Shining brightly in the Star River of Chinese culture, this festival style | International | Star River

Author: Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Han Zhen, Wu Yanxia, and Wu Nan

This is a festival with a long history.

It has traveled through thousands of years of historical dust and smoke, leaving behind the exploration and worship of magical nature, embodying the longing and longing for mutual love, lingering with the laughter and joy of a happy family, stirring up a brilliant poetic and heroic atmosphere like a Milky Way.

This festival is Qixi.

What kind of "magic" does Qixi have? Surprisingly, it can withstand the tide of time, not only not submerged in the vast dust and smoke, but also emitting an increasingly dazzling light in the current new era?

Next, let's talk about this topic.

On August 20, the "talent gathering Qixi · predestination" youth talent Qixi gathering activity was held in Dongbaihu Town, Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province. The "ten mile red makeup", "love seeking trip", "painted paper umbrellas", "begging for luck"... games with traditional cultural charm let the single young talents present immersively experience rich and colorful folk culture and make friends. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Yu

"It" from the stars

Firstly, it comes from the sky and was not originally a person, but two stars. As soon as they appear, they are destined to be extraordinary.

Above the nine heavens, in the vast night sky, on both sides of the Milky Way, two stars gaze from afar. One is called morning glory, and the other is called Weaver Girl.

If it's just here, it's not surprising. They flickered in the world until they met ancient people who were curious and imaginative about the universe. So, there was the addition of culture.

The Qin bamboo slips "Ri Shu" unearthed from the Sleeping Tiger Land in Yunmeng, Hubei Province, record the unsuccessful marriage of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and some believe that this is the initial imagination of people over two thousand years ago about the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

During the Southern Dynasties period, the "Selected Works of Zhaoming" edited by Liang Xiaotong wrote: "The Cowherd is the husband, and the Weaver Girl is the wife. The Weaver Girl and the Star of the Cowherd are located by the banks of rivers and drums. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, they will be held for a while."

The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl not only became lovers, but their love had a tragic background from the moment they met across the river. It is precisely because of this color that many people have been moved throughout history.

So, on the night of the turn of summer and autumn, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the young girls sat around the courtyard in twos and threes, threading needles to beg for skill, spiders to respond skillfully, throwing needles to test skill, worshiping the Weaver Girl, dyeing nails, eating skillful fruits, etc., praying to the "Clever Goddess" to bless themselves with intelligence and dexterity, to have a successful marriage and a happy and fulfilling life.

Qixi has become one of the most important festivals for ancient boudoir women.

This festival has also spawned other interesting customs. For example, "Baikuixing" aimed at seeking fame and fortune, and other "wealth flaunting" book sharing events.

These rich and colorful traditional customs fully demonstrate the intelligence and aspirations of the working people for a better life, while also showcasing the strong vitality of our traditional culture.

Coming from heaven to earth

If it only stayed in the rough and hazy stage, it would not have such long-lasting charm. Its unique charm lies in its continuous interpretation.

Firstly, it is more detailed and full of popularity.

In the late Han Dynasty, the Yuefu poem "Farewell to the Altair Star" wrote: "Farewell to the Altair Star, the woman of the River Han. She holds her delicate hands and plays with the loom. She does not form a chapter all day long, crying like rain. The River Han is clear and shallow, separated by a few strokes. Her pulse is speechless in a single stream."

The poignant story tells the story of the separation between the celestial couple of the morning glory and the weaver girl, and the theme gradually completes the "variation" of "the morning glory and the weaver girl" from god to human, that is, it evolves from the recording and observation of the stars to a poignant love story. Through the processing of literati throughout history and the variation of many folk stories, legends that originally belonged to heaven have become increasingly popular.

Secondly, a "mortal version" has been launched, which is closer to life.

In the classic Huangmei Opera play "Heavenly Fairy Companion", the imagination of the ancients of "Altair" and "Weaver Girl" is integrated into the love tragedy of a folk farmer named Dong Yong. This change seems to have such a story right beside me, full of immersion!

Once again, with the reunion version, the poignant story has become perfect.

In "Jun Tian Le", the Qing Dynasty opera performer You Dong gave a happy ending to the love story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, as their true feelings moved heaven and they no longer separated year by year.

There is a more profound interpretation: Cowherd and Weaver Girl not only adhere to their own love, but also strive to fulfill others.

For example, in "The Palace of Eternal Life," Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Yang Guifei were separated forever by the transformation of heaven and earth on Maweipo. The Cowherd and Weaver Girl ran back and forth, finally reuniting them again in the Moon Palace.

Integrate with poetry

With a rich story, it creates conditions for word-of-mouth transmission. But it also integrates with more easily recited poetry, creating many well-known phrases. It's difficult to think about fire or not!

Tang poetry, Song lyrics, and Han articles. The Tang Dynasty was the pinnacle of Chinese poetry and art. A large number of famous poets have left their pen and ink for the Qixi Festival.

In the era without high-speed trains, airplanes, and 5G communication, "the world is like a neighbor" can only be a beautiful imagination of literati, and more wanderers can only "miss their loved ones twice during holidays.".

"When Qixi comes to a foreign country, the hotel will be more worried. Without a needle piercing woman, the old country building will be empty." Meng Haoran, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, expressed his worries about living abroad at the time of Qixi Festival in his "Qixi in a foreign country".

"The sky is filled with thin clouds and thin moons, and the autumn period of the Silver and Han Dynasties is the same forever. A lot of joys and sorrows come from this night every year." This is Bai Juyi's deep sympathy for the distressed lovers in Qixi.

Tang Dynasty poets were eager to be the first, but Song Dynasty poets could not be willing to be the second?

"The women upstairs are carrying ingenious ideas, threading needles, carrying pink noodles and servant girls to meet each other. At the place where the golden hairpin is whispering, who is in the shadow of the cloister? May the heaven and the earth occupy a happy place, every year and every night." Liu Yong, a poet of the Song Dynasty, brought the lively and romantic picture of the human world of Qixi Festival thousands of years ago to us with his poems and paintings.

The cowherd and the weaver girl will "Qixi" for a while, beautiful but short, but who said that "Qixi" is doomed to be sad with farewell?

Qin Guan exclaimed in his poem "The Fairy Magpie Bridge: The Skilled Clouds", "If two relationships last for a long time, how can they last day and night?" He loudly proclaimed the essence of true love that can transcend spatial barriers, and could already see a different kind of firmness and persistence in love.

But Su Dongpo, an uninhibited poet of the school, said boldly in "Queqiao Immortal · Qixi Farewell to Chen's Order": "Goushan Immortal, with lofty sentiments, does not learn from stupid cattle and foolish women.

More and more "international style"

On Qixi Festival, if only spread, these "blessings" above are enough. But our blessing is still ongoing.

In the new era and new journey, more and more excellent traditional Chinese culture is being excavated, transformed, and promoted. The vibrant Qixi Festival is no longer limited to "Chinese Valentine's Day".

In 2008, the Qixi Qiqiao activity declared by Xihe County, Gansu Province was added as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage by the State Council. In 2014, the Qixi Festival declared by Yunxi County, Hubei Province, was included in the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects.

Young people who play at the "Tide" Festival also integrate China-Chic New Fashion into the Qixi Festival. In recent years, every Qixi Festival, many young people in Chongqing, Jiangsu and Anhui took to the streets to hold "Qixi Gathering" in Chinese. The gathering covered China-Chic cultural and creative, tea art, drama, calligraphy and painting and other elements, reflecting the perfect integration of Chinese traditional culture and the beauty of the times.

What belongs to the nation is what belongs to the world! Our Qixi Festival has become an increasingly "international" national cultural card!

In Japan, people will write their wishes on five colored paper on the Qixi Festival, hang them on bamboo branches, and float the bamboo branches and lanterns along the water the next day, symbolizing their wish to go straight to Tianhe. In South Korea, young girls place fruits and melons on the table to pray, and the Weaver Girl will make women more skillful.

For more than 2000 years, Qixi Festival has gone from ancient times to modern times, from stars to love stories, from China to the world - this is definitely not an accident, but a necessity!

This festival is no longer a unique romance for the Chinese people, but a shining "star" in the brilliant river of new Chinese excellent traditional culture!