Valentine's Day in China, also known as Begging for Clevership Festival, is the most romantic festival among the traditional festivals in China. According to legend, the night of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month every year is the time when "Weaver Girl" and "Cowherd" meet in the sky. "Weaver Girl" is a beautiful, intelligent and ingenious fairy. That night, ordinary women begged her for wisdom and skills, and also prayed to her for a happy marriage.
Fewer and fewer people celebrate this festival. In the fifties and sixties, on this day, Chinatown was decorated with lights and colorful, just like a fairyland. Seven Sisters clubs from different regions gathered here to put up colorful incense tables to offer sacrifices to the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid. Incense tables are all made of paper, filled with flowers, fruits, rouge powder, paper-made floral dresses, shoes, daily necessities and embroidery. The "Seven Sisters Club" in different regions will work hard on the incense table to see who makes it exquisite. Nowadays, this activity has been forgotten, and only a few ancestral halls still set up incense tables on this festival to worship the cowherd and the weaver girl. Incense tables are usually prepared on the seventh day of July, and at night they begin to plead with the Weaver Girl.
As the origin of the festival is full of romance, Begging for Cleverness Festival should be developed into "Valentine's Day" for China people, so that this day is full of warmth and sweetness of love, and people can express their appreciation and care for their loved ones.
Thin clouds are clever, flying stars spread grievances, and yinhan sneaked into Chen Cang. On the seventh day of autumn dew and autumn, it is time to meet, mostly those who are together in the world, but the appearance of husband and wife.
Tender as water, like a dream, you can go home from the bridge! If the relationship between two people lasts for a long time, is it a matter of time? (Qin Guan's "Queqiao Fairy")
As far as night is concerned, Tanabata is as beautiful as evening except the moon. ......
There is a beautiful and moving story behind the nickname "Zhou" of Qixi. According to folklore, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on July 7th, so they are called "Cowherd and Weaver Girl". Wang Bo's Qixi Fu compares a week with the moon and evening, and points out the two most beautiful and touching nights related to family and love in all seasons of the year. Because of this, later generations call the auspicious day for men and women to get married a week.
According to legend, Cowherd's parents died young and were often abused by his elder sister-in-law, only accompanied by an old cow. One day, the old cow gave him a plan to marry the weaver girl. On that day, the beautiful fairies did bathe in the Milky Way and play in the water. Then the cowherd, hiding in the reeds, suddenly ran out and took the clothes of the Weaver Girl. The panicked fairies hurried ashore, dressed and flew away, leaving only the weaver girl. At Cowherd's request, Weaver Girl agreed to be his wife. After marriage, the cowherd and the weaver girl loved each other and lived a very happy life. Weaver gave birth to a son and a daughter to Cowherd. Later, the old cow was dying. He told the cowherd to keep its skin and put it on for help when he was in trouble. After the old cow died, the couple reluctantly peeled off the cowhide and buried the cow on the hillside.
When the marriage between the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd was known by the Jade Emperor and the Heavenly Queen Mother, they flew into a rage and ordered the gods to take the Weaver Girl back. When the Cowherd was away, the gods took the Weaver Girl. Cowherd didn't see Weaver when he came home, so he quickly put on cowhide and chased after him with two children. On the verge of catching up, the queen mother was in a hurry, tore off the golden hairpin on her head and rowed to the Milky Way. The once shallow Milky Way suddenly became stormy, and the Cowherd couldn't go any further. Since then, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl can only look at each other across the river with tears, forever and ever, and the Jade Emperor and the Empress Dowager can't resist their sincere feelings, allowing them to meet once every July 7th. According to legend, on the seventh day of July, human magpies will fly to the sky to build a magpie bridge for the cowherd and weaver girl in the Milky Way. Besides, in the dead of night on Tanabata, people can still hear the love story of cowherd and weaver girl in the sky under the grape trellis or other fruit trellis.
Of course, this is just a legend. Begging for Qiao ceremony originated from the original belief of the ancient weaver girl, Sang Shen, and combined with the saying that cowherd and cowherd meet on July 7 every year, it has become our folk belief of seven Qiao on Tanabata today.
● 7-up Qiao Qi
On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the legendary Cowherd and Weaver Girl crossed the Tianhe River from Queqiao to meet each other. People's mind is that the Weaver Girl is a hardworking, kind and ingenious fairy, so on the evening of July 7th, girls and young women will come out to pay homage and beg for her skills, hoping that they can have a pair of dexterous hands and a smart heart like the Weaver Girl and live a happy life.
Because Valentine's Day in China is closely related to women's affairs, it is also called "Daughter's Day", which is a traditional women's day in China.
China has the custom of eating smart dishes on Valentine's Day. The contents of skillful eating include melons, fruits and various kinds of pasta, and customs vary from place to place. After all kinds of ingenious foods are prepared, they should be displayed on several cases in the yard, as if inviting the weaver girl in the sky to taste them. Then everyone looked at the distant night sky and ate all kinds of smart food, thinking that it would make people smart.
In the Han Dynasty, people began to beg the Weaver Maid for ingenious ideas. Pray not only for ingenuity, but also for wealth, a happy and sweet marriage and an early birth.
● The custom of Valentine's Day in China (related links: local customs)
The story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl has been circulated for thousands of years, and many interesting folk customs have been derived.
The highlight of Tanabata is mainly on girls! Because according to legend, the weaver girl is very skilled in her craft and can weave a beautiful sky dress like a cloud. In order to have a pair of skillful hands like a weaver girl, a custom of "being clever" has been formed among girls. The custom of begging for cleverness was formed as early as the Han Dynasty, and it was only later that it was combined with the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. Clever needles are divided into two eyes, five holes, seven holes and nine holes. On Qixi night, it is "smart" to hold a silk thread and thread a needle in the moonlight to see who passes first. Another way to throw a needle is to put a pot of water in the sun at noon on Tanabata. After a while, the dust in space will form a film on the water. At this time, throw the needle into the water, and with the support of the film, the needle will float on the water. Look at the needle shadow in the water again, if it becomes the shape of clouds, flowers, birds and animals, it will be a coincidence. On the other hand, if the shadow it presents is as thin as a line and as thick as a hammer, it is not smart. Some women collect all kinds of flowers, put them in copper pots filled with water, expose them to the sun in the yard, and take them to wipe their faces the next day. It is said that they can make skin delicate and fair. Some women pound impatiens and take juice to dye the fingers of the ring finger and small nails, which is called "red nails". Some women also sang "Begging for Qiao": "Begging for Qiao, begging for appearance, begging for heart, begging for appearance, begging for my parents for a thousand years, begging for my sisters for a thousand years." In addition, on Qixi, there will be an incense table under the moon to provide fruit and fairy flowers to the Weaver Girl. It is reported that there is a woman named Ding in Caizhou who is good at needlework. One year on Tanabata, when she was being clever, she saw a meteor fall on her candied fruit. When I saw it the next morning, it turned out to be Jinsuo. Since then, her intelligence has benefited a lot. There are so many ways to beg for wisdom that even the offerings for the Weaver Girl can come in handy. Melons and fruits are indispensable in offerings. If a playful child (a little spider) weaves a web on a melon and fruit at night, it means that this woman has skills. A little more elegant, such as the ladies of the Tang Dynasty, put the calligraphy in a small box and open it the next morning. If you don't weave a good net, you can beg less.
There is also a theory of eavesdropping on crying. It is said that you must be a virgin. In the dead of night, you will quietly walk into the ancient well or under the grape trellis and hold your breath. If you can hear the voice of Cowherd and Weaver Girl talking or crying, this girl will be very smart.
Women require intelligence, and men are not idle. It is said that July 7th is Kuixing's birthday. Kuixing literature, literati who want to be famous especially worship Kuixing, so they must worship him on Tanabata and pray for his success in the exam. Kuixing is mainly Kuidou, the Kuixing in the twenty-eight nights, the first star of the Big Dipper, and also the Kuixing or champion. In ancient times, scholars were called "the greatest scholars in the world" or "winning the championship in one fell swoop" because Kuixing was in charge of the exam.
According to folklore, Lord Kuixing is ugly, his face is covered with spots and he is lame. Someone wrote a limerick to make fun of him: if you don't publicize it, why decorate it? Even lead, don't cover it. Marrying Ma Gu into two beauties is no worse than coming to the hive. Leave claws under the eyebrows, and geese step on the sand beside their noses and mouths. It's just a nap in front of the eaves, and the wind blows plum blossoms on your forehead. Xiang Jun's jade toe is the strangest, with one high and one low. Walking slowly, I want to dance, fluttering like a mouth. Only the road in the world is dangerous, and I am so tired that I am surprised. Don't laugh, the waist branches are often half folded, and the temporary swaying is also colorful.
However, the champion was ambitious, worked hard and went to high school. When the Emperor visited him, he asked him why his face was covered with spots. He replied: "Ma's face is full of stars"; Asked why he was lame, he replied "hop on one foot". The emperor was very satisfied and accepted him.
Another completely different legend says that Lord Kuixing was knowledgeable before his death, but unfortunately he failed every exam, so he threw himself into the river in grief and indignation. Unexpectedly, he was saved by turtle fish and ascended to heaven to become a champion. Because Kuixing can affect the test luck of scholars, so every year on July 7th, his birthday, scholars should solemnly worship.
Young men and women are thirsty for talents, hoping that their skills are superior, while married, old, poor and rich all have their own wishes, so Tanabata has become a day of wishing. On the night of Tanabata, you worship the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid, immediately bow down and express your wishes, whether it is seeking wealth, longevity or children. But there can only be one wish at a time, and it will take three years to be effective.
It is said that Tianhe on Tanabata can also predict the harvest of that year. Tianhe is obvious, with good harvest and low food prices; Tianhe is gloomy, the harvest is not good, and the food price is expensive. In some areas, holding a "little seedling party" on Tanabata is also a kind of wishing activity.
After Buddhism was introduced into China, Han people absorbed this name from Buddhist scriptures and used it to name dolls. On July 7th every year, in Kaifeng, "the tiles outside the Dongsongmen Gate of Panlou Street, the tiles outside the Xiliangmen Gate of Zhou Zhou, the tiles outside the North Gate, the tiles outside the South Suzaku Gate and the tiles in Xingjie Ma are all plastic puppets". In fact, the grinding and drinking music after the end of the Song Dynasty is no longer a puppet, on the contrary, it has become more and more exquisite. Moeli varies in size and posture, and the largest is as high as three feet, comparable to a real child. The materials made are ivory carving or bergamot carving, and the dressing of grinding and drinking music is extremely beautiful. There are painted wood carvings as column seats, or red sand cages as covers, and the toys in hand are mostly decorated with precious stones. The cost of grinding and drinking music is often as high as several thousand yuan.
The most exquisite grinding and drinking music sold in Tokyo comes from Suzhou, which is known as the best in the world. It goes without saying that the grinding and drinking music used to pay tribute to the palace is lovely, exquisite and luxurious, even made of gold and silver. In fact, Moeli should be an auspicious thing for women to beg for children, but from Moeli's life, we can't find any deeds related to Tanabata or begging for children. Nevertheless, people who worship grinding wine often hold a lotus leaf in their hands on Qixi Festival, so many children will dress up beautifully and parade and play in the streets with lotus leaves in their hands.
A few days ago, Chinese Valentine's Day in Bianjing City in the Northern Song Dynasty, in addition to grinding wine koji, will also launch a variety of featured products. If wax is cast into the characters in the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, or made into the shapes of vultures, mandarin ducks and other animals, it is called "floating on the water". There are also baby dolls made of wax, which women can buy home and float in the water and soil to show their good luck to their children, which is called "metaplasia". A few days before Tanabata, we first spread a layer of soil on the small board and sow the seeds of millet to make it bear green seedlings. Then we build a hut on it, plant flowers and trees, and make it look like a small village in the field, called "shell board", or soak mung beans, adzuki beans and wheat in a magnetic bowl, and then tie it into a bunch with red and blue silk threads. All parts of the south are also called "bubble cleverness", and the sprouted bean sprouts are called smart buds. Even the needles are replaced by smart buds and thrown on the water to beg for cleverness. July is also the time when lotus flowers are in full bloom. Some people used their brains to break off unopened lotus flowers and make fake double-headed lotus flowers, which were very cute and popular at that time.
The colorful patterns of these seasonal plants fully show the vitality of the midsummer festival. The unique hot sunshine in summer has contributed to another custom of Tanabata-drying books and clothes. Modern scientific reports point out that ultraviolet rays contained in sunlight do have bactericidal effect. There are several interesting stories about the custom of literati drying books and clothes in history.
According to the report, Sima Yi was very suspicious of Cao Cao because of his high status and great power. In view of the political darkness at that time, he pretended to be crazy and hid at home in order to protect himself. Wei Wudi was still worried, so he sent a close friend to let history secretly explore the truth. It was July 7, and Sima Yi, who was pretending to be crazy and selling stupidity, was also drying books at home. Make history back to leave Wei Wudi, Wei Wudi immediately ordered Sima Yi back to the office, otherwise you can be taken into custody. Sima yi only obediently obeyed and returned to the DPRK. Another kind of people, in troubled times, express their depression through depravity. They despise etiquette and oppose custom. Liu Yiqing's "Shi Shuo Yu", volume 25, said that on July 7, everyone printed a book, only to run and lie in the sun. When people asked him why, he replied, "I print books." On the one hand, it despises the custom of printing books, on the other hand, it also boasts about the talent in its belly. Drying your belly is also drying books. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the custom of hanging clothes in the Han Dynasty created opportunities for rich children to boast about their wealth. Ruan Xian, one of the "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest", looked down on this style. On July 7, when neighbors were hanging clothes, they saw that the shelves were full of silks and satins, which was dazzling. Ruan Xian unhurriedly picked up a worn-out dress with a bamboo pole. Someone asked him what he was doing, and he said, "I can't avoid customs and tell you!" " From these short stories, we can see how prosperous the custom of drying books and clothes on Tanabata is. Most of the above complaints are anecdotes of folk celebrating Tanabata, but how did the ancient court celebrate Tanabata? You are the king of a country, and the ostentation and extravagance of the royal family is naturally not comparable to that of civilians. In the Southern Dynasties, Emperor Wu of Qi built a tower. Every year on Tanabata, the imperial secretary goes upstairs to get the needle, which is called the "needle-piercing tower". Tang Xuanzong, a famous romantic emperor in history, also attached great importance to Chinese Valentine's Day. He built a Qiao Qi building in the palace, which is 100 feet high and can accommodate dozens of people. In addition, all kinds of fruits and jars were arranged upstairs to worship the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The concubines in the palace got nine-hole needles and five-color threads, and they wore needles skillfully under the moon. At the same time, there were music performances, which made everyone follow suit.
● Tanabata cuisine
Appropriate fruit is the most famous festival food on Tanabata. Proper fruit, also called "Kiki Fruit", has many styles. The main material is oil surface molasses. "Dream of China in Tokyo" refers to it as "laughing boy" and "eating fruit patterns", and the patterns include holding incense and winning prizes. During the Song Dynasty, the unique fruits of Qixi were already sold on the streets of the city.
If you buy a catty of proper fruit, there will be a pair of dolls in armor, such as door gods, which are called "General Fruit food". The way to make a proper fruit is to melt sugar into syrup in a pot, then add flour and sesame seeds, mix well, spread it on the table, let it cool, cut it into squares with a knife, especially fold it into spindle-shaped dough, and fry it until golden. Handy women will also create various patterns related to the legend of Qixi. In addition, the melons and fruits that can be used skillfully can also be varied. Or carve melons and fruits into exotic flowers and birds, or emboss patterns on the surface of melon skin. It is called "flower melon"
Appropriate fruits and melons are the most common Qixi foods. However, in history, different dynasties had different dietary customs. For example, soup cakes were popular in Wei on July 7. In the Tang Dynasty, festival foods included cakes on July 7th, which was designated as the book-drying festival. Each of the three provinces and six departments gives a certain amount of banquet money, which is called the "book-printing party". Tanabata is also a day suitable for dispensing medicines. It is said to be a secret recipe with pine and cypress as medicinal materials. This magic pill was made with dew on July 7th. Taking one pill can prolong life for ten years, and taking two pills can prolong life for twenty years. In addition, there are bait pine nuts, arborvitae seeds, stacked lotus leaves and so on. , are called the medicine of immortality. The more practical prescriptions are dried Sophora juice for hemorrhoids, fried bitter gourd for eyes, and pedicled melon for diarrhea.
● The Prince's Tanabata
Among the numerous Qixi legends, the love story between Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Yang Guifei is the most popular. It is common for ancient emperors to have three palaces and six courtyards. Every harem beauty tries her best to please the king, and their greatest asset is beauty. However, as the saying goes, even Yang Guifei, who is pampered by 3,000 people, can't help but feel fear when she sees the donations from autumn fans.
One year on Tanabata, in the Palace of Eternal Life, where the night was as cool as water, Yang Guifei looked at the Petunia and the Weaver Maid in the sky, admiring their faithful love, and at the same time feeling deeply about her position. I can't help but pour out my heart. Tang Xuanzong was deeply moved after hearing this, so he made an oath of "willing to be husband and wife forever". This sad and beautiful love has become a household name after being described by later literati.
Bai Juyi's Song of Eternal Sorrow and Hong Sheng's Palace of Eternal Life are immortal masterpieces in the history of literature. "On the seventh day of July, in the palace of longevity, we secretly told each other in the quiet midnight world, hoping to be a pair of lovebirds, growing together on the earth, two branches of a tree. In heaven "in the eternal song of sadness. It is also a famous sentence that has been sung for some time.
Another romantic monarch, Li Yu, queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, lived an elegant life in the palace before her death. Every Tanabata, women are ordered to open the symbolic Tianhe River with a hundred red and white llamas in the palace and put it away the next day. After the Song Dynasty, Li Houzhu lived under house arrest. Once on Tanabata, because he missed his old country, he filled in a poem "Last night, the east wind blew in the small building, and the old country was unbearable to look back on the moon" and called his former maid-in-waiting to sing. Song Taizong was furious and ordered him to die. A generation of poets died in seven years.