bear green seedlings, and then put some small huts and flowers and trees on it to make it look like a small village where people live in fields, called "shell board". Or soak mung beans, red beans, wheat and so on. Put it in a porcelain bowl and tie it into a bunch with red and blue silk thread. This is called "planting", also called "five raw pots" or "raw flowerpots".

Third, worship Kuixing.

According to folklore, July 7th is Kuixing's birthday. Kuixing is in charge of literature. If a scholar wants to become famous, he must worship on Qixi and pray that Kuixing will bless him in the exam.

What are the holiday times and customs of Valentine's Day in China? Erxi Festival is not only a festival to worship Seven Sisters, but also a festival of love. It is a comprehensive festival with the folk custom of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" as the carrier, with the theme of blessing, begging and courtship, and women as the main body. The "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" on Tanabata originated from people's worship of natural phenomena. In ancient times, planetariums were associated with geographical areas. This correspondence is called "dividing stars" in astronomy and "dividing fields" in geography. According to legend, on the seventh day of July every year, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet at the Magpie Bridge in the sky.

Chinese custom

First, Xiangqiao Club

In Yixing, Jiangsu Province, there is the custom of the Qixi Xiangqiao Festival. Every year on Tanabata, someone will participate and build a fragrant bridge. The so-called incense bridge is a bridge with a length of four or five meters and a width of about half a meter, which is made of all kinds of thick and long incense-wrapped paper. It is equipped with railings and decorated with flowers made of five-color lines. At night, people offered sacrifices to the binary star, prayed for good luck, and then burned the incense bridge, symbolizing that the binary star had crossed the incense bridge and met happily. This fragrant bridge originated from the legendary magpie bridge legend.

Second, swim in Seven Sisters water.

According to folklore, on Qixi, seven fairies will descend from the sky and bathe in the river. At this time, because the river is polluted with fairy gas, washing will not only bring peach blossom luck, but also prevent diseases. People in Baise and Jingxi of Guangxi believe that the water on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is very holy and clean. The water on Tanabata can not only ward off evil spirits and diseases, but also make them happy in love and life. This custom is related to the legend that the local seven fairies descended to the world to bathe.

Thirty-seven Gong Qiao cases

In the past, the ancient city of Pinghai, Huidong County, Huizhou was popular with "Seven Clever Tributes". Around Tanabata, little girls, big girls, new wives and old ladies of many families in Pinghai made various "tributes" by themselves, showing their ingenuity and kindness, praying for family happiness and wishing the country and people peace. The handicrafts of Pinghai Qigongqiao case include lanterns, palace lanterns, flowers and fruits, ladies, utensils, palaces, towers, flower arrangements, patterns, embroidery, sugar art, Four Treasures of the Study, and complete sets of historical story figures. From the night of the sixth day of the seventh lunar month to the night of the eighth day of the seventh lunar month, the case of Qi Gongqiao is usually displayed in the front yard of the house for people to appreciate and comment.