What is July 7 in China

July 7 in China is the Tanabata Festival.

"Tanabata", that is, the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, folk legend has it that the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden meet from the Magpie Bridge across the River of Heaven, Tanabata Festival is also known as the "Begging for Coquettishness Festival", on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the women, especially those who are not yet out of the house, should "beg for coquettishness" from the Weaving Maiden. "On the night of the seventh day of the seventh month, women, especially those who have not yet left the womb, will beg the Weaving Maiden for coquettishness, in order to have an intelligent heart and a pair of dexterous hands. Therefore, the day of Tanabata has gradually been given two connotations of "love" and "smart hands" over the long years.

The names of Cowherd and Weaving Maiden have already been recorded in the Book of Songs - Xiao Ya, except that at that time, the star Cowherd was still called "Altair": "There is a Han in the sky, and there is light on the monitor. The Weaving Maiden has seven days of service. Although it is seven, it is not a report. The "Altair" star is not a suitcase."

"Han" is the Milky Way, and the Weaving Maiden, Altair is the name of the star, which probably means: Weaving Maiden seven times throughout the day and night shift running busy, but ultimately can not weave beautiful cloth, and the bright Altair, can not really pull the car. Visible about the Western Zhou Dynasty, folk and Altair, Vega related stories circulated, but at this time there is no Altair, Vega and Tanabata associated clues.

Folklorists examined the ancient literature of the time of the year and the association of Altair and Vega with the Tanabata by the "Dai Dai Li Ji - Xia Xiao Zheng", which mentioned: "(July) the beginning of the evening, the Vega is eastward," meaning that, in the twilight of the month of July, the Vega three stars are seen by the formation of the opening of the two starlets toward the east, and in this direction is precisely the star Altair.

"Shi Ji - Suoyin" quotes "Er Ya" as saying, "The river drum is called Altair", and Altair is the August star, which is used as a symbol of sacrifice. In July, when Vega rose to the zenith, Altair also began to come into view, and then Vega tilted to the west, and Altair later rose to the highest point, thus entering the mid-autumn month of August.

And in the early fall night, the Milky Way just turned to the north-south direction, Altair and Vega is just one east and one west, divided into two sides of the Milky Way, far away from each other. Probably because of this, the folk have Altair and Vega more detailed story: "a long way Altair, bright river Han female, slender pew pew hand, zazha get loom, all day long not chapter, snivel zero rain.

The river is clear and shallow, how many times are they apart, and the water is full of them, so they can't speak." Consistently guarding each other ultimately in exchange for the annual magpie bridge to meet the opportunity, and this once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, this is that great and poignant love story.

However, science is a purifier of illusions, always telling the impossible at the right time. Astronomers have calculated that the distance between Altair and Vega is actually quite far, 16.4 light-years.

This distance is such that even a phone call would take more than a decade to receive. If you take the average length of a magpie to be 45 centimeters, it would take about 3.4 billion billion magpies to connect head to tail. Unfortunately, it is said that there are at most 57 million magpies on Earth.

It's an age of fetishized statistics, and a lot of things are weighted down. Only that love is ultimately something that carries with it unspeakable rules and conditions, and that two lovers and mutual observance remain one of the themes of Tanabata.

In today's rapidly changing society, love is facing greater challenges than in traditional societies, and stories of unswerving love, such as that of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, are of even greater relevance. In any era, there are areas that data cannot truly analyze, and perhaps love is one of them.