The story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has been circulating, developing and evolving for more than two thousand years, and there are various versions. The main plot is:
Weaver Girl, the granddaughter of the Queen Mother, works to weave clouds in the sky, also known as brocade and heavenly clothes; cowboys are the Cowherds in the world. His parents died young and he was abused by his brothers and sisters. He lives with an old cow every day and leads a hard life.
One day, Lao Niu told him that the Weaver Girl in the sky was going to take a bath in the Milky Way with her sisters, and asked him to "steal" the Weaver Girl's feather clothes. Without the feather clothes, the Weaver Girl would not be able to fly back to the sky. Be his wife.
On that day, the beautiful fairies went to the Milky Way to bathe and play in the water. At this moment, the Cowherd who was hiding among the reeds suddenly ran out and snatched away the Weaver Girl's clothes. The panicked fairies hurried ashore, put on their clothes and flew away, leaving only the Weaver Girl behind.
At Cowherd's request, Weaver Girl agreed to be his wife.
After marriage, the Cowherd, the Weaver Girl, the Weaver Girl, the Farmer and the Weaver Girl fell in love with each other and lived a very happy life. The Weaver Girl also gave birth to a son and a daughter to the Cowherd.
Later, when the old cow was dying, she told the cowherd to keep its skin and wear it to seek help when she encountered difficulties. After the old cow died, the couple reluctantly peeled off the cowhide and buried the cow on the hillside.
Later one day, the Queen Mother heard that the Weaver Girl was "disobeying the laws of nature" and "eloped" to the mortal world. She was very angry and sent the heavenly soldiers to capture the Weaver Girl.
The Cowherd God was not at home, so he took the Weaver Girl away.
When the Cowherd returned home, he did not see the Weaver Girl. Remembering that Lao Niu told him that wearing cowhide would help him when he was in trouble, he quickly put on cowhide and chased out with his two children. The Cowherd also flew into the sky.
At the critical moment when the Cowherd was about to catch up with the Weaver Girl, the Queen Mother pulled out her hairpin and scratched the Weaver Girl's back, which turned into a raging Milky Way. Cowherd can no longer survive.
From then on, the two could only look at each other across the river and cry day and night. Today, the two small stars next to Altair are called Polaris. People say that they are the sons and daughters of Altair and Weaver. In the end, the true feelings of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl moved the magpies in the sky. Every year on July 7th, they pluck their beautiful feathers and build a rainbow bridge so that couples who have been in love for a year can meet each other on this night.
Moreover, in the dead of night of the Chinese Valentine's Day, people can still hear the gentle love words of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in the sky under the grape trellis or other fruit trellis.
According to ancient records, the folk believe that the Weaver Girl is smart, beautiful and versatile. On the evening of July 7th, if you ask for wisdom from the Weaver Girl, you can get rid of clumsiness and become dexterous, so it is also called the "Qiao Qiao Festival". Because most of the people participating in begging activities are boudoir women, it is also called "Daughter's Day". Japanese women often gather in the courtyard, put on new clothes, worship the double stars, set up incense tables, offer fruits, thread needles and loop colorful threads, and engage in various begging activities.
Lushan County, Henan Province, the hometown of Chinese Cowherd and Weaver Girl culture
Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a small mountain village at the southern foot of Lufeng Mountain in Xinji Township, Lushan County, where a man named Sun Shouyi lived. young people. Sun Shouyi, whose parents died when he was young, lives with his elder brother. He herded cattle during the day and slept in a cave in Lufeng Mountain at night. He was known as the "Cowherd". After the guidance of Lao Niu, the Cowherd skillfully married the fairy in red skirt who went to the Lotus Lake to take a bath. He and a fairy cowherd became a loving couple. The man farmed and the woman weaved, and they gave birth to a pair of children. Later, the village where Sun Shouyi lived was called Sunyi Village. To this day, Sun Shouyi's descendants worship the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl every year and sing folk songs praising the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
The stories circulated in Lushan contain many fresh contents about the subsequent lives of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
The Weaver Girl was captured and brought back to the Heavenly Palace, where she weaved colorful cloud brocades. She was depressed all day long, missing the Cowherd and her child. The Cowherd and his child lived in misery in the mortal world. Their residence was only 5 miles away
Later, the descendants of Cowherd inherited the family property around Mount Lu and observed filial piety. They arrange more than ten festivals every year such as Laba Festival, Spring Festival, February 8th, Cauliflower Festival, March 3rd, and Chinese Valentine's Day. And invited the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl back to the village to celebrate the festival. Feng Road next to Sunyi Village, Cowherd Cave on Feng Road, Jiu Nu Pond in the west, and Ruiyun Temple on the top of the mountain all seem to tell the touching story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
The natural environment around Lufeng Mountain is superior, and local people have been raising cattle since ancient times. However, unlike cattle raising in other places, not only every household in Sunyi Village of Xinji Township raises cattle, but they also do not kill cattle and bury them after they die. The custom has been around for a long time. In addition, Lushan has been rich in silk since ancient times. Lushan silk is also known as "Weaver Weaving" and "Fairy Weaving".
Xinji Township is a famous grape planting base. This is also related to the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Legend has it that when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet each other every year on Chinese Valentine's Day, women all over the world can hear the two whispering under the grape trellis. According to the folk custom of Lushan, asking for skills on Qixi Festival is to ask the Weaver Girl for skills on this day to get the person you like.
In Xinji Township, a large-scale temple fair is held every year on the seventh day of July without interruption. According to research, the Qixi Festival Temple Fair in Xinji Township has a history of at least hundreds of years. Folks call it "welcoming the immortal" or "bringing the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl home".
In Sunyi Village, Xinji Township, there is another very interesting custom, which is to hold temple fairs and sing operas, but never watch The Story of Tianhe. Because some of the descriptions of their ancestors in Tianhe Chronicles are disrespectful. In order to show respect for their ancestors, they have kept this custom of not reading Tianhe Ji from generation to generation.