Will you marry me, please?
A legendary love story
The cowherd and weaver maiden
The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is Qixi, or the Double Seventh Festival, and it falls on Aug 2 this year. This is most commonly known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day, but it has been celebrated in all parts of China when St Valentine was still laboring away at his matchmaking.
Qixi commemorates the star-crossed romance between the fairy princess daughter of the Jade Emperor and an orphaned earthling, a cowherd.
|
|
|
 |
Zhi Nv, the fair princess who is also very skilled at weaving, came down to Earth to play and met the little cowherd. They fell in love and got married, but the romance was put to an abrupt end by an infuriated Queen Mother, who forced her daughter back to Heaven and created the Milky Way to separate the lovers.
Niu Lang, the cowherd, became a star on one side of the Milky Way, and the Weaver Maiden shone from the other side. In astronomy, they are Altair (cowherd) and Vega (weaver maiden).
Legend has it that every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, flocks of magpies form a bridge across the Milky Way and allow the lovers to reunite.
Legend also has it that lovers resting under trellises covered in fruits can hear the sweet nothings muttered by the cowherd and his maiden. In more modern times, the sadder part of the legend has faded somewhat and young Chinese lovers everywhere celebrate their affection for each other with the wish that it may last as long as the legend. – chen sijia
