Introduction of "Seven Sisters's Birthday"
Tanabata, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, is one of the traditional folk festivals in China. Some places are called "July 7th-Tianhe Match", others are called "Begging for Qiaojie Festival", and people in Guancheng are called "Seven Sisters's Birthday". Modern folks also call it "Valentine's Day in China".
The commemoration of Tanabata, whether in scale or characteristics, has always been praised by people. Wangniudun July 7th Folk Festival is the first literary brand launched by Wangniudun Town Government in 2004. It is an important measure to tap cultural potential, enhance local cultural taste and bring out business opportunities and brand effects with culture.
Chinese Valentine's Day; Qixi Festival
About this festival, there is a legend that Tianhe (Galaxy) meets:
On the night of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, people call it "Chinese Valentine's Day". It is said that on this day every year, Cowherd and Weaver Girl will cross the bridge to meet each other. As long as you see the bright Milky Way, it is the Weaver Girl crossing the river to the east. ...
Ying Xun in the Eastern Han Dynasty once wrote "Pass": "Weaver crossing the river on Qixi, Queqiao Club." The modern version is richer and healthier. The legendary Cowherd is a loyal, upright, honest and diligent young man. His parents died, and he lived on his brother and sister-in-law. Sister-in-law is not virtuous, and Cowherd is forced to split up, and only gets an old cow, a broken car and two acres of thin land to work by himself. "Big Brother Niu" (Cowherd's kind name for the old cow) saw that Cowherd was alone and wanted to marry him, so he told Cowherd that the seven fairies came down to play games and take a bath in the Milky Way. As long as one of them gets her clothes, that fairy is his wife. According to Niu Ge, the Cowherd got the clothes of one of the Weavers on a moonlit night. After that, the two married and had a long-term relationship.
After three years of marriage, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, men plow and women weave, love each other, give birth to a son and a daughter, and live a very happy life. Unexpectedly, the fact that the Weaver Girl came down to earth was discovered by the Emperor of Heaven, so he sent the Queen Mother to escort the Weaver Girl back to heaven for trial. A loving couple was separated alive. Cowherd is desperate and heartbroken. Niu Ge couldn't bear to see their husband and wife separate, so he broke his horn and became a horn boat. Cowherd picked up the child, boarded the horn boat, walked in clouds and caught up with Weaver Girl. Seeing that he was about to catch up, the cruel queen mother pulled down the golden hairpin on her head and reached for a row. A wavy Tianhe immediately appeared in the sky. Cowherd and Weaver Girl can't cross the river, so they have to face each other across the water. However, their unswerving love touched the kind Phoenix, who called the magpies on earth and built a magpie bridge on the surging Tianhe River, and finally made the couple meet on July 7. On this day, the drizzle falling in the sky is actually countless feathers dropped by magpies.
This beautiful fairy tale reflects the cruel reality that marriage between men and women in feudal society in China cannot be free, and also expresses people's good wishes and unfinished dreams for a better life. ...
Qixi Festival
Another version, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month (Qixi), is called "Begging for Cleverness Festival", which expresses young men and women (especially women)' s pursuit for a better future. The so-called "begging for wisdom" means that women beg for wisdom from the weaver girl. There are two kinds of begging activities in ancient times, one is "stepping on the bridge" and the other is "running on the bridge". There is also a legend that young women secretly hide under ancient wells or vines in the dead of night on Tanabata. It is a coincidence if you can vaguely hear the sobbing of cowherd and weaver girl.
Baiqi steet
On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Dongguan people call it "Seven Sisters' Birthday", which is also commonly known as "Worship Seven Sisters". One of its meanings is to remember and admire the loyal love between Cowherd (Yong Dong) and Weaver Girl (Seven Sisters). The second is that young men and women worship Dong Yonghe and Seven Sisters, hoping to move the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to bring their favorite lovers through pious worship; The third is the children who are studying. After paying homage to Dong Yonghe's seven sisters, their parents asked Dong Yonghe's seven sisters to give their children wisdom, heart and soul, study hard and gain fame. Before liberation, this traditional folk festival was held in Guancheng on the evening of the sixth day of July, which was very popular and grand. On the evening of the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, all families should put the prepared sacrifices, red silk thread and Seven Sisters powder (a kind of white oblate powder similar in shape and size to Zhuang's, called "Tian navel powder") on the holy table facing the Milky Way, and wait until the two stars in the sky begin to appear at both ends of the Milky Way Magpie Bridge, that is, begin to interpret dreams, light candles to burn ingots, and sprinkle piety. When you worship, you often take forty-nine worship as your sincere heart. Looking at the sky, Dong Yonghe and Qi Mei gradually approached to meet, and then the ceremony of worshipping Qi Mei was over. On the morning of the seventh day, people can see white particles on the floor next to their houses. It is said that young men, women and children will make their skin tender and smooth if they pick it up and rub it on their faces. There is another thing that is difficult to explain clearly. At five o'clock in the evening of the sixth day, I went to the river to pump water and store it. It will not deteriorate for several years. If you soak wax gourd or Sydney for a year and give water to people with "high fever" (high fever for several days), it will often effectively reduce the fever. After liberation, this custom gradually faded, but it is no longer popular now.
Bai qi Niang ma
According to legend, the Weaver Girl is the seventh daughter of the Emperor of Heaven, and is honored as "Qi", and the seventh day of July is designated as Qi's birthday. In Taiwan Province Province, an auspicious activity called "Being the Mother of Seven Mothers" is held on July 7th every year.
On this day, lovers go to the Temple of Seven Mothers (Minnan people think this temple is a "lover's temple") and make vows of eternal love. However, young men and women who have not yet met like to list the conditions of "ideal lover" on this day, so as to have a happy marriage in the future. It is precisely because of this moral that people in Taiwan Province Province usually don't hold weddings on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, or even the whole July, as if influenced by the sad legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and think it is unlucky to get married on this day or even this month.
Hold a bar mitzvah
Legend has it that Qi Niang's mother has no children, so she takes special care of folk children. There is also a saying among the people in Taiwan Province Province that children grow up under the care of the bird mother before 16 years old. The mother bird is Qi Tuo, so Qi became the patron saint of underage children. Therefore, July 7th is also the "rite of passage" time for teenagers in Taiwan Province Province. On this day, Taiwan Province Province will "turn sixteen" for 16-year-old child, and his parents will take him to Qinniang Temple to reward him and thank Qinniang for protecting the child through childhood, childhood and adolescence.
Worship the bed mother
In Taiwan Province Province, "bed mom" is also the patron saint of children. July 7th is my mother-in-law's birthday. In the evening, families with children worship their mother-in-law at the bedside where their children sleep. Offerings should be offered at the time of worship: fried rice, chicken wine (or hemp chicken), burning "square gold" and "bed clothes". It should not be too long to worship the mother in bed, for fear that the mother in bed will spoil the child and stay in bed.
Sacrifice kuixing
There is also a God's birthday on July 7th, that is, Kuixing, and people will worship Kuixing on this day. The worship of Kuixing is a folk belief activity of ancient Han nationality, which is called "Kuixing main text". Scholars in eastern Fujian have the custom of "worshipping Kuixing" in Chinese Valentine's Day, praying for their success in the exam. In the literature of Taiwan Province Province in the Qing Dynasty, it was described that Kuixing Sacrifice was held at night, and private schools competed to raise funds to prepare meals for worship and drink all night. Some celebrate with acting skills, and some even kill dogs for sacrifice.
Have a special diet
On the eve of Tanabata every year, most people are used to buying Chinese medicine "Gentleman" and pomegranate in advance. At the dinner on Qixi, people cook eggs, lean pork, pork intestines, crabs and so on with the gentlemen they bought. After dinner, the whole family sat together and shared pomegranates. These two kinds of food are very popular because they have the function of repelling insects. Many families are used to cooking brown sugar dry rice, which also plays an auxiliary role in attracting insects to take medicine.
Worship of Weaver Girl in Qixi custom
"Worship the Weaver Girl" is purely a matter for girls and young women. Most of them make an appointment with five or six people, at most a dozen people, with friends or neighbors in advance to hold it together. The ceremony is to lay a table in the moonlight, and put tea, wine, fruit, five sons (longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts, melon seeds) and other sacrifices on the table. There are also some flowers, tied with red paper, inserted in the bottle, with a small incense burner in front. Then, the young women and girls who make an appointment to attend the worship of the Weaver Maid will fast for one day, take a bath and come to their host's house on time. After burning incense in front of the case, everyone will sit around the table and meditate on their thoughts while eating peanuts and melon seeds. If a girl wants to be beautiful or marry a husband, and a young woman wants to have a baby early, she can silently pray to the Weaver Girl. Play until midnight.
Sacrifice of Tanabata custom "grinding and drinking music"
Moeli is a little clay doll, a children's plaything on Valentine's Day in old China. Its image is mostly a lotus leaf half-arm skirt, holding a lotus leaf. On July 7th every year, in Kaifeng, "the tiles outside the Dongsongmen Gate of Panlou Street, the tiles outside the Xiliangmen Gate of Zhou Zhou, the tiles outside the North Gate, the tiles outside the South Suzaku Gate and the tiles in Xingjie Ma are all plastic puppets". In fact, after the end of the Song Dynasty, the joy of grinding and drinking was no longer a little clay doll, on the contrary, it became more and more exquisite. Moeli varies in size and posture, and the largest is as high as three feet, comparable to a real child. The materials made are ivory carving or bergamot carving, and the dressing of grinding and drinking music is extremely beautiful. There are painted wood carvings as column seats, or red sand cages as covers, and the toys in hand are mostly decorated with precious stones. The cost of grinding and drinking music is often as high as several thousand yuan.
The custom of drying books and clothes on Valentine's Day in China
According to the report, Sima Yi was quite suspicious of Cao Cao because of his high status and great power. In view of the political darkness at that time, he pretended to be crazy and hid at home in order to protect himself. Wei Wudi was still worried, so he sent a close friend to let history secretly explore the truth. It was July 7, and Sima Yi, who was pretending to be crazy and selling stupidity, was also drying books at home. Make history back to leave Wei Wudi, Wei Wudi immediately ordered Sima Yi back to the office, otherwise you can be taken into custody. Sima yi only obediently obeyed and returned to the DPRK.
There is also a kind of person who expresses his depression with depravity in troubled times. They despise etiquette and oppose custom. Liu Yiqing's "Shi Shuo Xin Yu", volume 25, said that on July 7th, everyone had to print books, and only Long Hao went to bask in the sun. When people asked him why, he replied, "I print books." On the one hand, it despises the custom of printing books, on the other hand, it also boasts about the talent in its belly. Drying your belly is also drying books. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the custom of hanging clothes in the Han Dynasty created opportunities for rich children to boast about their wealth.
Ruan Xian, one of the "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest", looked down on this style. On July 7, when neighbors were hanging clothes, they saw that the shelves were full of silks and satins, which was dazzling. Ruan Xian unhurriedly picked up a worn-out dress with a bamboo pole. Someone asked him what he was doing, and he said, "I can't avoid customs and tell you!" " From these short stories, we can see how prosperous the custom of drying books and clothes on Tanabata is.
The seeds of Qixi custom gave birth to children.
In the old custom, a few days before Tanabata, first spread a layer of soil on a small wooden board, sow the seeds of millet to make it bear green seedlings, and then put some small huts and flowers and trees on it to make it look like a small village where people live in heaven, called a "shell board", or soak mung beans, adzuki beans and wheat in a magnetic bowl and tie it with red and blue silk threads. All parts of the south are also called "bubble cleverness", and the sprouted bean sprouts are called smart buds. Even the needles are replaced by smart buds and thrown on the water to beg for cleverness. Wax is also used to create various images, such as the characters in the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, or the shapes of animals such as vultures and mandarin ducks, which float on the water, which is called "floating on the water". There are also baby dolls made of wax, which women can buy home and float in the water and soil to show their good luck to their children, which is called "metaplasia".
The practice of Qixi custom is skillful.
"Throwing needles to try skills" is a variant of the custom of seeking skills by threading needles on Qixi Festival, which originated from threading needles and was different from threading needles. It was a popular Valentine's Day custom in China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, Dong Liu and Yu Yizheng wrote in A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of the Imperial Capital: "On the afternoon of July 7th, we lost a clever needle. When a woman comes into contact with water, the water film looks strange, and the embroidery needle floats and looks at the shadow of the underwater needle. There are clouds, flowers, birds and animals, shoes, scissors and eggplant shadows, which are called clever begging; Its shadow is as thick as a hammer, as thin as silk and as straight as axis wax, which is wrong. " According to Zhili, in Liangxiang County (now southwest of Beijing), "On July 7th, women begged for cleverness, threw needles into the water, and inspected their work by the shadow of the sun." Please quote ten thousand miscellaneous notes in Textual Research on Old News in the Sunlight: "On July 7th, Yan Dou women threw small needles into the water. Or scattered like a flower, moving like a cloud, as thin as a line and as thick as a cone, all because of the ingenuity of the diviner. "
Tanabata custom spiders should be smart.
This is also an early way of seeking cleverness, and its popularity is a little later than that of seeking cleverness with needles, which generally began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Liang Zonggu of the Southern Dynasties said "A Record of Jingchu Times"; "In the evening, Chen Guaguo begged for cleverness in court. If you have a happy subnet on melon, you think it is corresponding. "
The Five Dynasties Wang Renyu's "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" said: "On July 7, we all caught spiders in small boxes until dawn; Think of cobwebs as sparse and dense. Secret people have many clever words, while rare people have few clever words. So are folk works. " A Dream in Tokyo by Meng Yuanyuan, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said that on the seventh day of July, "Put a spider in the zygote and watch it the next day. If the net is round, it is just a coincidence. " Song Zhou Mi's "When I was one year old" said; "How long does it take to store small spiders in the house and wait for the density of the net?" Tomita Rucheng's "Joy of the Xi Tide" said that on Tanabata, "It is very clever to put spiders in a small box and see the density of their webs the next morning." It can be seen that the methods of testing ingenuity in past dynasties are different. The existence of the visual network in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the thinness of the visual network in the Tang Dynasty, and the roundness of the visual network in the Song Dynasty, followed the customs of the Tang Dynasty in later generations.