Cowherd is a lonely orphan on the earth. After his parents died, he was often abused by his brother and sister-in-law. Later, my brother and sister-in-law didn't want to live with Cowherd, so they separated from him and gave him only an old cow. Weaver girl is a smart and beautiful fairy in the sky, and she is good at knitting. Once she and other fairies went to the Milky Way to take a bath. Under the direction of the old cow, the cowherd came to the edge of the Milky Way and stole the clothes of the Weaver Girl, so that the Weaver Girl could not return to the Heavenly Palace. The weaver girl married the cowherd, gave birth to a son and a daughter, and lived a happy life. But it didn't last long. When the Emperor of Heaven learned the news of the marriage between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, he was furious and immediately sent heavenly soldiers down to earth to take the Weaver Girl back to the Heavenly Palace. The cowherd was very sad when he saw where the Weaver Girl went and where you were going. He cried with a pair of children in his arms. At this point, the old cow was dying. Before she died, she told the cowherd that she would wear its skin after she died, and then she could take her children to heaven to find the Weaver Girl. The cowherd did as the old cow said, and carried his child to the sky with a burden on his back. When he was about to catch up with the Weaver Girl, the Queen Mother suddenly pulled out her golden hairpin and rowed in the air. Suddenly, the two of them turned into a rolling Tianhe, and the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl could only cry across the river. The cries of the Weaver Maid, the Cowherd and their children moved the Emperor, who allowed the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid to meet at the Magpie Bridge once a year on July 7th. On July 7th, countless magpies set up magpies on both sides of the Tianhe River, where the cowherd and the weaver girl met.
The love story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl is widely sung by the world. The sad lyrics of Qin Guan's "Queqiao Fairy" in the Northern Song Dynasty made the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl leave endless aftertaste for the world.
Thin clouds are sharp, flying stars are hateful, and silver and Korea are all the way. Golden phoenix meets high curative value, but wins countless people in the world! Tender as water, like a dream, reluctant to go home? If you have a long relationship, don't do it sooner or later! Qiqiao Tanabata is also called "Qiqiao Festival", because on this day, people want to ask the Weaver Girl for help, that is, to ask the Weaver Girl for help.
Legend has it that the Weaver Girl is intelligent, beautiful and versatile. She can not only brocade, but also sew boundless clothes. On July 7th, the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd met again, feeling particularly comfortable. If you ask her for wisdom and ingenuity at this time, she will teach her skills to people without reservation, so that people can get rid of clumsiness and seek ingenuity. The custom of begging for cleverness reflects the strong desire of working people to learn labor skills from Weaver Girl.
"Miscellanies of Xijing" once recorded: "The colorful women in the Han Palace often put seven-hole needles on the floor of Jinkai on July 7", which shows that the custom of begging for cleverness has existed in the Han Dynasty. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Zonggu described the customs at that time. "July 7th is the night when Penny and the Weaver Girl get together. At night, women wear seven-hole needles or gold, silver and jade as needles. Chen Guaguo is smart in the court. " "Historical Records" also records that Emperor Wudi of Qi formulated a motto "City God View". On July 7th every year, ladies-in-waiting board this building to watch the needle-piercing, which is called the "needle-piercing building" by the world. Cui Hao's "Chinese Valentine's Day" poem "Chang 'an City, such as practicing the moon, has a needle and thread at home this night. Yu Pei's fairy dress is comfortable, and heaven and earth never meet "and Lin Jie's poem" Every family looks forward to the autumn moon and wears HongLing for a long time "vividly describe the customs of Chang 'an in Tang Dynasty.
Most of the needles used for begging for skill are "seven holes" or "Kyubi no Youko", which are special for begging for skill and can be used for sewing clothes in ordinary production. Jin Yingzhi, a Ningren, said in Volume IV of Drunken Weng Tan Lu: In fact, this needle is not available, and it is too big. In Yuan Dynasty, Tao said in his book The Story of Yuanshi County Courtyard: "In Chinese Valentine's Day, women use multicolored threads to thread needles, and those who wear them first are" clever "and those who wear them later are" clever ".
While people are begging for wisdom, they also worship the melon bag weaver girl. Legend has it that the weaver girl not only manages women's textiles, but also dominates the growth of melons and fruits. In addition to tea, wine and fruit begging, there are fresh melons and fruits in the offerings of Tanabata. "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" records that "on July 7th, the maid-in-waiting Chen Guaguo was in court".
Begging for cleverness was very popular in the Tang Dynasty, and there were many stories and legends about begging for cleverness. When I was in Tang Suzong, there was a woman named Zheng Cainiang who begged the Weaver Girl for seven days on Tanabata night. Weaver asked Cainiang what she wanted, and Cainiang replied that she was smart. The Weaver Girl gave her an inch-long golden needle and taped it to a piece of paper, telling her not to tell anyone for three days, so that she could become a man in a short time. Two days later, Picking Niang told her mother about it. Her mother was deeply surprised and insisted on watching it. As a result, the lily disappeared, leaving only an empty piece of paper with stitches. Later, after the mother died, a boy was born. This is the well-known story of "reaching people with a golden needle", which is used by later generations as a metaphor to impart some secret skills.
The emperor of the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to the custom of begging for cleverness. Qiao Qi Mansion was built by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. It was 100 feet high and could accommodate dozens of people. Give the concubines in the palace a nine-hole needle and five-color thread, which passes through in the moonlight and is very clever. After begging for wisdom, I played a wonderful song of Qing business and had a feast. "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianyu" also records that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty and Yang Guidao held a banquet in Huaqing Palace: "On July 7th ..... everyone caught a spider and kept it in a small box until dawn. They opened their eyes and looked at the sparse spider web, thinking it was a good time to wait. Secret people have many witty remarks, strange people have few witty remarks, and folk results are achieved.
Begging for cleverness after the Song Dynasty is more abundant than before. There is a folk begging market in Panlou, Tokyo, which specializes in begging for clever things. Since July 1 day, Qiao Qi has been crowded with vehicles and tourists. On the eve of Tanabata, it is even more "cars and horses embrace each other". Ordinary people's surnames are also woven into "begging sheds" with bamboo or hemp poles. Folk products fully embody the intelligence and simple aesthetic taste of working people. "fairy building": cut colorful paper into floors; "Fairy Bridge": paper-cut bridge with cowherd, weaver girl and fairy attendants; "Flower melon": Carving patterns on the melon; "Planting": mung beans, wheat, adzuki beans, etc. Soak in the water of porcelain, grow green shoots several inches long, and tie them with red and blue bands.
In the Ming Dynasty, besides following the old customs of Tang and Song Dynasties, a new form of divination appeared-casting clever needles. "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of Dijing" records: "On the afternoon of July 7th, I lost my spirit needle. When a woman is in the water, the water film looks raw, but the embroidery needle is floating. Then she looked at the shadow of the underwater needle. There are clouds, flowers, birds and animals, shoes, scissors and water. Eggplant is called Qiaoqi.
On the basis of following the custom of throwing clever needles in Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty developed into a "flower throwing needle", that is, throwing it on the leaves of pine trees, that is, pine needles.
In the folk, there are many ways to seek cleverness on Tanabata. Besides the above-mentioned needle and thread under the moon, spider divination, throwing needles and loosening needles, there are also many ways to seek cleverness, such as listening to cowherd and weaver girl crying by the well and under the grape trellis, and throwing wheat beans into the water.
In the activity of seeking cleverness on Tanabata, women can not only seek skills from the Weaver Girl, but also seek wealth, longevity, children and courtship from the Weaver Girl according to their different situations and wishes. The secret of weakness, health and longevity; If you have no son, you can ask your son; Unmarried people can beg to be more beautiful to get pure love. Among many wishes, everyone wants the same thing, and it takes two or three years to show sincerity. Before begging for wisdom, you should worship the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid in advance, and then kneel down to pray and meditate on your wishes. At the end of begging activities, women usually throw half of the offerings such as melons and fruits on the house for the goddess to enjoy, and keep the other half for themselves to share with everyone. In some places, half of the pollen used is thrown on the roof and half is reserved for personal use, in order to grow as smart and lovely as a weaver girl. Daughter's Day is called "Daughter's Day" or "Daughter's Day" in some places. Henan and Shaanxi have the custom of welcoming women and avoiding festivals on this day. According to the records of Pucheng County, Shaanxi Province, "On July 7th, women were welcomed to avoid festivals". According to local legend, the Weaver Girl is the granddaughter of the emperor, and the unfortunate marriage of the Weaver Girl is caused by the emperor's unwillingness to live with the Cowherd for a long time. On July 7th, people will take their newly-married daughter home, lest the Emperor of Heaven discover that her daughter and son-in-law have been living together for a long time, and forcibly separated like a cowherd and a weaver girl. This local custom fully embodies parents' desire for their daughters' happy marriage. At the same time, it also shows that the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl is not only deeply rooted in people's hearts, but also affects people's daily lives. Georgie fruit Georgie fruit, also known as proper fruit, originated from Qiao Qi activities on Valentine's Day in China, which is the general name of many beautiful points made by women on Valentine's Day in China. By the Tang and Song Dynasties, it had been widely produced by people.
There are many kinds of fruits in Qiao Qi, among which wheat flour is called "Mianqiao" and glutinous rice flour is called "Fenqiao". Generally, noodles are made with 72 Jin of sugar and a little sesame. When making, the sugar is dissolved into syrup in the pot, then mixed with flour and sesame seeds, spread on the table, rolled thin, dried, made into rectangular blocks with a knife, finally folded into spindle-shaped dough embryos and fried to golden brown. Flour is skillfully made of two kilograms of glutinous rice flour, eight ounces of sugar, a little sesame and starch. When cooking, glutinous rice flour and white sugar are mixed with warm water, steamed, taken out, cooled, kneaded into dough with sesame starch, rolled thin, cut into three or four inches square, folded into triangles, cut into flower-shaped powder embryos, dried and fried. The custom of exposing clothes and drying books on Qixi originated in Han Dynasty. Song Buzi's Yang Yuanyuan Shu records that there was Taiye Pool in the north of Zhangjian Palace and Clothes Exposing Pavilion in the west of the pool in the Han Dynasty. Every July 7th, "maids go upstairs to expose their clothes". In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the custom of revealing clothes has become a great opportunity for wealthy families to show off their wealth. From the custom of revealing clothes to the fashion of printing books on July 7th, the literati at that time took out their books to dry in order to pursue a false reputation and show their erudition. According to historical legend, Sima Yi was suspected by Wei Wudi because of his excessive power, so he fell ill and pretended to be ill at home. On July 7th, Wei Wudi sent his cronies to investigate and control the actual situation, and found Sima Yi pretending to be crazy and selling silly books at home. The cronies reported the truth to Wei Wudi, and Emperor Hu Wei ordered Sima Yi to return to North Korea. Sima Yi had no reason to dodge and had to obey. Lotus leaf lamp "Yiling County Records" records that "every family has a lotus leaf lamp at 7: 00 on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. If the lotus leaf is particularly large, put a pu candle in it, burn the pole and plant it outdoors." In July, lotus leaves are flourishing. On Tanabata, people will light lotus leaf lanterns in front of the door to show the festival. Every year on Tanabata, Xiangqiao Club is held in Gudoujing Village, Tang Hui Township, Jiaxing. During the festival, pilgrims from nearby villages gather to burn incense. Several skilled pilgrims built a bridge with incense about four or five meters long and fifty centimeters wide. There are sachets sent by various families on the bridge, so that the cowherd and the weaver girl can have a sweet tryst on the exquisite fragrant bridge. At night, people lit the incense bridge, and in the colorful incense, they imagined that the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid had set foot on the incense bridge dedicated by everyone, and people were filled with joy. In Taiwan Province Province, there is a legend among the Han people that Burt Kwouk, a scholar, fell in love with a girl at first sight on his way to Beijing to catch the exam. Unexpectedly, Guo Bi died of acute illness, and the girl buried him under the bed. Ten months later, the girl gave birth to a son. In order to comfort Guo Bi's spirit, girls often burn incense and worship at the bedside. People asked her why, and the girl told her to worship her mother in bed to protect her children from growing up safely. People followed suit, so on July 7, the mother in the bed of worship quietly spread. At this time, every family takes their children to worship their mothers in bed. At sunset, children provide offerings such as meat, rice, wine and candy in bed, burn incense and kowtow, and pray for their mother's blessing. The effect of shampoo Before Qixi Festival, women in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province used the custom of soaking Vitex negundo leaves in water to wash their hair. It is said that this can make their hair smooth and black.
According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Wu was defeated by the State of Yue, and Gou Jian, the King of Yue, was taken hostage. After he was pardoned and returned to China, he was chosen as the prime minister. After careful consideration, he planned to choose a woman with both talent and color to give to the king of Wu, so that he could indulge in ecstasy and disregard state affairs in order to avenge the crossing of the country. One day, I met a stone. Shi was smart and beautiful since he was a child. She usually likes to bathe Ye Jing in water. After her demise, she often sang to herself by the Huansha River: "Spring scenery comes year after year, but it is not seen year after year, and the water in Huansha is clear, and the hatred of national subjugation is hard to wash." When I saw it, history was not only beautiful, but also sad for my national subjugation. She is a rare good woman. After telling the story to Gou Jian, the King of Yue, he went to the State of Wu with a seal to escort the stone. Wu was deeply moved by the spirit of saving the country with his life. On July 7, I went boating on the five lakes anonymously with stones. In order to express his love for stone, people washed their hair in water with Vitex negundo leaves on July 7 as a souvenir.