The custom of Tanabata, what to eat? what are you playing？

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is a traditional festival in China, Chinese Valentine's Day. Chinese Valentine's Day is the most romantic festival among many traditional festivals in China. Tanabata is also called "Begging for Cleverness Festival" and "Daughter's Day". On this day, young women will dress up carefully, wear needles to beg for cleverness and pray for a happy marriage. The ceremony is pious and grand, and every household displays flowers, fruits and needlework, and all kinds of furniture and appliances are exquisite and small, which is attractive. Tanabata is the day when the cowherd and the weaver girl meet in folklore, so it is sought after by contemporary people as "China Valentine's Day".

Chinese Valentine's Day is regarded as the most romantic traditional festival in China.

In China, on the night of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the weather is warm and the plants are fragrant. This is commonly known as Chinese Valentine's Day, and some people call it "Begging for Clevership Festival" or "Daughter's Day", which is the most romantic festival among the traditional festivals in China, and it is also the day that girls paid most attention to in the past.

On a clear summer and autumn night, the stars are shining in the sky. A vast white galaxy runs across the north and south. On the east and west banks of the river, there is a shining star, facing each other across the river, which is Altair and Vega.

It is a folk custom to sit and watch the Petunia and the Weaver Girl on Tanabata. According to legend, this night every year is the time when the Weaver Girl in the sky and the Cowherd meet at the Magpie Bridge. The Weaver Girl is a beautiful, intelligent and ingenious fairy. On this night, ordinary women ask her for wisdom and skillful skills, and they also ask her for a happy marriage. Therefore, the seventh day of July is also called the Begging Festival.

It is said that on the night of Tanabata, people can look up and see the meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in the Milky Way, or they can overhear the love story when they meet in the sky under the melon and fruit shelf.

On this romantic night, girls put seasonal fruits and vegetables in front of the bright moon in the sky, and worship in the sky, begging the goddess in the sky to give them intelligent hearts and dexterous hands, so that they can master their needlework skills, and even more, they beg for the marriage of love and marriage. In the past, marriage was a lifelong event for women to decide whether they would be happy or not. Therefore, countless sentient men and women in the world would pray for a happy marriage against the starry sky at this quiet night.

data map: Zhang Jingzhen, Xinhua News Agency, prayed for the release of Kongming lanterns on Tanabata. Photograph

The traditional custom of Tanabata in various places

Chinese Valentine's Day, which started in the Han Dynasty, prevailed in the Tang and Song Dynasties and has been passed down to this day. Chinese Valentine's Day is rich in connotation, with a wide range of activities and meanings. Many of its customs have gradually disappeared with the development of the times, such as "piercing needles to seek cleverness", "liking spiders to be clever", "throwing needles to test cleverness" and "surviving by seeds". However, there are still many traditional customs in various places.

Guangdong-Seven Mothers' Club

In Guangdong, Chinese Valentine's Day was most valued during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and there were many interesting customs. In Qu Dajun's "Guangdong Xinyu", the grand occasion of the "Seven Mothers' Meeting" in the early Qing Dynasty has been recorded, and people often call it "Worship Seven Sisters". According to the memories of the old people who participated in the "worship of seven sisters" activities during the Republic of China, "worship of seven sisters" was particularly popular in Xiguan, Guangzhou. Activities are generally carried out among young girls and young women (men and elderly women can only watch from the sidelines and salute and worship). In advance, more than a dozen good sisters are organized to prepare for the "worship of the Seven Sisters". In June, some rice, wheat and mung beans will be soaked in porcelain bowls and let them germinate. It's even busier when Tanabata is near. We need to raise some money, ask our family to help us build a bridge of magpies with bamboo paper and make all kinds of exquisite handicrafts. On the night of Qixi Festival, the Eight Immortals table was set up in the hall, and the embroidered table (table skirt) was tied, and all kinds of colorful flower and fruit products and needlework were put on to show the ingenuity of the daughters. There are rice seedlings and bean sprouts plates surrounded by paper-cut safflower belts, and oil lamps are lit in the plates, and the lights reveal colorful thin paper lampshades, which are dazzling; There are elaborately arranged flower arrangements, and fragrant cymbidium, jasmine, jasmine and other flowers are inserted in copper porcelain vases; There are lotus, roses, nightingales and camellia as big as teaspoons in a small pot, and one is really matched with a fake one, which is hard to tell. There are also fruit bowls that cut and fold raw fruits such as apples, peaches and persimmons into various shapes such as birds and animals; Embroidered dresses, shoes, socks and flower clogs; Small curtains, sheets, curtains and table skirts embroidered with gold and silver colored threads; Nail-sized fans and handkerchiefs; In short, the more detailed it is, the more skillful it is to apply small wooden boards to the local bean and millet seedlings with pavilions and pavilions made of fine wood. Also, rice grains, sesame seeds, rush cores and colored paper are used to make offerings made of various forms of towers, tables and chairs, bottle stoves, flowers and fruits, Four Treasures of the Study and beans with various patterns and characters. There are also lanterns made of glass or colored paper, palace lanterns, pomelo peel, eggshell lanterns (carved with landscape flowers and birds) and animal-shaped lanterns. The most lovable thing is the exquisite doll made of colored silk by the daughters, that is, the doll. Puppies have the image of a cowherd, a weaver girl and a pair of young children, which are usually placed on the upper floor, and the image of a child playing the piano and dancing at the bottom is to celebrate the meeting of the two stars. There are also complete sets of drama characters such as "West Chamber", "Red Chamber" and "Young Lady of Yangmen" (also with porcelain dolls, which parents bought for their young children as holiday gifts). In addition, of course, there is also a need to display cosmetics, such as small rouge boxes, mirrors, colored combs, velvet flowers, powder, etc., for the use of both weavers and daughters. There are wax melons and fruits, small animals and so on. In addition, it is sweet and salty snacks, tea, wine, melon seeds, peanuts and other foods. It is essential to have candlesticks, incense burners, incense sticks and light them with the best sandalwood.

Daughters should dress up to their heart's content on Tanabata night, bathe and wash their hair with Tianhe River, then put on a brocade skirt coat and cheongsam, comb their hair in a bun, and put on floral ornaments such as Prynne and Jasminum giraldii. Then thrush, powder, crimson lips, forehead printing; Dye nails with impatiens juice. After this dress, the daughters descended to earth like fairies, sitting around the square table and the edge of the magpie bridge, playing all kinds of games: or entertaining themselves, singing poems against each other, guessing puzzles, and wearing needles to worship and beg for cleverness; And point to the Big Dipper in the sky (according to legend, the Weaver Girl is a member of the Seven-Star Sisters) and the Double Star, and tell stories about cowgirls and girls, poems and allusions; Or invite Geji, sing Cantonese opera, play eight pieces of music, etc., and the daughters also play Qin Xiao and other musical instruments themselves. At this time, people can go to other people's homes to visit the table furnishings. Although there are many people, the host is still happy to entertain them. Celebrate until twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, which is the auspicious time for the weaver girl to come down to earth. At this time, all the lights and candles are lit, colorful and brilliant; The girls were in high spirits, threading the needle and welcoming Seventh Sister, and there were cheers everywhere. Finally, there was a feast, and then it dispersed. As Wang Lun, a poet of Qing Dynasty (the legendary fish name), heard in "The Bamboo Branch Poem of Yangcheng Tanabata": "Embroidered jade leaves take the second place, flowers are the barrier, and jade is the platform. Qingxi's little girl, Lanqiaomei, has a date. "

Taiwan Province-Worship the "Bed Mother"

In addition to Taiwan Province's seventh mother, a small bowl of fried rice is often prepared to worship the "Bed Mother" in the room, which should have similar meanings. Giving birth and raising children are irreplaceable responsibilities of women, so these gods are also female gods; There is a close connection between female gods and female believers, which relieves women's anxiety and fear when they undertake motherhood. "Bed mother" is the protector of children. July 7 is the birthday of bed mother. Families with children at home worship bed mother at the bedside where children sleep that evening. The offerings include: rice with oil, chicken wine (or chicken with sesame oil), burning "Sifangjin" and "bed mother's clothes". It should not be too long to worship the bed mother, unlike the usual worship, which requires three rounds of wine. After the offerings are set and the incense is lit, you can prepare to burn "Sifangjin" and "bed mother's clothes" and withdraw the offerings after burning. I hope the children will grow up quickly and not worship for too long.

Jiaxing-Qixi Xiangqiao Club

There is a Qixi Xiangqiao Club in Gudoujing Village, Tanghui Township, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. Every year on Tanabata, people come to participate and build a fragrant bridge. The so-called incense bridge is a bridge with a length of about four or five meters and a width of about half a meter, which is made of all kinds of thick and long wrapped incense (thread incense wrapped in paper), fitted with railings and decorated with flowers made of five-color lines. At night, people worship the Double Star, begging for good fortune, and then incinerate the Xiangqiao, symbolizing that the Double Star has crossed the Xiangqiao and met happily. This fragrant bridge is derived from the legendary magpie bridge legend.

Hunan, Zhejiang-It is also a special custom for women to wash their hair and receive dew

It is also a special custom for women to wash their hair on Tanabata. It is recorded in Hunan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. For example, "You County Records" in Xiangtan, Hunan Province: "On July 7, women picked cypress leaves and peach branches, fried soup and soaked their hair." Qi Jun (Zhejiang), a famous prose writer, also mentioned in her "Ji" that her mother, uncle and aunt and other harem all had their hair bathed on Tanabata. This custom is related to the belief in "holy water" on Tanabata. It is believed that taking spring water and river water on Tanabata Day, just like taking water from the Milky Way, has the sacred power of cleanliness. Some places directly call it "the holy water of Tiansun (the Weaver Girl)". Therefore, it is of special significance for women to bathe their hair on this day, which means that with the holy water in the Milky Way, they will be protected by the Weaver Goddess.

It is also popular to catch dew with a washbasin. Legend has it that the dew in Chinese Valentine's Day is the tears when the cowherd and the weaver girl meet. If it is put on the eyes and hands, it can make people nimble. Cowherd and Weaver Girl Weifang New Year Pictures

Jiaodong-Worship the Seven Sisters

In Jiaodong area, there are more worshipping the Seven Sisters on Tanabata. Young women put on their new clothes, gathered together, tied the knot in Seven Sisters in the court, and sang a ballad: "Emperor Dihuang, I invite my seventh sister to heaven. I don't want to draw your needle, I don't want to draw your line, and I want to show you 72 good means. " In many places, "Qiao Hua" is also made. Girls use flour to make cakes and buns with flowers such as peony, lotus, plum, orchid and chrysanthemum (or proper fruit), and there are also Qiao Cai, that is, to cultivate malt in a small handleless wine cup (this is the "breeding" in the Song Dynasty), and proper fruit and Qiao Cai are used to sacrifice to the Weaver Girl.

Southwest China-nail dyeing

Nail dyeing is a custom of Qixi, which spreads in southwest China, and it is also popular in many county annals of Sichuan Province, Guizhou and Guangdong. Young girls in many areas like to wash their hair with the sap of trees during festivals. It is said that not only can they be young and beautiful, but also unmarried women can find the right husband as soon as possible. Dyeing nails with flowers and plants is also a hobby of most women and children in holiday entertainment, and it is also closely related to reproductive beliefs.

Guangzhou-Welcome the Fairy

Guangzhou's Begging Festival is unique. Before the festival comes, the girls prepare colorful paper, medulla tetrapanacis, string and so on in advance, and make up all kinds of ingenious gadgets. They also put the seeds and mung beans in a small box and soak them in water to germinate them. When the buds grow to more than two inches, they are used to worship the gods, which are called "Worship the Fairy Rice" and "Worship the Fairy Rice" From the sixth night to the seventh night, for two nights in a row, the girls put on new clothes and jewelry. After everything is arranged, they burn incense and light candles and bow down to the stars, which is called "welcoming the fairy". From the third night to the fifth watch, they have to worship seven times in a row. After worshipping the immortals, the girls hold colored threads in their hands and thread them through the pinholes. For example, those who can wear seven pinholes in one breath are called skillful hands, and those who can't wear seven pinholes are called skillful hands. After Tanabata, the girls gave each other small handicrafts and toys to show their friendship.

Shaanxi —— Ligating Qiaogu

In the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi, there are also customs of holding various begging activities at night in Chinese Valentine's Day. Women often have to ligature grass people wearing flowery clothes, which is called Qiaogu. They not only want to provide fruits and vegetables, but also plant bean sprouts and shallots. On Qixi night, all women carry a bowl of clear water in their hands, cut bean sprouts and shallots, and put them into the water to watch the shadows cast under the moon. At the same time, an activity of cutting window grilles is held.

Guangxi-Tanabata Water Storage

In some areas of Guangxi, there is a custom of Tanabata water storage. It is believed that double seven-bath can eliminate disasters and diseases, and frail children often tie a red rope in seven knots on this day and wear it around their necks for good health and luck.

Shandong-Planting Clever Vegetables for Clever Flowers

There are two kinds of activities in Rongcheng, Shandong Province. One is Clever Vegetables, that is, young girls cultivate malt in wine glasses, and the other is Clever Flowers, and young girls use flour to mold various foods with flowers.

Shaoxing-Listening to whispers under the pumpkin shed

In rural Shaoxing, there will be many young girls hiding under the lush pumpkin shed that night. If you can hear the whispers of the cowherd and the weaver girl when they meet in the dead of night, this young girl to be married will get this eternal love in the future.