Legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden?

The Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden meet again on Tanabata

August 11, 2005 is the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which is the most romantic of the traditional Chinese festivals, "Tanabata", is the legendary Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden once a year in the Milky Way Magpie Bridge, the day has gradually evolved into the Valentine's Day in China. Because, every Tanabata lovers will always look up to the stars to pray for love and fidelity.

According to astronomical experts, the Cowherd and the Weaver is a folkloric call, in fact, in astronomy on the Cowherd's Chinese name for the River Drum two, and the Weaver star known as the Weaver one, they are respectively the constellation of the eagle and the constellation of the Lyra of one of the bright stars, due to the two stars are clearly visible to the naked eye, but also easy to identify so in the Ming Dynasty Zheng He went to the West, the Weaver star has been one of the navigational symbols of navigation.

According to astronomical observations and calculations since the 19th century, Altair is 16 light-years away from us (1 light-year is equal to 10 trillion kilometers), Vega is 26 light-years away from us, 16 light-years between the two stars, even if Altair gave Vega a phone call, the Vega will have to wait until 16 years to hear the voice of the Altair. Therefore, their annual "seven seven meeting", is simply impossible to happen.

Why is the "seventh day of the seventh month" counted as the meeting day of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden in the legend? This is because the ancients believed that "seven" is an auspicious number, which has the meaning of perfection. Moreover, the night of "seven seven" is the time when the moon is close to the Milky Way, and the light of the moon also happens to shine on the Milky Way, which makes it easier for people to observe the stars. If you look through a telescope tonight, you will see a dense cluster of stars in the Milky Way. And half the moon's afterglow sprinkled to the Milky Way will become the people imagined "magpie bridge"

Now, has entered the early fall season, the evening around 8:00 p.m. brightness zero magnitude Vega first appeared near the zenith of the love, followed by a first-class star in the direction of the south of the Altair, in the countryside away from the lights of the city, the public look up at the night sky will be Surprised to find, in the middle of the two stars in the interval of a white sky across the north and south of the river (i.e., the Milky Way), in which the Cowherd in the east of the river, the Weaving Maiden in the west of the river, they look at each other without words, quite poetic.

The origin of "Tanabata"

The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is the Valentine's Day of the Chinese, which is also known as the Beggar's Day, Tanabata, or the Daughter's Day, and is the most important day for the daughters. The reason why the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is called the Begging for Coquettishness is because folklore says that on this day, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden will meet in the Heavenly River, and the daughters' families will worship with melons and fruits toward the sky at night to beg for coquettishness from the goddess.

In addition to begging for the knitting girl's skill, they also beg for a skillful match in marriage. Therefore, countless sentient men and women in the world will pray for their marriage fulfillment to the starry sky on this night, in the quiet moment of the night.

When it comes to the Tanabata Festival, we have to mention the love story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, which has been passed down in folklore. Their annual meeting on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month is regarded as a symbol of love by sentimental sons and daughters. The tragedy of their love has left a deep impression in every Chinese soul. Therefore, every night on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, polyamorous lovers will pray to the dark starry sky for eternal and undying love.

There are many versions of the story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, the most well known being that the Cowherd's parents died young, and he was often mistreated by his brother and sister-in-law, and had only an old ox to keep him company. One day the old ox gave him a plan to take the Weaving Maiden as his wife. On that day, the beautiful fairies really went to the Milky Way to bathe and play in the water. At that moment, the Cowherd, who was hiding among the reeds, suddenly ran out and took away the Weaving Maiden's clothes. Panicked, the fairies rushed ashore, put on their clothes and flew away, leaving only the Weaving Maiden. At the Cowherd's request, the Weaving Maiden agreed to be his wife. After the marriage, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden plowed and weaved, loved each other, and lived a very happy and fulfilling life. The Weaving Maiden also gave birth to a son and a daughter, and later, when the old cow was about to die, she urged the cowherd to leave its skin behind and put it on in times of emergency in order to help. After the death of the old ox, the couple took the pain to peel off the skin and buried the ox on the hillside.

When the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother in Heaven learned of the marriage between the Weaving Maiden and the Cowherd, they were furious and ordered the gods of heaven to come down to retrieve the Weaving Maiden. The gods of heaven took advantage of Cowherd's absence to capture the Weaving Maiden. When the Cowherd came home and did not see the Weaving Maiden, he hurriedly put on his cowhide and chased after her with his two children. Seeing that they were about to catch up, the Queen Mother was anxious, and pulled down the golden hairpin on her head to the Milky Way, and the formerly shallow Milky Way became turbid in an instant, and the Cowherd could no longer pass through it. Since then, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden can only tearful eyes, look at each other across the river, the sky is long, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother can not argue with the sincere feelings between them, permitted them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month, legend has it that, on the seventh day of the seventh month, the earth's gladioli will be flying up to the sky in the Milky Way for the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden to build a bridge to meet. In addition, when the night is quiet on the seventh day of the seventh month, people can also hear the pulsating love words of the cowherd and the weaving maiden in the sky under the grape arbor or other melons and fruits.

Of course, this is just a legend. The ritual of begging for coquettish originated from the ancient primitive beliefs of the goddess of the weaving sang This belief combined with the cowlang weaving maiden, the annual meeting of the seventh day of the seventh month of July, became our present-day Tanabata seven coquettish folk beliefs.

How our ancestors lived "Tanabata"

Monthly knot, threading

Jiaodong region, there is the custom of worshipping the seven sisters God, young women often like to dress in new clothes on Tanabata, get together, under the moon, Monk knot seven sisters. Some of them also sing "Heavenly Emperor Huang Huang Huang, I invite seven sisters to heaven. Do not want your needle, do not want your line, optical your 72 good means." Also competed in threading the needle, competing for the name of skillful hands.

Drifting needles to try

July 7, for the "Women's Day". Young girls salty with a pot of water to the sun, in the floating needle, the shadow of the water, in order to test the coincidence, and then the melons and fruits, competing for "begging for coincidence".

Planting Qiaocai as Qiaohua

Shandong Rongcheng has two kinds of activities, one is "Qiaocai", that is, the maiden in the wine glass cultivation of malt, a "Qiaohua". The first is "Qiaohua", in which girls use flour to mold various kinds of food with flowers.

Ligature Qiaogu, planting bean seedlings and green onions, divining Qiaogu, threading the needle and cutting window flowers

Shanxi Loess Plateau region, the night of the Tanabata Festival, there are also a variety of begging activities custom, women often want to ligature wearing flowery clothes of the straw man, called Qiaogu, not only for fruits and melons, but also planted bean seedlings, green onions, in the Tanabata night the women of each family are hand-held a bowl of water, shearing bean seedlings, green onions, into the water, with Look at the shadow of the cast under the moon to divine the life of the skillful, but also threading, competition. At the same time, there is also a window cutter competition.

Jiangsu area of the begging activities is to take a bowl of clean water in the sun, and the open air overnight. That is to pick up the fine grass stick floating in the water, depending on its shadow to determine the test coincidence. There are also many young women using a small needle to see the shadow of the needle under the water to test the wisdom of the fool. Other areas of the Han Chinese also use this way to test the wisdom of fools.

Begging with spiders

Zhejiang, Anhui and other places with spiders begging way: in a small pot or small box into the spider, the next morning to see its web sparsely or densely to determine the coincidence. If the spider is still in the melon fruit web, also means that the arrival of wisdom and skill. And the small spider stored in the box, in order to wait for the sparseness of the web, for the number of cleverness.

Catch dew

Zhejiang rural areas, popular with the basin catch dew custom. Legend has it that the dew on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month is the tears of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden when they meet, and if it is smeared on the eyes and hands, it can make one's eyes and hands bright and quick.

Plants for children

Plants for children is an old custom of the Tanabata Festival, which is actually a kind of faith. In the festival before the use of a number of plants, such as wheat, mung beans, beans, peas, etc., placed in a vessel soaked in water, buds a few inches, on the eve of the day with red and blue colored thread bundles tied up, as a symbol of a child blessed. Also use wax to mold various images, placed on the water to float.

Tree sap to wash hair, flowers and plants to dye nails

Young girls in many areas, like to use the sap of the tree during the festival to wash their hair, the legend is not only young and beautiful, but also unmarried women, but also as soon as possible to find the man of their dreams. Dyeing nails with flowers and plants is also a hobby of most women and children, in the festival entertainment, but also closely related to fertility beliefs.

Seven eve water storage red head rope seven knots

Some areas in Guangxi have seven eve water storage custom, that double seven water bath can eliminate disasters and diseases, weak and sick children, but also often in this day will be the red head rope knotted seven knots, worn around the neck, praying for health and good luck.

Eating food

The Tanabata dietary customs, varying from place to place, generally referred to as eating coquettish food, which more dumplings, noodles, oil fruit, wontons and other food for this festival. Eat cloud noodle, this noodle must be made of dew. Eating it can get the meaning of coincidence. There are many folk confectionery store, like to make some of the image of the weaving lady of the pasty candy, commonly known as, "coquettish people," "coquettish pastry," when sold, also known as "send coquettish people," this custom has been passed down in some regions This custom has been passed down in some areas to this day.

Respondent: Komatsu Blog - Director Level 16 6-14 20:34

Cowherd and Weaver

Cowherd and Weaver

Cowherd and Weaver is one of the most famous folklore in our country, and it is the story of our people's most about the stars. Who first told this story, when it began to circulate in the folk - these two questions I do not know that someone has already been examined out yet. The North and South Dynasties era written in the "Jing Chu chronicle" has this paragraph: "East of the river in the sky, there is the Weaving Maiden, the son of the emperor also. Year after year, she weaves the loom and weaves the clouds and brocade in the sky. The emperor had pity on her loneliness, and promised to marry a cowherd boy from the west of the river. After her marriage, she abolished the weaving process. The emperor was angry and ordered her to return to the east of the river. Only on the night of July 7 every year, she would cross the river for a while."

About the Weaving Maiden, there are several other references to her in ancient books. Houhanshu-Tianwenzhi: "The Weaving Maiden, the true daughter of the Son of Heaven." The Historical Records : "Three stars, at the eastern end of the Tianji, the Heavenly Maiden." Jiao Lin Da Dou Ji: "East of the River of Heaven, there is a star faintly, under the dibutyl, called the Weaving Maiden." The River of Heaven is the band of light we see across the sky at night; the ancients in China also called it "Yinhan", "River of Stars", and "Heavenly Hanging", "silver decoration", "bright river", "high and cold" and so on. Now astronomers call it "Milky Way". Vega is on the east side of the Milky Way, and its western name is Vega; once upon a time, our countrymen divided the sky into twenty-eight constellations and Sanhuan, and now astronomers all over the world have agreed to divide the sky into 88 "constellations". Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra. Nearby in the Milky Way, there are five almost equally bright stars in the shape of a cross, which belong to the constellation Cygnus. The west side of the Milky Way a little south of the three stars in close proximity to each other, the brighter star in the center is Altair, also known as Altair, China's ancient name is "River Drum", "He Drum", "Huang Gu", the western name Altair. "Altair is the brightest star in the constellation Eagle. It is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila, and the two smaller stars on either side of it are sometimes referred to together as the "Flat Stars". Myths say that the two stars next to it are the children born to Altair. The swan is floating in the Milky Way, a girl is weaving on the river bank, and a shepherd with two small children is herding cattle on the other bank. What a beautiful picture this is.

Qin Guan, a Song Dynasty lyricist, was also excited by the story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, a story of joy in sorrow and sorrow in joy; he expressed the mood of this lovely story very skillfully in long and short sentences.

The clouds are delicate, the flying stars are hateful, and the silver man has a long way to go.

The first time we meet in the golden wind and jade dew, it is better than countless other things on earth.

The love is like water, the good time is like a dream, and I can't bear to look at the magpie bridge and return to the road.

If two lovers are in love for a long time, how can it be in the morning and in the evening?

Once upon a time, many people in our country believed that the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden really met once on the eve of the seventh moon. On that night, women wore needles to beg for coquettish folk, and sacrificed melons and fruits to the star of the Weaving Maiden. This story is also often used as a source of drama, Beijing opera, drama and local theater around most of the "Cowherd and Weaving Maiden" play.

In the play, Niulang is a cowherd boy in the countryside. He refuses to help his brother with the gardening, his sister-in-law with the water cart, or his mother with the housework. Cowherd is just playful and only loves to make strange fantasies. His best friend was the old ox he was guarding. One night, he saw in his dream a fairyland in the sky. He then took the old ox and set out for the sky. Meanwhile, there was a weaving maiden in heaven who wanted to come down to earth to enjoy the warmth of the earth. The Queen Mother took pity on the loneliness of the Weaving Maiden, so she sent the Golden Girls and Magpies to bring the Weaving Maiden to the end of the world to meet the Cowherd. "The meeting of the golden wind and jade dew is really "better than countless things on earth". The couple was sent on their honeymoon beyond the clouds.

The Cowherd traveled all over the heavenly realm, and for a long time, he found it dull and uninteresting. The Weaving Maiden has to continue to weave the cloud brocade heavenly clothes, can not always accompany him. The Cowherd was getting bored and learned from the Golden Boy that his family was looking forward to his return, so he told the Weaving Maiden about his intention to go home. The Weaving Maiden was determined to go to the earth with him to enjoy the lovely spring. Unfortunately, the Queen Mother of the West knew about it. She rushed to make a Milky Way with jade hairpins to separate the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, and only promised to send magpies to make a bridge across the Milky Way every year on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month to enable them to meet each other across the Milky Way once. The Cowherd returned to earth and was happy to see his mother, brother and sister-in-law again. From then on, he was no longer lazy, no longer make unnecessary fantasies, and worked hard every day. He realized that he could create beauty in real life. He smelled the scent of the earth, and he realized the meaning of life. His only regret is that his beloved Weaving Maiden cannot come to the earth to labor with him and enjoy the warmth of the earth together. But they can still meet once a year on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, and that is already better than parting forever.

There is a play with several songs, one of which is "The Meeting of the Magpies" by Yu Peng:

Who knows when the sky will last forever?

Who knows how many years of hate?

It's been a long time, but it's hard to get a good night on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month;

But it's an infinite sadness that we meet on the bridge of magpies.

It's a long dream and a short night, but it's always a lot of love.

Seeing that the morning star has appeared on the eastern mountain, the sky is about to dawn.

What can we do? The magpies are always clamoring for us to part ways.

We can only wait until next year's eve comes quickly.

To this day, there are still some people in our country who really believe that the two stars of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden meet once a year on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, and many women still beg the Weaving Maiden for coins on that night. Unfortunately, science tells us that the story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden is not true, it is just a poetic myth. In recent years, advances in astronomy have made our understanding of this star, other stars and the Milky Way much clearer than before. The Milky Way is not a river; there is not a drop of water in the Milky Way, nor is there a bridge. It is a collection of many stars and nebulae that can be seen with a large telescope. Cowherd and Weaving Maiden two stars although not absolutely "constant", but every eve and can not see them to each other to move the slightest, of course, more can not talk about "crossing the river". Every year on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, or one in the east of the river, one in the west of the river, each other are looking at the river sigh. The progress of science has shattered their dreams, which reminds the author of Cao Xueqin for the illusion of Taixu's memorial hall of the couplet:

Thick earth and high heaven, can sigh the ancient and modern love is not enough;

Smitten men and women, poor wind and clouds debt is difficult to pay.

The word "star" is only relative to the word "planet". In fact, there is no star in the sky that is absolutely "constant"; every star is moving, moving more or less. Altair moves 0.658 arcseconds per year on the celestial sphere; in addition, it leaves us at a speed of 26 kilometers per second (93,600 kilometers per hour). So Altair moves through space dozens of times faster than the fastest airliner on earth. Vega moves a little slower, but she can still win in a women's 100 meter race. She moves 0.345 arc seconds per year on the celestial sphere, leaving our behavior to run outward at 14 kilometers per second.

Both Cowboy and Weaver are much bigger and brighter than the sun. Why do we appear to be just two tiny dots of light? That's because these two stars are much farther away than the Sun. Altair is 10.5 times as luminous as the Sun, 70% larger in diameter, and almost 70% larger in mass. Vega has a luminosity equal to 60 times that of the sun, a diameter equal to 2.76 times that of the sun, and a mass almost equal to 3 times that of the sun. Therefore, the Weaving Maiden is bigger, brighter and heavier than the Cowherd, and is still counted as the Cowherd's big sister. Cowherd is 154 trillion kilometers away from us, 1 million times farther than the sun; the weaving girl is 250 trillion kilometers away from us, 1.7 million times farther than the sun. Vega is not only bigger and brighter than Altair, but it is also farther away, so that the two stars look almost as bright to us. It takes 16 years and 4 months for light to come to our eyes from Altair, and 26 years and 5 months for light to come from Vega. The stars Altair and Vega are not in the same direction; the distance between the two stars is 16.4 light years. The speed of radio waves is the same as that of light, so if the cowherd wanted to make a wireless phone call to Vega, he would have to wait 32 years to receive a return call.

Stars vary greatly in size, luminosity, temperature, and color, but not much in quality, and in the 20th century astronomers have classified many of them as biologists classify plants and animals.

Scientists have proved that both daylight and starlight come from atomic energy. Thus, the stars Altair and Vega can also be described as two very large atomic bombs. They turn the atomic energy in their bellies into light and emit it. Human beings, while admiring their brilliant light, actually fantasize a mournful and touching story.

Fairy tales and fairy tales will not be wiped out by the progress of material civilization. They can enhance the fantasizing ability of young people, serve as an amateur pastime for adults, and be used as raw materials for various arts. The Chinese story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden can be compared with the Greek story of the Odyssey and the Golden Fleece, and the French story of the Ring of the Nibelung. Every year on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, we may wish to continue to bring up the story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden to talk about: on the one hand, to appreciate this poetic myth, but on the other hand, it can also be an opportunity to advocate science, so that the general public will pay attention to the scientists on our behalf to find out a lot of new knowledge about the stars.

Respondent: Tang Zi Ai - University Bachelor Grade 16 6-14 20:35

The famous Chinese folk legend. This legend is an artistic reflection of the economic life of small farmers in the feudal society of China's past

Men plowing and women weaving. It reflects the family

relationships under the feudal patriarchal system and the tragedy of marriage through the fanciful plot that the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden are united and separated, and can only meet once in the sky on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

This legend is a great example of how a woman can be separated from her husband, and how she can be separated from her husband.

Yangliuqing New Year's Paintings "The Match of Heaven and River"

The heroes of the legend, Cowherd and Weaving Maiden, are derived from the names of the stars Cowherd and Weaving Maiden.

The star names of Cowherd and Weaving Maiden have been used in folklore since the Han and Wei Dynasties. The story came into folklore during the Han and Wei Dynasties. Han Ying

Shao's "Customs and Folklore" Yat-Wen quoted from the "Years of Hua Ji," which reads, "The Weaving Maiden crosses the

river on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, and makes the magpie a bridge." In the Southern Dynasty, Liang Zong Security Department's Jingchu Shoushi ji (Records of the Years and Seasons of Jingchu), it was written:

"East of the Heavenly River, there is the Weaving Maiden, the son of the Heavenly Emperor. Every year, the weaver labors to weave the loom into

clouds of brocade and heavenly clothes. The Heavenly Emperor mourned her loneliness, and promised her a marriage with a cowherd boy on the west side of the river. After marrying, he abolished the loom. The Heavenly Emperor was furious and ordered her to return to the east of the river, only to cross the river on the seventh day of the seventh month every year for a

meeting." This is about the earlier appearance of this legend. Later the Heavenly

Emperor in the story was said to be the Queen Mother, and the Weaving Maiden became her granddaughter, and the Cowherd

was the earthly Cowherd. The Weaving Maiden married the Cowherd and had a boy and a girl, who were eventually

captured by the Queen Mother, who used a hairpin to make a river of heaven between her and the Cowherd.

The Cowherd chased after her with her son and daughter, and was blocked by the river, so she could only rely on the Magpie Bridge to meet each year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

Every time, women gathered under the melon shed, can be heard crying when they meet,

Magpies on this day also because of the body built the bridge and head to lose hair. In addition, there

there is a story to explain the heavenly cow, female two stars: the sky cow

cowboy star next to the two small stars for the weaving woman born of a man and a woman; weaving woman star in the arms

there is a cow yoke star, is the husband and wife quarrelling when the cow throws across the river over; and

cowboy near the shuttle star, is the weaving woman angry at the time of the fight over the weaving woman

but the weaving woman

strength is small, but the weaving woman

strength is small. p>

With little strength, she did not hit accurately, so the shuttle star did not come near the Cowherd. This

saying adds to the living color of the legend.

The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden has been a household name for more than a thousand years. Its origin can be seen in

The Poetry Scriptures - Dadong, such as "□彼织女", "□彼

牵牛". There are also songs about

it in Nineteen Ancient Poems, "A Long Way to the Altair Star". In the evolution of the story, it has changed from looking at each other across the river to meeting on the magpie bridge on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Dissolve people's sympathy for the Cowherd and Weaving Maiden, adding

an ideal component. However, this story has often given birth to many

variations in the oral folklore, some of which are combined with the two-brother type story, in which the Cowherd is said to be the younger brother who was abused by his brother and sister-in-law; some of which are combined with the feathered clothes type story, in which the Weaving Lady is said to be the maiden of the sky who descended from the earth to take a bath, and the old cow tells the Cowherd to hide the clothes of the Weaving Lady and

become a bride, and in the end, the Weaving Lady finds the clothes and flies back to the sky, and the Cowherd puts on the clothes of the Weaving Lady, and she is married. In the end, the Weaving Maiden found the clothes and flew back to heaven, and the Cowherd put on the old cowhide and went up to

heaven to meet the Weaving Maiden. In the contemporary record of the "Heavenly Cowherd

Matching Couple" that circulates in Inner Mongolia, the old cow is an assistant who helps the cowherd overcome the abuse of his brother and sister-in-law. At the end of the story

there is also an episode in which the father-in-law tests this cowherd son-in-law. The Cowherd forgets

what the Weaving Maiden has instructed him to do, and as a result he is separated by the River of Heaven. Later generations of literati used this

legendary theme to write operas such as "The Matching of the River of Heaven," which expanded its influence even more.

It is known as one of China's four most famous legends, along with the legend of Meng Jiangnu, the Legend of the White Snake and the Legend of the Liang Zhu.

The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden is very tightly

integrated with the custom of begging for coquettish objects on the seventh day of the seventh month. The influence of this story on the custom was recorded earlier in the Jing Chu Shou Shi Ji (荆楚歲時記):

"The seventh day of the seventh month is the night of the gathering of the cowherd and the weaving maiden. It is the night of the family women, knot color

wisp, piercing seven holes □ (needle), or gold, silver, □ stone for the needle, display melons and fruits in the court

in order to beg for coincidences, there is a happy child net in the melon, then think that the charm should be."