Information AboutQi Xi |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT QI XI | |
| chinese holidays | |
| chinese calendars | |
| chinese traditional religion | |
Japan also celebrates this festival on July 7 as the Tanabata festival (the word is cognate with the Chinese), celebrating the meeting of Orihime ( Vega ) and Hikoboshi ( Altair ). Note that some cities in Japan celebrate Tanabata on August 7 , and in some areas they celebrate still on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Japanese Lunisolar Calendar . Other East Asian cultures still celebrate on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar, which in 2005 is on August 11 . In Southeast Asia , however, the day is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, or Chap Goh Mei . THE STORY OF COWHERD AND WEAVER GIRL On the night sky of the late summer days the stars Altair and Vega are high in the night sky and the Chinese tell the following love Story , of which there are many variations: A young cowherd named Niulang (牛郎, "the cowherd", the star Altair ) happens across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he steals their clothes and waits to see what will happen next. The fairy sisters elect the youngest and most beautiful sister '''Zhinü''' (織女, "the weaver girl", the star Vega ) to retrieve their clothing. She does so, but since Niulang sees her naked she must agree to his request for marriage. She proves to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang a good husband, and they are very happy together. But the Goddess of Heaven (in some versions Zhinü's mother) finds out that a mere Mortal has married one of the fairy girls and is furious. (In another version, the Goddess forced the weaver fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds in the sky because she could not do her job while married to the mortal.) Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratches a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever (thus forming the Milky Way separating Altair and Vega). Zhinü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar and takes care of their two children (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae ). But once a year all the Magpie s in the world take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (鵲橋, "the bridge of magpies", Que Qiao ) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus Constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, the seventh night of the seventh moon. See also: The Princess And The Cowherd VARIATIONS OF THE STORY
TRADITIONS On Qi Xi, a Festoon is placed in the yard and the single or newly married women in the household make an offering to Niu Lang and Zhi Nu consisting of fruit, flowers, tea, and facial powder (makeup). After finishing the offering, half of the facial powder is thrown on the roof and the other half divided among the young women. It is believed by doing this the women are bound in beauty with Zhi Nu. SCHEDULE The seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar in these ten years. (These are based on the Japanese lunisolar calendar. Chinese ones will be the same, but at most one of these might be only one day earlier in China.) #2005-08-11 #2006-07-31 #2007-08-19 #2008-08-07 #2009-08-26 #2010-08-16 #2011-08-06 #2012-08-24 #2013-08-13 #2014-08-02 OTHER ROMANTIC DAYS IN CHINESE CULTURE Two other days have, or had, romantic associations in China: Valentine's Day on February 14th, borrowed from the West, and Lantern Festival Day , on which an ummarried girl was traditionally permitted to appear in public unescorted and thus be seen by eligible bachelors. The latter no longer has such implications nowadays, however. SEE ALSO |
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