The origin and story of the Tanabata Festival, Tanabata Festival has those customs?

The Tanabata Festival refers to the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, about which there is a beautiful legend in China.

The origin and story of the Tanabata Festival: A long time ago, there were two brothers in the mountains. The oldest married a daughter-in-law, who had a bad heart and always wanted to monopolize the family business left by the old man. One day, her sister-in-law tried to harm her brother, but was unsuccessful. The elder brother understood in his heart, in order to be difficult. Two little crying to separate over. Brother more to do hard. The second small as long as the cow. The next day, Er Xiao drove the ox cart away. The next day, he drove the oxcart away and stayed in a hut in a faraway place. The cow was a golden calf star in the sky, which had been following Er Xiao for more than a year, and died on this night. After the death of the old bull, a series of three dreams to the two small, dreaming to the two small: "to tomorrow at three o'clock in the afternoon, I want to go back to the court of heaven. After I leave, you peel off my skin, wait until the seventh day of the seventh month, put it on the body, to ensure that you can go to heaven. The Queen Mother has seven daughters, and on that day they go to bathe in the Heavenly River. Remember, the fairy in green is your daughter-in-law. You mustn't let them see you. When they all get to the water, you hold the green dress and run back, and she will chase you. As long as you return home, she will not go away. "The next day, Er Xiao saw the old yellow cow dead and touched it and cried. Then he stripped the cow's skin, buried the cow, and knelt on the cow's grave again and cried profusely. On the seventh day of the seventh month, Er Xiao put on the cow's skin, and immediately left the ground with both feet, and floated to the bank of the Heavenly River. After a while, the Queen Mother's seven nymphs came, one by one they took off their clothes, flopping flopping flopping jumped into the water. The two little see the green dress, scurry over and grabbed up and ran. When the three fairies saw that someone had grabbed her clothes, they chased after her and chased her to Er Xiao's house. The three fairies asked Er Xiao why he had taken her clothes, but Er Xiao wanted her to be his daughter-in-law. The three fairies saw that Er Xiao was good-looking and kind-hearted, and they were moved, so they agreed with him. Playing this, the three fairies fell to earth, she is at home every day to play flowers weaving cloth, people call her weaver. Two small every day outside the sale of cloth to earn money. The two of them lived a comfortable life. The three fairies and the two small lived for three to five years, gave him a man and a woman.

One day, two small to work in the field, the sky sounded the drums, the Jade Emperor sent the heavenly soldiers and generals to take the weaver away. He hurriedly picked up his two children and put on his cowhide to catch up with the Weaving Maiden. When she was about to catch up with the Weaving Maiden, the Queen Mother made a stroke in the middle of the two children and the Weaving Maiden, and immediately made a heavenly river. Two small have no way to cross the river, anxious foot, the two children in the basket shouting mother. Both the Weaving Maiden and the second child cried. Two small want to leave a miss to the weaving maiden, take out the cow buckle set to throw to the weaving maiden, the weaving maiden caught in the hand. The weaver thought about it, took out the weaving shuttle threw at the two small, the weaver's hand strength is small, the weaving shuttle thrown crooked. Until now, one side of the celestial river, the weaving maiden has a button set of stars in her arms, and the other side of the cowherd star next to a shuttle star.

Cultural customs of Tanabata:

(1) Begging with a needle. This is the earliest way of begging for coincidences, which began in Han. Xijing Miscellany" said: "Han color women often wear seven holes in the seventh day of the seventh month needle in the Kaixiao building, people with the practice." Southern Liang Zongmou "Jing Chu chronicle" said: "July 7, is the evening of the women of the family color building to wear seven holes outside, or to gold, silver, stone for the needle." Yizi Zhi" said: "Qi Wudi up layer of the city view, July 7, the palace more than boarding the needle. The world called the needle piercing building.

(2) the spider should be skillful. This is also an earlier way of begging for coquettish things, its custom is a little later than the needle begging for coquettish things, roughly in the North and South Dynasties. In the Southern Dynasty, Liang Zong懔《荆楚岁時記》said: "It is the evening, and the fruits and melons are displayed in the court to beg for coquettishness. If there is a net on the melon, then it is thought to be a charm." The method of checking the different generations, North and South Dynasties, the net of vision of the presence or absence of Tang vision of the net of the sparse and dense, Song vision of the net of the round, the later generations of the Tang custom.

(3) casting needle inspection. This is a variant of the Tanabata needle begging custom, originating from the needle, but also different from the needle, is the prevalence of the Ming and Qing dynasties Tanabata festival custom. Ming Liu Dong, Yu Yizheng's "Imperial Capital Scenery" said: "" July 7 of the afternoon to throw a coincidence needle. Women's exposure to ounces of water in the sun, a short while, the water film surface, embroidery needles cast is floating, look at the bottom of the water needle shadow. There are into the clouds and things flower head bird and animal shadow, there are into the shoes and scissors water eggplant shadow, said begging to be tricky; its shadow is as thick as a hammer, as thin as silk, straight as a shaft of wax, this is a sign of clumsiness carry on."

(4) species of life to seek children. The old custom, a few days before Tanabata, the first in a small wooden board on a layer of soil, sowing corn seeds, let it give birth to green seedlings, and then set some small huts, flowers and trees in the above, made of small villages in the field, known as the "shell plate", or mung beans, beans, wheat, etc., immersed in a magnetic bowl, etc., and so on it grows the buds of the inch, and then to the red, Blue silk rope tied into a bundle, known as the "seed of life", also known as the "five pots of life" or "flower pots".

(5) offerings mill drink music. Mill drink music is the old folk Tanabata children's playthings, that is, small clay dolls, the image of which is mostly half-armed dress passing lotus leaves, holding a lotus leaf.

(6) worship weaver. Worshipping the Weaving Maiden is purely for young girls and young women. Most of them are in advance and their friends or neighbors about five or six people, as many as ten people, jointly organized. The ceremony is held by setting up a table under the moonlight with tea and wine. Fruit, five children (cinnamon, jujube, hazelnut, peanut, melon seeds) and other offerings; and a few flowers, bundles of red paper, inserted into the bottle, flowers in front of a small incense burner. About to participate in the worship of the weaving maiden young women, girls, fasting for a day, bathing, punctually to the host's home, in front of the case of incense worship, we sit around the table, one side of the peanuts, melons, one side of the constellation towards the weaving maiden, meditation on their own affairs of the heart. Such as young girls want to look beautiful or marry a man of their choice, young women want to give birth to a child early, etc., can be to the Weaving Maiden star of silent prayer. The game is played until midnight.

(7) worship Kuixing. Popular legend has it that July 7 is the birthday of Kuixing. Kui Xing literary matters, want to get a job in the study especially respect Kui Xing, so must be worshipped on the eve of this day, praying for his blessing of their own exam luck.

(8) sunshine book. It is reported that Sima Yi year, due to the high position of power, quite by Cao Cao's suspicion, in view of the darkness of the politics of the time, July 7, pretending to be crazy Sima Yi at home in the sunshine book. When the historian went back to report to Emperor Wu of Wei, he immediately ordered Sima Yi to return to his post, or else he would be taken into custody. Sima Yi only obediently obeyed the order to return to the court. There is another kind of people, in the chaotic world, in order to express the depression in the unrestrained. The custom of sunbathing in the Han Dynasty created an opportunity for the rich and powerful to boast of their wealth in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Ruan Xian, one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove", despised this style.

(9) Celebrating the birthday of the cow. Children would pick wildflowers and hang them on the horns of cows on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, which was called "celebrating the birthday of the cow" (legend has it that the seventh day of the seventh month is the birthday of the cow).

(10) Eating Cow's Fruit. Tanabata's festive food, to the most famous Qiaoguo. Qiaojiao is also known as "begging for coquettish fruits", and there are many styles. The main material is oil flour molasses. During the Song Dynasty, there were already Tanabata Qiaojiao for sale on the streets of the city. If you buy a catty of coquettish fruits, there will be a pair of dolls clad in armor, such as the god of the door, known as "fruit food generals". Women who are skillful with their hands will also pinch and mold all kinds of patterns related to the Tanabata legend. In addition, begging with fruits and melons can also be a variety of changes. Or the melon carved into exotic flowers and birds, or in relief on the surface of the melon skin pattern. Known as "flower melon" Qiaojiao and flower melon is the most common Tanabata food. In the history of the dynasties have different food customs. For example, the Wei Dynasty was popular on July 7 to set the soup cake. Tang Dynasty festival food, including the seventh of July into the hack cake, and booking the seventh of July for the sunshine book festival, three provinces, six ministries below, each given a number of gold to prepare for the feast, known as the "sunshine book will be".

The seventh day of the seventh month is also a day of medicine. It is said to be a secret prescription of pine and cypress as medicinal herbs, this magical pill is synthesized with the dew of the seventh day of the seventh month, taking one pill can extend life by ten years, taking two pills can extend life by twenty years. In addition, there are also baiting pine nuts, serving cypress seeds, folding lotus leaves, etc., all known as the immortal medicine of immortality. More practical prescriptions are sunshine acacia juice for hemorrhoids, fried bitter melon for eyes, picking melon for dysentery and so on and so forth.