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The Seven Eve—Chinese Valentine’s Day
Most people know about the western Valentine’s Day, which is celebrated on February 14th each year. But Chinese people also have a different tradition. Chinese Valentine’s Day is held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar. Chinese history is filled with many interesting legends and tales. And they also have one for this special day. A love story for this day is about the seventh daughter of the empire of heaven and an orphaned farmer who fell in love and separated from each other and allowed to meet once a year.
The story begins when the handsome but poor boy is orphaned. When his parents passed away, the boy was taken care of by his sister-in-law and brother who inherited the house and the land. The boy owned an old ox and needed to work in the field with the ox everyday. Because he spent all his time with the ox, he became known as cowherd. His daily life was just like in the Cinderella story—hard work and no play. Up in the heaven lives the seventh daughter of the empire who is very talented at handcrafts, especially, waving cloth. Because she was so good at waving, people called her wavingmaid. The empire was so proud of his daughter and her skill of waving cloths and rainbows to make the world more beautiful.
One day, the ox shared a special secret with cowherd. The ox was actually an immortal from heaven who has made mistakes in heaven and was sent to be an ox on earth as a punishment. On this very hot day, the ox suddenly said to the cowherd: “You are a nice person. If you want to get married, go to the brook and your wish will come true.” Cowherd was surprised but curious, so followed the ox’s advice. When he arrived at the brook, he saw all seven pretty daughters of the empire come down from heaven and take a bath in the water. Fascinated by the youngest and also the most beautiful one, he secretly took away her fairy clothes. The other six fairies went away after their bath, but the youngest couldn’t fly back without her fairy clothes. Then the cowherd appeared and told her that he would not return her clothes back unless she promised to be his wife. After a little hesitation and with a mixture of shyness and eagerness, she agreed to the request from the handsome man. They quickly fell in love and got married. They spent everyday together and had two children two years later.
One day cowherd was struck by some bad fortune. The old ox was dying and as he died, he told cowherd that he should keep his head for a special moment. The ox told him that his head has magic powers.
The empire began to miss his daughter and found that the sky was not as beautiful as before because the seventh daughter was not there to wave cloths and rainbows. He wanted his daughter’s grandmother to find his missing daughter and to bring her back. Her grandmother found her and ordered her to return to heaven. While wavingmaid was flying to heaven with her grandmother, cowherd remembered the words of his ox and began dressing in the ox head. He quickly put his children in two bamboo baskets with his wife’s fairy clothes and chased after his wife into the sky. Cowherd moved closer and closer. But suddenly, the grandmother made a Milky Way in the sky with her hairpin, which kept them separate. Wavingmaid was moved to the star of Vega, swooping eagle in the Lyra, ha constellation. And cowherd with his two children stayed in the star of Altair, flying one, in the Aquila, eagle constellation. And that is where they must live forever.
The story goes that magpies were so moved by their true love and many of them gathered and formed a bridge for the couple to meet in the evening on the seventh day on the seventh lunar month which is the only day the empire allows them to meet once a year.
So is this story just a story or is it true? It is said that it is hard to find a magpie on Chinese Valentine’s Day in China because all magpies fly to make the bridge for wavingmaid and cowherd. One thing can prove this is that there are fewer feathers on the heads of magpies after Chinese Valentine’s Day. It is also believed that if it rains on the night of Valentine’s Day, the rain is the tears of wavingmaid and cowherd.
In China, the star of Vega is also known as the wavingmaid star, and the star of Altair is as the cowherd star. So the next time you look up to the sky, you can think of them as they wait to meet each other again.
The story begins when the handsome but poor boy is orphaned. When his parents passed away, the boy was taken care of by his sister-in-law and brother who inherited the house and the land. The boy owned an old ox and needed to work in the field with the ox everyday. Because he spent all his time with the ox, he became known as cowherd. His daily life was just like in the Cinderella story—hard work and no play. Up in the heaven lives the seventh daughter of the empire who is very talented at handcrafts, especially, waving cloth. Because she was so good at waving, people called her wavingmaid. The empire was so proud of his daughter and her skill of waving cloths and rainbows to make the world more beautiful.
One day, the ox shared a special secret with cowherd. The ox was actually an immortal from heaven who has made mistakes in heaven and was sent to be an ox on earth as a punishment. On this very hot day, the ox suddenly said to the cowherd: “You are a nice person. If you want to get married, go to the brook and your wish will come true.” Cowherd was surprised but curious, so followed the ox’s advice. When he arrived at the brook, he saw all seven pretty daughters of the empire come down from heaven and take a bath in the water. Fascinated by the youngest and also the most beautiful one, he secretly took away her fairy clothes. The other six fairies went away after their bath, but the youngest couldn’t fly back without her fairy clothes. Then the cowherd appeared and told her that he would not return her clothes back unless she promised to be his wife. After a little hesitation and with a mixture of shyness and eagerness, she agreed to the request from the handsome man. They quickly fell in love and got married. They spent everyday together and had two children two years later.
One day cowherd was struck by some bad fortune. The old ox was dying and as he died, he told cowherd that he should keep his head for a special moment. The ox told him that his head has magic powers.
The empire began to miss his daughter and found that the sky was not as beautiful as before because the seventh daughter was not there to wave cloths and rainbows. He wanted his daughter’s grandmother to find his missing daughter and to bring her back. Her grandmother found her and ordered her to return to heaven. While wavingmaid was flying to heaven with her grandmother, cowherd remembered the words of his ox and began dressing in the ox head. He quickly put his children in two bamboo baskets with his wife’s fairy clothes and chased after his wife into the sky. Cowherd moved closer and closer. But suddenly, the grandmother made a Milky Way in the sky with her hairpin, which kept them separate. Wavingmaid was moved to the star of Vega, swooping eagle in the Lyra, ha constellation. And cowherd with his two children stayed in the star of Altair, flying one, in the Aquila, eagle constellation. And that is where they must live forever.
The story goes that magpies were so moved by their true love and many of them gathered and formed a bridge for the couple to meet in the evening on the seventh day on the seventh lunar month which is the only day the empire allows them to meet once a year.
So is this story just a story or is it true? It is said that it is hard to find a magpie on Chinese Valentine’s Day in China because all magpies fly to make the bridge for wavingmaid and cowherd. One thing can prove this is that there are fewer feathers on the heads of magpies after Chinese Valentine’s Day. It is also believed that if it rains on the night of Valentine’s Day, the rain is the tears of wavingmaid and cowherd.
In China, the star of Vega is also known as the wavingmaid star, and the star of Altair is as the cowherd star. So the next time you look up to the sky, you can think of them as they wait to meet each other again.
