Qi xi jie --- A Chinese Valentine's Day

The Qi Xi Jie occurs on the 7th Day of the 7th Month of the Chinese Calendar.

As any Chinese grandmother will tell you, the ancient celebration of true love dates back centuries when Zhinv (织女 Weaving Girl) fell in love with a young farmer named Niulang(牛郎 cow boy) at NanYang, HuBei province. Sadly, there is a classic complication - our heroine here is the granddaughter of the Lady Queen WangWuNiangNiang!


Even though the law strictly forbids relationships between mortals and immortals, the rebellious young couple fall in love and eventually marry anyway - when the unthinkable happens, and they has a girl and a boy. Upon the discovery of their relationship, the Lady Queen WangWuNiangNiang forces Zhinv to return to heaven, never to see Niulang again.


But Niulang refuses to give up. He was helped by a old cow, flies to Zhinv's side (with the help of a magic ox) only to have the Lady Queen WangWuNiangNiang then uses a hairpin to draw the Milky Way across the sky to separate the couple forever.

And after that Zhinv and Niulang must separated for 364 days of a year - except for Chinese Valenine's Day - when the Lady Queen WangWuNiangNiang takes pity on them by sending a flock of magpies to bridge the gap between the lovers and reunite them. (and then magpies was seemed as a bode well to lovers and couples)

In Chinese, "7" pronounced Qi, and this pronounciation also means "fantastic", so "the 7th Day of the 7th Month" is the most fantastic day in the year, so an old times, In the night of Qi xi jie, girls and ladys gazing stars and prays to be smart and skillful, and prays for a happy marriage.

This folktale was started about 2000 years before at Han Dynaty.

Today, on Chinese Valentine's Day, school children are asked to search the heavens where Zhinv can be found in the star Vega east of the Milky Way, and for her beloved Niulang, who steadfastly waits for her in the constellation Aquila, west of the Milky Way.

According to legend, on Chinese Valentines Day magpies can scarcely be seen, since they are spreading their wings to form the bridge in the heavens to reunite the couple once again. The evening of Chinese Valentine's Day is traditionally reserved for star gazing, and the classic retelling of the tale of Zhinu and Niulang.