Chinese Valentine"s Day（七巧节）

RaiseyourheadonAugust4andgazeatthestars,youwillfindsomethingromanticgoingoninthesky.

VALENTINE"SDayinChina,theseventhdayoftheseventhlunarmonth,fallsonAugust4thisyear.

Thatis,onMondayevening,NiuLangandZhiNuwillmeetonabridgeofmagpies（鹊桥）acrosstheMilkyWay（银河）.Chinesegrannieswillremindchildrenthattheywouldnotbeabletoseeanymagpiesonthateveningbecauseallthemagpieshavelefttoformabridgeintheheavenswiththeirwings.

Romanticlegend

Thelegendhasbeenhandeddownfornearly2millennia.ThestoryhasbeenrecordedasfarbackastheJinDynasty(256-420AD).PoetscomposedhundredsofversesonthelovestoryandmanytypesofChineseoperatellthestory.

TheChinesepeoplebelievethatthestarVega（织女星）,eastoftheMilkyWay,isZhiNuand,attheconstellationofAquila（天鹰座）,onthewesternsideoftheMilkyWay,NiuLangwaitsforhiswife.

ZhiNuwassaidtobetheyoungestofsevendaughtersoftheQueenofHeaven.Withhersisters,sheworkedhardtoweavebeautifulcloudsinthesky,whileNiuLangwasapoororphancowherd,drivenoutofhishomebyhiselderbrotherandhiscruelwife.

NiuLanglamentedoverhislonelyandpoorlifewithanoldcow,hisonlyfriendandcompanion.Themagicalcowkindlytoldhimofawaytofindabeautifulandnicewomanashislifecompanion.

Underthedirectionofthecow,NiuLangwenttotheriversideonanevening,wherethesevenfairiesslippedoutoftheirheavenlypalacetobathe.

Hetookoneofthebeautifulsilkdressesthefairieshadleftonthebank.Whenthefairiesleftthewater,theyoungestcouldn"tfindherclothesandhadtoseehersistersflybacktoheavenwithouther.

ThenNiuLangcameoutwiththedressandaskedtheyoungestfairy,ZhiNu,tostaywithhim.

SeveralyearspassedonEarth,whichwereonlyafewdaysinheaven.NiuLangandZhiNulivedhappilytogetherandhadtwochildrenbeforetheQueenofHeavendiscoveredZhiNu"sabsence.

ShewassoannoyedshehadZhiNubroughtbacktoheaven.Seeinghisbelovedwifeflyinginthesky,NiuLangwasterrified.Hecaughtsightofthecowhidehangingonawall.Themagicalcowhadtoldhimbeforedyingofoldage:"Keepthecowhide（牛皮）foremergencyuse."

Puttingthecowhideon,hewentafterhiswifewithhistwochildren.

Withthehelpofthecowhide,NiuLangwasabletofollowZhiNuintoheaven.HewasabouttoreachhiswifewhentheQueenshowedupandpulledoffherhairpintodrawalinebetweenthetwo.ThelinebecametheSilverRiverinheaven,ortheMilkyWay.

ZhiNuwentbacktotheheavenlyworkshop,goingonweavingtheclouds.Butshewassosad,andmissedherhusbandacrosstheSilverRiversomuchthatthecloudssheweavedseemedsad.Finally,theQueenshowedalittlemercy,allowingthecoupletomeetonceeveryyearontheSilverRiver.

Well-knownpoem

OneofthemostfamouspoemsaboutthelegendwaswrittenbyQinGuanofintheSongDynasty(960-1279).

FairyOfTheMagpieBridge

Amongthebeautifulclouds,Overtheheavenlyriver,Crossestheweavingmaiden.

Anightofrendezvous,Acrosstheautumnsky.

Surpassesjoyonearth.Momentsoftenderloveanddream,Sosadtoleavethemagpiebridge.

Eternallovebetweenustwo,Shallwithstandthetimeapart.(TranslatedbyKylieHsu)鹊桥仙宋·秦观织云弄巧飞星传恨银汉迢迢暗度

金风玉露一相逢便胜却人间无数

柔情似水佳期如梦忍顾鹊桥归路

两情若是久长时又岂在朝朝暮暮

ComparedwithlovestoriesinWesternlegends,thestoryofNiuLangandZhiNuseemsnotasintenseorpassionate.Lovedoesn"tkillorbreakupthebarrierbetweenthem.Theyjustwaitpatientlyontheriverbank,believingthattheirlovecanwithstandtheirtimeapart.

ItisfaithandemotionalliaisoninsteadofphysicalattractionanddesirethatisemphasizedinthestoryaswellasinmanyotherChinesefolktales（民间故事）aboutlove.

InonlyafewChinesefolklovestoriescanbefoundadescriptionofthephysicalappearancesoftheheroandheroine.

Inthe"ButterflyLovers",theheroine,dressedasaboytoattendschool,fallsinlovewithaclassmate.Aftertheyhavelivedtogetherasclassmatesforyears,theherodidnothavetheslightestcluethathisbestfriendisactuallyagirl!

Chineseceremonies

TheseventhdayoftheseventhlunarmonthistheonlyChinesefestivaldevotedtoloveintheLunarcalendar.

UnlikeSt.Valentine"sDayinWesterncountriesthereisnotsomuchemphasisongivingchocolates,flowersandkisses.Instead,Chinesegirlspreparefruits,melonsandincense（熏香）asofferingstoZhiNu,theweavingmaiden,prayingtoacquirehighskillsinneedlecraft（裁缝）,aswellashopingtofindsatisfactoryhusbands.

Intheevening,peoplesitoutdoorstoobservethestars.Chinesegrannieswouldsaythat,ifyoustandunderagrapevine,youcanprobablyoverhearwhatZhiNuandNiuLangaretalkingabout.