There is a passage in Ren Fang's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Southern and Northern Dynasties: "There are beautiful women in the east of the river, who are the sons of the Emperor of Heaven and women loom workers. They work hard year after year to weave the clothes of clouds and silks. Their hard work has no joy, and their appearances are countless. God pitied them and married the morning glory in Hexi. From then on, they gave up knitting and became greedy. " When the emperor was angry, he blamed Donghe. They met once a year.

This story is basically the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, so it can be seen that this story has existed at least in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The Northern and Southern Dynasties began from 420 to 589 AD, so the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl spread in China 16700.