Today is often dubbed as the Chinese Valentine’s Day. The date is known in Chinese as “Qi Xi jie” or ‘Maiden’s Festival’ or ‘Double Seventh Festival’ as it falls on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. This happens to be the eve of the Beijing Olympics this year, which marks it as doubly significant for the Chinese.
The Double 7th is the only Chinese festival dedicated to romantic love in the lunar calendar and goes back as far as 2000 years ago. This traditional festival continues to resonate with most folks as it’s based on a moving love story of the ‘Cowherd and Weaving Maiden’, or Romeo and Juliet in an oriental setting .
Legend goes that there was an honest and kind-hearted man named Niulang (Cowherd) who fell in love with a beautiful fairy Zhinu (Weaving Maiden), whose name was derived from her special ability to weave beautiful clouds in the sky. She was the 7th daughter of the Jade Emperor in heaven but sought refuge on earth to live happily ever after with her loved one, or so she thought.
Unfortunately the Heavenly Queen was greatly displeased to discover her daughter had escaped and forced Zhinu to return to heaven, as fairies were not allowed to have feelings for mortal beings. She used her hairpin to draw a line between the two, transforming it into a silver river which became the Milky Way. Thus Cowherd and Weaving Maiden appear destined to be forever apart, only with sad feelings buried deep within their hearts.
As time passed, the Queen Mother eventually took pity on the ill-fated couple and permitted the lovers to meet once annually on 7th of the 7th lunar month. Touched by their love, tens of thousands of magpies flocked together to build a bridge across the galaxy for Cowherd and Weaving Maiden to finally be together.
