The origin of the Qixi Festival, what is its significance? Why did women celebrate the Qixi Festival

The Qixi Festival began in ancient times, popularized in the Western Han Dynasty, and flourished in the Song Dynasty. In ancient times, the Qixi Festival was an exclusive festival for women. Among the many folk customs of Tanabata, some have gradually disappeared, but a considerable part has been continued.

The Qixi Festival originated in China, and it is also celebrated in some Asian countries influenced by Chinese culture, such as Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and Vietnam. On May 20, 2006, the Qixi Festival was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list by the People's Republic of China.

The earliest record of Qixi comes from the "Xijing Miscellaneous Records" written by Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which records the grand occasion of the Han Dynasty's Qixi Festival: "Han Cai women often wear seven-hole needles in the placket on the seventh day of July, and everyone is accustomed to it." The meaning of this phrase is:

The palace ladies of the Han Dynasty often held a sewing competition in the palace on the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh month to see who sewed fast and well, and who was the champion. And after the palace became popular, the people also imitated and imitated it. Therefore, the original Qixi Festival in ancient times had nothing to do with the love between men and women, it was just a skill competition for female celebrities, and this custom was also called "begging", that is, begging for ingenuity and wisdom.

In this way, Qixi should have nothing to do with the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, but why is Qixi passed down because of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl?

This is because folk legend has it that the Weaver Girl was originally a weaver, and she is outstanding in appearance and ingenuity. And the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl met at Queqiao on the seventh day of July, so Qixi Festival is related to love. This is the origin of Qixi Festival and the beautiful expectations and yearning of the people for love, so there is an extension of the love legend of the "Qixi Festival".

Poems about Tanabata.

Queqiao Immortal Song Qin Guan.

The clouds are clever, the flying stars spread hatred, and the silver man travels all the way to the dark. As soon as the golden wind and jade dew meet, they will win countless in the world.

Tenderness is like water, the best period is like a dream, endure the return of the Magpie Bridge! If the love between the two is long, how can it be in the morning and twilight!

Eastern Han Dynasty Anonymous.

Morning Glory, the Han Girl of the Bright River.

Slender hands, zaza lanes.

Autumn Evening Don Du Mu.

The silver candle autumn light cold painting screen, light Luo small fan fluttering fireflies.

The night is as cool as water, and you can sit and watch the morning glory Vega.

Xingxiangzi Tanabata Song Li Qingzhao.

The grass is singing, the sycamore is falling, and the world and the sky are sad. The clouds and the moon are locked thousands of times. Float up, float away, don't meet.

Xingqiao magpie driving, I have only seen it after many years, I want to leave love, don't hate it. Morning glory and weaver girl, don't be out of the middle. It was sunny, rainy, and windy.

Bodhisattva Barbarian Song Su Shi.

The wind returns to the immortals and the clouds open the fan, and the moon falls into the stars. The dream on the pillow is frightened, and the eaves are sparse and rainy.

Although the encounter is hasty, it is difficult to grow old for a long time. In the end, I don't envy the world, and the world is like a year.

Tanabata Tang Li Shangyin.

The Luan fan split obliquely, and the star bridge flew back across the magpie.

Strive to say goodbye to the world for an indefinite period of time, in exchange for once a year.

Tanabata: July 7, known as the "Seventh Sister's Day", because the worship activities are on the seventh night of the first month of July (evening, the ancient name is "Xi"), so it is called "Qixi".

The Qixi Festival is not only a festival to worship the Seven Sisters, but also a festival of love, which is a comprehensive festival with the folklore of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" as the carrier, with the theme of praying, begging and love, and with women as the main body.

The "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" of Qixi Festival ** in people's worship of natural celestial phenomena, in ancient times, people corresponded to each other in astronomical star regions and geographical regions, and this correspondence is called "dividing stars" in terms of astronomy, and in terms of geography, it is called "dividing fields". Legend has it that every year on the seventh day of the seventh month of July, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet at the Magpie Bridge in the sky.

Begging for marriage

On a clear summer and autumn night, the stars are shining in the sky, a Milky Way runs through the north and south, and there is a shining star on the east and west banks of the Milky Way.

Wu actress later evolved into a mythical goddess, known as the seven sisters, Tianxian Niangniang, Qi Niang Ma, etc., is the guardian of weaving clouds, couples, women, and children. Countless sentient men and women in the world will pray to the Weaver Girl for a happy marriage in front of the stars on the night of Qixi Festival.

Qixi Festival, also known as Qiqiao Festival, Qijie Festival, Daughter's Festival, Qiqiao Festival, Qiniang Meeting, Qixi Festival, Ox Bull Po Day, Qiaoxi, etc., is a traditional Chinese folk festival. The Qixi Festival is derived from the worship of the stars, which is the birthday of the Seven Sisters in the traditional sense, and is called "Qixi Festival" because the worship of the "Seven Sisters" is held on the seventh night of July.

It is the traditional customs of Qixi to worship the seventh sister, pray for blessings and make wishes, beg for skillful arts, sit and watch the morning glory Vega, pray for marriage, and store water for Qixi Festival. After historical development, Qixi has been endowed with the beautiful love legend of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl", making it a festival symbolizing love, which is considered to be the most romantic traditional festival in China, and has produced the cultural meaning of "Chinese Valentine's Day" in contemporary times.

The seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh month is Valentine's Day in Chinese, and some people call it Qixi or Daughter's Day, which is the most important day for daughters' families. The reason why the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh month is called Qiqiao is because of folklore that on this day, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet Tianhe, and the daughters' families will worship the sky with melons and fruits at night, begging for the goddess.

The Qiqi Festival is a festival to commemorate the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and many women worship the skillful hands of the Weaver Girl.

The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is the Qixi Festival, also known as the Qiqiao Festival and the Qiqiao Festival. Qixi Festival began in the Han Dynasty and is a traditional cultural festival popular in China and other countries in the Chinese character cultural circle.

It originated from the worship of nature and women's needle-threading, and was later given the legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, making it a festival symbolizing love. The Qixi Festival originated from the folk tale "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl", according to legend, the annual meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is on July 7 of the lunar calendar, and because the Weaver Girl has a pair of skillful hands that can weave clouds, the folk girls hope to reach the aura of the Weaver Girl, so on the day of the Qixi Festival, "begging", until today, the Qixi Festival is still a romantic traditional festival.

On May 20, 2006, the Qixi Festival was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. Now it is also considered "Chinese Valentine's Day".

The origin of the Qixi Festival is: I want to say that there were Cowherd and Weaver Girl in ancient times, and the two people loved each other very much, but they were never allowed to meet, and they could only meet on the day of Qixi Festival, so there was Qixi Festival.

Today's Qixi Festival, I believe that many people are racking their brains for gifts, confessions, etc., and in fact, Qixi Festival, the so-called love festival in people's impressions, is actually Women's Day in ancient times, and all activities on this day in ancient times were centered on women.

So is Qixi a traditional festival in China? Why is Qixi Festival a women's day in ancient times? Let's take a look.

Is Qixi a traditional Chinese festival?

Qixi Festival is a traditional Chinese festival.

The Qixi Festival evolved from the worship of the stars, which is the birthday of the Seven Sisters in the traditional sense, and is named "Qixi Festival" because the worship of the "Seven Sisters" is held on the seventh day of July.

It can be said that Qixi not only originated in China, but also many traditional customs of the Qixi Festival have been passed down to this day.

On May 20, 2006, the Qixi Festival was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list by the People's Republic of China.

Why is Qixi Festival a women's day in ancient times?

Qixi Festival is also known as the Seven Sisters Festival, the Daughter's Festival, the Seven Niang Society, etc., and it can also be seen from these common names that it is a comprehensive festival with women as the main body.

In fact, in ancient times, all the activities on the day of Qixi Festival were also centered on women, mainly including needle begging, spider ingenious, needle testing, planting and begging for children, offering "grinding and drinking", worshipping the Weaver Girl, worshiping Kuixing, drying books, drying clothes, congratulating the birthday of the cow, etc., which are rich and colorful and diverse.

For example, during the Song Dynasty, in the capital Bianliang, a special market for begging goods was set up for women, that is, the begging market; In the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, on this day, the daughter of the wedding banquet was taken back to her parents' house to celebrate the "Qixi Festival" and so on.

Therefore, it can be said that Tanabata is the ancient Women's Day.

Is there a Tanabata festival in foreign countries?

Foreign countries also have Qixi festivals, such as South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and other countries that are deeply influenced by Chinese culture, have the tradition of celebrating Qixi Festival.

1. South Korea. In Korea, the most representative custom of Tanabata is to pray for Vega.

In the morning, the women would put melons, cucumbers and other melons and fruits on the table and kowtow to pray, begging that they would have dexterous hands and weave better cloth like the Weaver Girl.

2. Japan. Tanabata was introduced to Japan from China during the Nara period in Japan.

Today, there are three major Tanabata festivals in Japan, namely the Sendai Tanabata Festival, the Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival, and the Shimizu Tanabata Festival, each of which has its own unique way of celebrating Tanabata.

3. Vietnam. In Vietnam, the Qixi Festival is mainly celebrated by the Chinese, but there are also many Vietnamese who celebrate it on this day.

Due to the majority of Chinese, the tributes used for the Qixi Festival in Vietnam are mainly based on the customs that have been passed down in China, such as water chestnuts, coconut cakes, money cakes, etc.

In general, the history, traditions and culture contained in Tanabata are very rich, and we should maintain a sense of reverence while continuing to inherit and carry forward.

The Qixi Festival first began to spread in the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The Qixi Festival is also known as the Women's Waiting for Women's Liangchi Festival, on this day women can bravely pay homage to their loved ones.

Indeed, yes, in fact, it is generally to put lanterns, and then go out to visit the temple fair, and when you see a suitable man, you will send a gift to your relatives.

When women in ancient times celebrated this festival, they would also express their liking to the men they liked on this day, and they would also go to see the lanterns or visit the temple fair on this day, so as to pray that they would meet a man who was good to them in the future, so women still lived a very fulfilling life on this day.