The history of Chinese Valentine's Day

The Double Seventh Festival refers to the seventh night of the seventh lunar month. It is a traditional folk festival of the Han people. This night is not only the time when the legendary Cowherd and the Girl Weaver are supposed to have their annual meeting, but also a good opportunity for women to pray for the Girl Weaver for the purpose of seeking dexterity. Therefore, this festival is also named " Maiden's Day", " Daughter's Day". The day is not as well-known as many other Chinese festivals. But almost everyone in China, young or old, is very familiar with the story behind it. 　　Once upon a time, there lived a poor cowherd, Niulang, whose parents had died long before. He had to live together with his elder brother. Unfortunately, his brother and his sister-in -law were very mean and often treated Niulang very badly. They would not give him enough food to eat, and made him work so hard that he hardly had time to sleep. Finally, they kicked him of their home. All he had in the world were the clothes on his back and an old ox. 　　Niulang built a small thatched cottage on the side of a mountain. He cut and dug and sweat until he had made a vegetable garden out of the rocky soil. He was often tired and hungry, but always found time to take good care of his old ox. One day, the old ox suddenly began to speak to him. It said that it used to be Taurus, the Golden-Ox Star, in the sky and had been banished by the Lord of Heaven to this world as punishment for its violation of heavenly rule by spreading grain seeds to this world. The old ox told Niulang that the goddesses of Heaven would take a bath in a sacred pond not far from his cottage a few days later. Among them was a beautiful, virtuous and industrious girl whose name is Zhinu, the Girl Weaver. Zhinu was a granddaughter of the King of the Heavenly Kingdom. If the Cowherd took the advantage of their bath in the pond to take away her clothes, she would stay and become his wife.

On that day, the cowherd was hiding in the tall reeds. When the old cow said something, the fairies soon arrived, and they took off their silk robes and jumped into the water. The Cowherd sneaked out and picked up the Weaver's clothes and ran away. The fairies were scared, and they quickly went ashore, dressed and ran away, leaving the Weaver Girl behind. The Cowherd ran back and returned the clothes to the Weaver Girl. He fell in love with the Weaver Girl at first sight. The two men oppose each other, and the Weaver Girl said to the Cowherd to be his wife. After the two married, the cows ploughed the fields, weaved the women's textile woven clothes, and loved them. The Weaver Girl has become a celebrity in the distance, she is ingenious, sericulture, woven, and satin. Three years later, the girl was called the dragon and the baby, the boy was called "Jin Ge", and the girl was called "Ji Mei". The young couple lived happily, and the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl thought they could live together forever. One day, the cow was dying. Before he died, he said to the young couple, peel off the skin and put it on, and one day, put it on it and fly to the sky. After the cow died, the cowherd peeled off the cowhide with pain and carefully collected it. At this time, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother had heard that the granddaughter had arrived in the world, and they were married and had children. They were very angry and ordered the gods to catch the Weaver Girl as soon as possible. One day, the Cowherd came back from the ground and saw the children sitting on the ground crying, busy looking at the loom, no one. The child said that an old lady had taken her mother away. The Cowherd remembered what the old cow had said to him. He put the child in two baskets, put on cowhide, and picked up the basket. Suddenly, he was as light as a cloud and flew into the sky. Seeing that she was catching up, the mother-in-law heard the cry of the child. She looked back and took the golden plaque from her head. She crossed behind her, and there was a rushing river in the sky. The river was called Tianhe. The Tianhe River is too wide, the river is in a hurry, and the cows can't fly. They can only watch the weavers fly away. The father and the son cried in tears. The Emperor saw this scene and was greatly moved. He allowed the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to go on the Tianhe River on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The bridge meets. The poor couple turned into stars, the cowherd became the Altair, the Weaver became the Vega, and the river separating them was the Milky Way. This sad and moving story has been passed down from generation to generation. It is said that on the seventh day of July, there were few magpies, because they all had to fly to the Milky Way to set up a bridge for the Cowherd and the Weaver. Since the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl stood on it for too long, the next day, these faithful magpies became bald.