CELEBRATE CHINESE VALENTINE'S DAY

So how did this festival come to be, all those years ago?

It has its roots in Chinese mythology; specifically, the tale of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. According to legend, the day is the annual meeting of the two star-crossed lovers who give the tale its name. And given the story appeared in a poem dating from more than 2,600 years ago, the love between them is powerful indeed.

The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl

Of course, given its age and ubiquity, there are variations in how this mythic love story is recounted, but it goes something like this.

Zhinü, a weaver girl, and Niulang, a cowherd, fall in love. In some versions, their romance begins in the celestial realm where both characters are divinities, and they end up in their as a cowherd and weaver as punishment for their forbidden love. In other versions, our cowherd starts out as just that, while the weaver girl is the youngest daughter of the Jade Emperor who grows bored of her eternal, divine existence, and travels to the mortal world.

Whether as a punishment for their forbidden love or simply the circumstances he was born into, Niulang finds himself an orphan living on a farm with his cruel brother and sister-in-law.

But thanks to this dicey situation, Niulang bonds with an ox which – as chance would have it – turns out to be a demoted cattle god. One day, the ox speaks to him, announcing that fairies would be bathing in a nearby spring that evening. Understandably curious, Niulang goes to see the fairies and ends up falling in love with one of them – Zhinü, of course. In versions where they had already been in love, this is an impassioned reunion rather than love-at-first sight – but both are tremendously romantic.

The Jade Emperor is enraged by this new (or newly rekindled) love and orders Zhinü back to heaven. Niulang's companion ox chips in again, telling him how he could fly after her, but the Queen Mother of the West stops him from reaching his love by drawing a Silver River (which we know as the Milky Way) in the sky.

A magpie is moved by the separation and Niulang's heartbreak, so it enlists its friends to form a bridge of magpies over the Silver River, allowing Niulang and Zhinü to reunite. Even the Emperor is touched by this emotional reunion, and so he decrees that the couple be allowed to meet on the Magpie Bridge once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Thus began the Qixi Festival.

Traditional Qixi Festival celebrations

With the festival dating back to at least the Han Dynasty (which existed from 206 BC to 220 AD), it is unsurprising that there are some traditional ways to mark it – and that some of those have become less commonplace.

Here are some of the ways that Chinese people have marked the festival over the millennia.

Threading and weaving

In one traditional Chinese practice, women would display their threading skills by threading a needle by moonlight or dying embers, with the goal of threading seven needles seamlessly (if you will pardon the pun).

Women would also visit temples to pray and make offerings to Zhinü. In their prayers, they asked for wisdom and dexterity in needlework, and to find a loving husband. There was time for fun, too though! When they were done, the women played games and read poems until midnight.

Celebrating the ox

Another tradition that commemorates the epic love story is to honour the ox that brought the lovers together; young girls and boys collected wildflowers and hung them on the horns of oxen.

Qiao food

As with many beloved festivals and celebrations, there's also traditional food to enjoy. Again, there's variety between regions and over time, but some delicacies include: 'Skill fruit' (qiǎo guǒ): thin, deep-fried pastries made of flour, oil, and honey, with optional extras including sesame seeds, peanuts, and roses, 'Flower melons', into whose skin women etched flowers and animals, and Sweet desserts like rice cakes and red bean soup.

Stargazing

Another tradition focused on the lovers' celestial meeting spot. People would stargaze in search of two stars in the Milky Way, Vega, and Altair, bridged together by a third star called Deneb.

Celebrating Chinese Valentine's Day

Just because some of these customs are less common today does not mean you cannot celebrate Chinese Valentine's Day!

Nowadays, celebrations are closer to what we associate with modern-day western Valentine's Day: people give gifts to loved ones, typically flowers, chocolates, perfumes, jewellery, beauty and skincare, or even handmade crafts.

Of course, people in relationships tend to have romantic dates, too – and there is no reason you cannot plan a fun Galentine's or Palentine's evening if that is more your speed!