Among the many traditional festivals in China, the Chinese Valentine’s Day, with its unique romantic color and profound cultural heritage, has become a festival that symbolizes love and loyalty in the hearts of countless people. This day not only carries the beautiful legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meeting across the Milky Way, but also integrates rich folk activities and customs, weaving a series of touching love paintings.
The Chinese Valentine’s Day is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, the date of the Chinese Valentine’s Day changes every year due to the conversion relationship between the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar. Taking 2024 as an example, the corresponding Gregorian calendar date of the Chinese Valentine’s Day is August 10, Saturday, Beijing time.
- The legend of the Chinese Valentine’s Day: the love story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl
The Chinese Valentine’s Day, also known as the Qiqiao Festival and the Daughter’s Day, can be traced back to the ancient worship of stars. After being polished by folk legends, it gradually evolved into an important festival with love as the theme. The most well-known is the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
According to legend, a long time ago, there were two gods in the sky. One was the hardworking and kind-hearted Cowherd. Because of his poor family background, he was only accompanied by an old cow; the other was the beautiful and intelligent Weaver Girl, who was good at weaving brocade and was the best in the heavenly palace. One day, the Weaver Girl came down to earth to play, met the Cowherd and fell in love at first sight. The two of them, despite the prohibition of the Heavenly Court, secretly married and lived a happy life of the man farming and the woman weaving. However, the good times did not last long. The Queen Mother learned about this and was furious. She separated the two with the Milky Way and only allowed them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month at the Magpie Bridge.
From then on, every year on the night of the Qixi Festival, countless magpies flew over and built a magpie bridge across the Milky Way with their bodies, allowing the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to meet again. This night, not only was the sky bright with stars, but the world was also full of romance and warmth. People looked up at the stars and prayed for the pair of unfortunate mandarin ducks, hoping that their love would be eternal.
As the traditional Chinese Valentine’s Day, the Qixi Festival not only carries the beautiful legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, but also integrates rich and colorful folk activities and customs. These customs and celebrations have their own characteristics due to differences in regional culture, and together constitute the rich and colorful cultural connotations of the Qixi Festival. The following is a detailed explanation of the customs of the Qixi Festival and the celebrations in various places.
- Common customs of the Qixi Festival
- Threading a needle to pray for dexterity
Threading a needle to pray for dexterity is one of the most classic customs of the Qixi Festival. It originated in the Han Dynasty and was popular during the Southern Dynasties. It is the earliest way to pray for dexterity. There are two forms of threading a needle: one is that on the night of the Qixi Festival, the girls gather under the moonlight and use the moonlight to thread the needle. The girl who can thread the needle is the one who is clever; the other is that at noon on the Qixi Festival, the girls throw the needle on the water and observe the shadow of the needle in the water to see if they are clever. This is called floating needle or throwing needle. Threading a needle to pray for dexterity is not only an opportunity for girls to show their craftsmanship, but also a manifestation of their prayers for dexterity and wisdom from the Weaver Girl. - Happy spiders respond to cleverness
Happy spiders respond to cleverness is also a unique custom, which originated from the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. On the night of the Qixi Festival, girls will put some small spiders in the house, and then use needles and threads to make some small web-like objects and place them next to the spiders. If the spider can weave a web on the web object, it means that the girl is very talented and intelligent. The origin of this custom is that when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl met, a little spider made a rainbow bridge for them. - Throwing a needle to test the dexterity
Throwing a needle to test the dexterity is another way to test whether a girl is clever. On the night of the Chinese Valentine’s Day, girls will put a small grass stick or a silver needle in a basin of clear water, and then see if they can float up or sink down. If they can float up or sink down, it means that the girl is very clever; if not, it means that the girl is not clever enough. - Planting for children
Planting for children is a custom of praying for offspring. On the night of the Chinese Valentine’s Day, married women will plant some crops such as wheat and beans in the yard, and then pray for healthy children. The meaning of this custom is to hope that the offspring can thrive like the crops. - Celebrating the birthday of the cow
Celebrating the birthday of the cow is a custom of thanking the cowherd. On the night of the Chinese Valentine’s Day, farmers will feed their cows with delicious grass, bathe them, comb their hair, hang ribbons, etc., to show their respect and gratitude to the cowherd. Because according to the legend, the old cow sacrificed itself to help the cowherd cross the Tianhe River to see the Weaver Girl, so that the cowherd could make shoes with its skin. - Eating Qiaoguo
Eating Qiaoguo is one of the customs to celebrate the Qixi Festival. On the night of Qixi Festival, every household will make some delicious cakes, such as shortbread, dumplings, glutinous rice balls, etc., and then share them with relatives and friends or enjoy them themselves. These cakes are usually decorated with various colors and shapes, implying auspiciousness and beauty. Eating Qiaoguo means hoping that you can be as sweet and happy as Qiaoguo. - Appreciating morning glory
Appreciating morning glory is a custom of appreciating natural beauty. The flowers of morning glory are red, white, purple and other colors, and are shaped like a star. The flower language of morning glory is loyal and eternal love, and it is also a witness to the meeting of the cowherd and the weaver girl. Therefore, on the night of Qixi Festival, people will go to appreciate morning glory and pin their yearning for beautiful love. - Worship the Tianhe
Worshiping the Tianhe is a custom of praying to the gods in the sky. The origin of this custom is that the Milky Way is where the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet. People worship the Milky Way and pray to the gods in heaven to bless their love to be smooth and long-lasting. - Make a wish and promise
Making a wish and promise is a custom of expressing wishes and promises. On the night of the Chinese Valentine’s Day, lovers will make their wishes and promises to each other under the moonlight, such as loving each other forever and growing old together, and then tie their fingers or wrists together with red thread or ribbons, implying loyalty and mutual understanding.
The ways of celebrating the Chinese Valentine’s Day in various places are rich and colorful, deeply influenced by local culture and traditional customs. The following is a detailed explanation of the ways of celebrating the Chinese Valentine’s Day in different regions:
I. Jiangsu Region
- Yixing, Jiangsu
In Yixing, Jiangsu, the Chinese Valentine’s Day has a unique way of celebrating – the Xiangqiao Festival. Every year on the Chinese Valentine’s Day, people will come to participate in the activities of building the Xiangqiao. The incense bridge is a long bridge made of various thick and long wrapped incense (stick incense wrapped in paper), which can be up to four or five meters long and about half a meter wide. The bridge will also be equipped with railings and decorated with flowers made of five-color threads. After nightfall, people will worship the two stars (i.e. Altair and Vega) and beg for blessings and auspiciousness, and then burn the incense bridge, symbolizing that the two stars have walked across the incense bridge and happily met. This custom originated from the legendary magpie bridge legend, reflecting people’s yearning and blessing for loyal love. - Guangxi Region
- Baise, Jingxi and other places in Guangxi
In Baise, Jingxi and other places in Guangxi, there is a custom of bathing in the river on the Qixi Festival. Folks believe that the water on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is very holy and clean, which can not only drive away evil spirits and avoid diseases, but also bring happy love and a happy life. This custom is closely related to the legend of the local seven fairies bathing in the world. People pray for blessings by soaking in water, hoping to obtain the protection and gifts of the gods. - The custom of begging for skill in Yulin, Wuzhou and Guigang
The custom of “begging for skill” is preserved in Yulin, Wuzhou and Guigang in Guangxi. Female friends will get together on the night of the Chinese Valentine’s Day to compete with each other by doing various handicrafts. They will make exquisite handicrafts, such as paper cutting and embroidery, to show their talents and wisdom. At the same time, they will also pray to the Seventh Sister to pray for their ingenuity and family happiness.
III. Zhejiang Province
- The custom of collecting dew in rural Zhejiang Province
In rural areas of Zhejiang Province, it is popular to collect dew in a basin. Legend has it that the dew on the Chinese Valentine’s Day is the tears of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl when they meet, which has magical power. Women will wash their faces and hands with the collected dew, believing that this will make them quick-witted and bring good luck and happiness. This custom reflects people’s yearning and pursuit for a better life.
IV. Other areas
- The custom of Qiaogu in the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province
In the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province, women often tie straw men in flowery clothes on the Chinese Valentine’s Day, which are called “Qiaogu”. They also hold competitions such as threading needles and cutting window paper-cuts to show their craftsmanship and talents. These activities not only add to the festive atmosphere, but also promote communication and friendship among women. - The custom of eating Qiaoqiao rice in Juancheng, Caoxian, Pingyuan and other places in Shandong
In Juancheng, Caoxian, Pingyuan and other places in Shandong, there is a custom of eating Qiaoqiao rice to beg for skills. Seven good girls will gather grain and vegetables to make dumplings, and put a copper coin, a needle and a red date into three dumplings respectively. After the begging activity, they gather together to eat dumplings. It is said that those who eat money are blessed, those who eat needles are skillful, and those who eat dates will get married early. This custom is full of fun and meaning, and is deeply loved by local people. - The custom of dyeing nails in the southwest region
In the southwest region, there is a custom of dyeing nails on the Qixi Festival. Women and children will use flowers and plants to dye their nails. This is not only a way of festival entertainment, but also closely related to fertility beliefs. They believe that nail dyeing can bring good luck and happiness, making life better. - Mohele – Children’s toys for Qixi Festival in Kaifeng in the old days
In Kaifeng in the old days, a children’s toy called “Mohele” was sold during the Qixi Festival. Mohele is a small clay doll, mostly in the image of a child wearing a lotus leaf half-sleeve dress and holding a lotus leaf. These small clay dolls are exquisitely made and lifelike, and are deeply loved by children. They are not only toys for the festival, but also convey people’s good wishes for the healthy growth of children.
V. Other celebration methods
In addition to the special celebration methods in the above-mentioned regions, there are many common celebration methods for Qixi Festival. For example:
Stargazing: On the night of Qixi Festival, people will look up at the starry sky, look for the position of Altair and Vega, and feel the vastness of the Milky Way and the mystery of the starry sky.
Praying: Whether single men and women or married couples, they will make wishes and pray to Vega or the stars in the sky on this day, hoping that their love will be sweet and happy and last forever.
Eating Qiaoguo: Qiaoguo is one of the traditional foods of the Qixi Festival. There is a custom of making Qiaoguo in various places. These Qiaoguo have different shapes and rich flavors. They are not only delicious but also symbolize auspiciousness and happiness.
The ways of celebrating Qixi Festival in various places are unique and colorful. Whether it is building a fragrant bridge, bathing in the river, catching dew, eating Qiaoguo, etc., these customs reflect people’s yearning and pursuit for loyal love and their expectations and blessings for a better life.