The Double Seventh Festival (Qixi Festival) is one of Chinese customary celebrations, and furthermore known as a Chinese Valentine’s Day. It depends on a sentimental legend about a weaver young lady and a bull group.
falls every year on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar schedule, and during the current year that day falls on August 25.
Dates of Qixi Festival:
| Year | Dates |
| 2020 | August 25, Tuesday |
| 2021 | August 14, Saturday |
| 2022 | August 4, Thursday |
| 2023 | August 22, Tuesday |
| 2024 | August 10, Saturday |
| 2025 | August 29, Friday |
History of Qixi Festival – Love Story of Niulang and Zhinu:
In old Prehistoric Times (1.7 million years prior – the 21st century BC), Chinese effectively adored stars. Niulang, alluding to Altair and Zhinu, the Vega, on different sides of the Milky Way catched their eyes. As the two meet each other once every year, their get-together day was venerated as a unique day.
In the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), Zhinu the Vega was exalted as a dexterous weaver young lady waving mists, and simultaneously patroness of females and children. Subsequently, little youngsters supplicated on seventh day of the seventh lunar month, considered as the birthday of Zhinu for able hands. By Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD), the custom of appealing to God for creativity on seventh day of the seventh lunar month had been well known and there were even specific markets selling the stuff for the supplicating service in the capital.
The most well known source and romantic tale of Chinese Qixi Festival is about Zhinu, the Weaver Girl and Niulang, the Cowherd. Their affection was restricted by Zhinu’s folks and Niulang was banished to the earth. At some point, when Zhinu came down to the earth for a washing, the two met one another. Zhinu then chose to remain on the earth without authorization, got hitched with Niulang and brought forth two stunning children. In any case, upbeat time didn’t keep going long. Zhinu’s mom, Xiwangmu, or known as Heavenly Queen Mother became acquainted with it and sent radiant officers to take Zhinu back forcibly. Seeing it, Niulang conveyed their two children and pursued in a rush. When Niulang was getting increasingly nearer, the Heavenly Queen Mother flung her clasp to make a stream, the Milky Way, between them. Pitifully, Niulang and Zhinu cried from the base of their souls. This moved jaybirds and they flew over to frame an extension over the stream for the two to meet in the middle. The Heavenly Queen Mother was additionally moved and permitted Niulang and their children to remain in the paradise. In any case, the family can just rejoin once every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month with the assistance of jaybirds.
How to Celebrate Qixi Festival?
By and by, Chinese sweethearts and couples for the most part have a date on this Chinese darlings’ day and present endowments to one another. Lately, an ever increasing number of darlings decide to get hitched at a library, or hold an antiquated Chinese style wedding service on that sentimental day. The exercises to petition God for resourcefulness are just acquired and well known in a little scope and young ladies like to wear conventional Chinese outfits to go to them.
Be that as it may, customarily, the celebration was exceptionally well known among little youngsters and there were different exercises on that day. Here were probably the most mainstream ones and just a couple are kept till today:
1. Love the Moon and Appreciate the Stars
On that night, young ladies would scrub down with water and sap, wear new garments and love the moon, as in old Chinese idea, moon was the promising sign for ladies. After, they would value the Vega and Altair getting together, representing the gathering of Zhinu and Niulang.
2. Pray Zhinu for Skillful Hands
On seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the birthday of the Weaver Girl, ladies in old China would go to her for capable hands, which were viewed as the quality of a decent spouse. In certain territories, they additionally petitioned God for knowledge, glad marriage, and imagining a child, and so forth.
3. Creativity Competitions
There were a wide range of types of rivalries for inventiveness. Among them, stringing numerous gap needles was the most famous and the most seasoned dating to the Han Dynasty. Little youngsters would string needles with five, seven or even nine holes. The one completed the stringing quickest would win. Since Northern and Southern Dynasties (420 – 589 AD), little youngsters would get a bug on the celebration day and kept them short-term. In the following morning, the better the web, the handier the proprietor was anticipated to be. In Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 – 1911 AD), young ladies would blend stream water and well water on the celebration, at that point put needles delicately on the outside of the water on the subsequent day. On the off chance that the shadow of the needle was fit as a fiddle rather than straight, it infers the young lady had effectively acquired inventiveness.
4. Eat Qiaoguo (Qixi Pastry)
Quite a while prior, there was a little youngster who was thoughtful towards Zhinu and Niulang. Each Qixi Festival, she would make some fragile baked goods and ask that the two could rejoin easily. The Jade Emperor was moved by her and requested Matchmaker to locate her a Mr. Right. After, an ever increasing number of little youngsters made cakes on that day in anticipation of their Mr. Right and the custom of eating Qixi cake shaped. These days, Qixi cakes are as yet well known in Shandong, Shanghai, Shaoxing and some close by regions. The Shandong style are minuscule prepared cakes in creature or blossom shapes while Shanghai style are singed slender twisty baked goods.
Other intriguing customs included inviting pixies sensible, washing in the waterway the Zhinu once washed, putting away Qixi water, washing hair, passing on fingernails, and so forth. They additionally sent blessings, yet totally different from present ones, including rhinoceros horn, tongguan grass, wolf teeth, and so on.
