Niu Lang and Zhi Nu/Cowherd and the Weaver Maid

Cowherd and Weaver Girl meet on Tanabata.

August 2005 1 1 day is the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. This day is the most romantic "Qixi Festival" among the traditional festivals in China. It is the legendary day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Yinhe Magpie Bridge once a year, and it gradually evolved into Valentine's Day in China. Because, every Valentine's Day, lovers always look up at the stars and pray that love will be faithful.

According to astronomical experts, Cowherd and Weaver Girl are folk names. In fact, in astronomy, Cowherd's Chinese name is Hegu II, and Vega is Vega I, two bright stars in Aquila and Lyra respectively. Because these two stars are clearly visible to the naked eye and easy to distinguish, Vega was once one of the navigation marks of Zheng He's voyage to the West in the Ming Dynasty.

According to the astronomical observation and calculation results since 1 9th century, the Altair is about 16 light years away (1light year is about 10 trillion kilometers), the Vega is about 26 light years away, and the distance between the two stars is 16 light years away. Even if the Altair is called the Weaver Girl, it will take 16 years. So they can't meet on July 7th every year.

Why should the seventh day of July be regarded as the legendary day when the cowherd and the weaver girl meet? This is because the ancients thought that "seven" was an auspicious number, which meant perfection. Moreover, on the night of July 7, when the moon approaches the Milky Way, the moon's brilliance can just shine on the Milky Way, which is more convenient for people to watch the stars. If you observe it with an astronomical telescope tonight, you will see dense clusters in the Milky Way. The afterglow of the half moon sprinkled on the Milky Way has become an imaginary "magpie bridge"

It has entered the early autumn season. At about 8 pm, Vega with zero brightness first appeared near the love zenith, and then the first-class Altair appeared in the south. In the suburbs far away from the city lights, citizens looked up at the night sky and were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a white Tianhe (Milky Way) between the two stars, in which the Altair was in the east and the Weaver Girl was in the west. They looked at each other silently, which was quite poetic.

The origin of "Qixi"

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is China people's Valentine's Day. Some people call it Chinese Valentine's Day or Daughter's Day, which is the most important day for a daughter's family. The seventh day of July is called begging for cleverness because it is said that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl will meet the Tianhe River, and the daughter's family will worship the sky with melons and fruits at night to beg for cleverness from the goddess.

In addition to seeking the skills of the weaver girl, I also seek a clever match in marriage. Therefore, countless sentient men and women in the world will pray for a happy marriage to the stars on this night, in the dead of night.

When it comes to Tanabata, we have to mention the folk love story-Cowherd and Weaver Girl. On Tanabata, they meet once a year and are regarded as a symbol of love by affectionate children. Their love tragedy left a deep impression on everyone in China. So every Tanabata night, many lovers will pray for eternal love in the starry night sky.

There are many versions of the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The most widely known thing is that it is said that Cowherd's parents died young and were often abused by his elder sister-in-law, only accompanied by an old cow. One day, the old cow gave him a plan to marry the weaver girl. On that day, the beautiful fairies did bathe in the Milky Way and play in the water. Then the cowherd, hiding in the reeds, suddenly ran out and took the clothes of the Weaver Girl. The panicked fairies hurried ashore, dressed and flew away, leaving only the weaver girl. At Cowherd's request, Weaver Girl agreed to be his wife. After marriage, the cowherd and the weaver girl loved each other and lived a very happy life. Weaver girl also gave birth to a son and a daughter to Cowherd. Later, when the old cow was dying, she told the cowherd to keep its skin and put it on for help when it was in trouble. After the old cow died, the couple reluctantly peeled off the cowhide and buried the cow on the hillside.

When the marriage between the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd was known by the Jade Emperor and the Heavenly Queen Mother, they flew into a rage and ordered the gods to take the Weaver Girl back. When the Cowherd was away, the gods took the Weaver Girl. Cowherd didn't see Weaver when he came home, so he quickly put on cowhide and chased after him with two children. On the verge of catching up, the queen mother was in a hurry, tore off the golden hairpin on her head and rowed to the Milky Way. The once shallow Milky Way suddenly turned into a raging sea, and the Cowherd couldn't cross it any more. Since then, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl can only look at each other across the river with tears, forever and ever, and the Jade Emperor and the Empress Dowager can't resist their sincere feelings, allowing them to meet once every July 7th. According to legend, every year on July 7th, the favorite birds on earth will fly to the sky to meet the cowherd and the weaver girl in the Milky Way. In addition, in the dead of night on Tanabata, people can also hear the love story of cowherd and weaver girl in the sky under the grape trellis or other fruit trellis.

Of course, this is just a legend. Begging for Qiao ceremony originated from the original belief of the ancient weaver girl, Sang Shen, and combined with the saying that the cowherd and weaver girl meet on July 7 every year, it has become the folk belief of our Qixi Qiqiao film today.

How do ancestors celebrate Valentine's Day in China?

Under the moon, connect and thread the needle.

In Jiaodong area, there is a custom to worship Seven Sisters. Young women often like to get together in new clothes on Tanabata and get married in Seven Sisters. Some people even sang "Emperor Emperor, I invite seven sisters to heaven. Don't look at your needle, don't look at your thread, look at your seventy-two good means. " They also compete for the title of skillful hands.

Try to move the pointer skillfully.

July 7th is Women's Day. The girl held the water in the jar to the sun, with a needle floating in the middle, and took photos of the shadow in the water to try the trick, resurrect the fruit and compete for "seeking the trick".

Grow smart vegetables and bloom smart flowers.

There are two kinds of activities in Rongcheng, Shandong Province, one is "clever dishes", that is, girls cultivate malt in glasses, and the other is "clever flowers". It is also a kind of food with flowers shaped by girls with flour.

Ligating bean sprouts and green onions of the ancient bridge for divination, skillfully threading and cutting window grilles.

In the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province, it is also a custom to hold various begging activities on Tanabata night. Women often have to tie up grass people in flowered clothes, which is called the ancient bridge. They should not only provide melons and fruits, but also plant bean sprouts and shallots. On the night of Qixi, all the women held a bowl of water in their hands, cut bean sprouts and shallots, put them into the water, and used the shadow of the moon to predict the fate of cleverness. They also wear needles and thread to compete. At the same time, there will be activities to cut window grilles.

Water purification, visual verification, skillful and clumsy

Jojo activity in Jiangsu is to take a bowl of clean water and expose it to the sun, and then spend the night outdoors. It is to pick up thin straw sticks and float in the water, all by their shadows. There are also many young women who use small needles to see the shadow of underwater needles to fulfill their wisdom and stupidity. Han people in other areas also use this method to make themselves smart and stupid.

Seek cleverness with spiders.

Zhejiang, Anhui and other places adopt the way of spider begging: put the spider into a small pot or box, and observe the density of its net the next morning to determine whether it is smart. If spiders still weave webs on melons and fruits, it also means the arrival of ingenuity. And how clever it is to store spiders in boxes and wait for the density of nets.

Dew contact

In rural areas of Zhejiang, it is popular to use washbasins to receive dew. Legend has it that the dew on Tanabata is the tears when cowherd and weaver girl meet. If you put it on your eyes and hands, it can make people nearsighted.

Seed search

Having children is an old custom of Valentine's Day in China, and it is actually one of the beliefs. Before the festival, several plants, such as wheat, mung beans, adzuki beans and peas, were put into a vessel to germinate for several inches, and tied up with red and blue harnesses on Tanabata Day as a symbol of blessing to children. It is also necessary to use wax to shape various images and float on the water.

Wash your hair with sap and dye your nails with flowers and plants.

Young girls in many areas like to wash their hair with the sap of trees during festivals. It is said that not only young and beautiful, but also unmarried women can find the right husband as soon as possible. Dyeing nails with flowers and plants is also a hobby of most women and children in holiday entertainment, and it is also closely related to reproductive beliefs.

Seven knots of red rope for tanabata storage

There is a custom of storing water on Tanabata in some areas of Guangxi. It is believed that double seven baths can eliminate disasters and diseases. Sick children often tie a red rope into seven knots on this day and wear it around their necks to pray for health and good luck.

Eat smart food

The dietary customs of Valentine's Day in China vary from place to place, which is generally called clever eating. Among them, jiaozi, noodles, avocados, wonton and other foods are used for this festival. To eat cloud noodles, it must be made of dew. Eating it can get a clever meaning. There are also many folk pastry shops that like to make some crisp sweets with the image of Weaver Girl, commonly known as "capable people" and "skillful cakes", and they are also called "sending talented people" when they are sold. This custom has spread in some areas so far.

Interviewee: Komatsu Blog-Chairman's Grade 16 6- 14 20:34

Cowherd and Weaver Girl/Cowherd and Weaver Girl

Cowherd and Weaver Girl is one of the most famous folklore in China, and it is also the most famous story about stars in our country. Who told the story first and when it began to spread among the people-these two questions have not been verified. There is a passage in the Chronicle of Jingchu written in the Northern and Southern Dynasties: "To the east of the Tianhe River, there is a weaver girl, the son of the Emperor of Heaven. Weave the war every year and weave it into a brocade skirt. God pitied him for being alone and promised to marry a cowherd in Hexi. After getting married, I gave up knitting. The Emperor of Heaven was furious and ordered to return to Hedong. Only on the night of July 7 every year, cross the river for a while. "

About the Weaver Girl, there are several references to her in ancient books. "History of the Later Han Dynasty": "Weaver girl, the son of heaven is a real girl." Historical Records: "Samsung, at the eastern end of the cat, is also a goddess." Jiao said, "In the east of Tianhe, there is a little star called Weaver Girl." Tianhe is a band of light that we see across the sky at night; The ancients in China also called it Han Yin, Xinghe, Tianhang, Yinhuang, He Ming and Gaoshan. Now astronomers call it the Milky Way. Vega is in the east of the Milky Way, and its western name is Vega. In the past, people in China divided the sky into two or eight places and three places. Now astronomers all over the world have decided to divide the sky into 88 "constellations". Vega is the brightest star in Lyra. There are five stars in the nearby galaxy that are almost as bright as a cross. These five stars belong to cygnus. There are three stars in the west of the Milky Way. The brighter star in the middle is Altair, also called Altair. In ancient China, they were called Hegu, Hegu and Huanggu, while in the west they were called Altair. Cowherd is the brightest star in Aquila. It and the two stars with smaller brightness on both sides are sometimes called "shoulder pole stars". According to the myth, the two stars next to them are Cowherd and his children. Swan is floating in the Milky Way, a girl is weaving by the river, and a shepherd with two children is herding cattle on the other side. What a beautiful picture this is.

Qin Guan, a poet in the Song Dynasty, was also excited by the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, with joy in sadness and joy and sadness in joy. He skillfully expressed the artistic conception of this touching story with long and short sentences. Que Qiao Xian is a beautiful poem in Ci.

The thin clouds in the sky are changing, the meteors in the sky convey the sadness of acacia, and the endless galaxy I quietly crossed tonight.

On the seventh day of autumn dew and autumn, it is time to meet, mostly those who are together in the world, but the appearance of husband and wife.

Common complaint against acacia, tender feelings like water, meet each other as if it were a dream, when it is hard to see the bridge.

As long as two people love us to the end, why covet my Heron?

Once upon a time, many people in our country believed that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl really met on the Qixi River. That night, women begged the wise with needles and worshipped the Weaver Girl with melons and fruits. This story is also often used as the material of drama. The play Cowherd and Weaver Girl is often seen in Peking Opera, drama and local operas all over the country.

In the play, Cowherd is a child herding cattle in the countryside. He refused to help his brother farm, his sister-in-law drew water and his mother did housework. Cowherd is just playful and loves to have strange fantasies. His best friend is the old cow he guards. One night, he saw the fairyland in the sky in his dream. He took the old cow and set off for the sky. At the same time, there is a weaver girl in the sky who wants to come down and enjoy the warmth of the world. The Queen Mother pitied the loneliness of the Weaver Girl, and sent a couple of gold and magpies to take the Weaver Girl to the ends of the earth to see the Cowherd. "Meet in the Golden Wind and Jade Dew" is really "winning countless people". A couple was sent to the cloud nine for their honeymoon.

Cowherd has traveled all over heaven for a long time and feels bland. Weaver girl will continue to brocade clothes and can't stay with him all the time. Cowherd became more and more bored. Knowing from Golden Boy's mouth that his family was looking forward to his return day and night, he told Weaver the idea of going home. Weaver Girl is determined to go underground with him to enjoy the lovely spring. Unfortunately, the secret was kept secret, and the Queen Mother of the West knew about it. She came to draw a milky way with a hairpin to separate the cowherd and the weaver girl, and only promised to send magpies to form a flyover on Tanabata every year to let them cross the river once. Cowherd returned to the world and was glad to see his mother, brother and sister-in-law again. From then on, he stopped being lazy and having meaningless fantasies, and worked hard every day. He realized that beauty can also be created in real life. He smelled the dirt and understood the meaning of life. His only regret is that the weaver girl he loves can't come to work with him and enjoy the warmth of the world together. But you can meet once a year on Tanabata, which is much better than farewell.

There are several songs in a play, one of which is Peng Yu's Meet the Magpie:

Who knows when it will last forever?

Who knows how many years to hate?

I spent a long year, so it is rare to have this wonderful night on Tanabata.

But meeting at Magpie Bridge is infinite sorrow.

Dreams are long and nights are short.

Seeing that the morning star in Dongshan has appeared, it will be dawn soon.

What can be done is that the magpies are noisy and urge everyone to go their separate ways.

I will wait until next year's Tanabata is coming.

To this day, there are still many people in our country who really believe that Cowherd and Weaver Girl meet once a year to cross the river on Tanabata, and many women still ask Weaver Girl for help that night. Unfortunately, science tells us that the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is not true, it is just a poetic myth. In recent years, the progress of astronomy has made our understanding of this star, other stars and the Milky Way much clearer than before. The Milky Way is not a river. There is not a drop of water or a bridge in the galaxy. It is a collection of many stars and nebulae, which can be seen with large telescopes. Although the two stars, Cowherd and Weaver Girl, are not absolutely "unchanged", they can't be seen moving each other at all on Tanabata, let alone "crossing the river". On Tanabata every year, one is in the east of the river and the other is in the west of the river, sighing at each other. The progress of science has broken their dreams, which reminds the author of Cao Xueqin's couplets for the dreamland archway:

Thick soil and high sky, I can sigh the endless feelings of ancient and modern times;

Find a partner to get married, poor situation, debt is difficult to pay back.

The word "constant" of a star is only relative to the word "line" of a planet. In fact, no star in the sky is absolutely "unchanged"; Every star is moving, moving more and moving less. Altair moves 0.658 angular seconds on the celestial sphere every year; In addition, it left us and ran out at a speed of 26 kilometers per second (93,600 kilometers per hour). So the speed of Altair in space is dozens of times faster than the fastest passenger plane on the ground. Weaver is slow, but she can still win the women's 100 meter race. She moves on the celestial sphere for 0.345 seconds every year, leaves us and runs out at the speed of 14 km per second.

Cowherd and Weaver Girl are much bigger and brighter than the sun. Why do we just look like two small lights? That's because these two stars are much farther away than the sun. The brightness of the cowherd is 10.5 times that of the sun, its diameter is 70% larger and its mass is almost 70% larger. Weaver Girl's luminosity is 60 times that of the sun, its diameter is 2.76 times that of the sun, and its mass is almost 3 times that of the sun. So the weaver girl is bigger, brighter and heavier than the cowherd, and she is also the elder sister of the cowherd. The cowherd is 154 trillion kilometers away from us, which is 1 10,000 times farther than the sun. The distance of the Weaver Girl from us is 250 trillion kilometers, which is 1.7 million times farther than the sun. The weaver girl is not only bigger and brighter than the cowherd, but also far away, so we look almost as bright as the two stars. It takes 16 4 months for light to reach our eyes from Altair. It takes 26 years and 5 months for light to shine from Vega. Cowherd and Weaver Girl are not in the same direction, and the distance between them is 16.4 light years. Radio waves travel at the same speed as light. If the Cowherd wants to make a wireless call to the Weaver Girl, it will take 32 years to receive a call back.

Stars vary greatly in size, luminosity, temperature and color, but there is little difference in mass. Since the 20th century, astronomers have classified many stars, just as biologists have classified animals and plants.

Scientists have proved that sunlight and starlight come from atomic energy. So the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl can also be said to be two very big atomic bombs. They convert the atomic energy in the stomach into light and emit it. When people appreciate their brilliant talents, they fantasize about a sad and touching story.

Fairy tales and fairy tales will not be destroyed because of the progress of material civilization. They can improve the imagination of teenagers, can be used as an amateur pastime for adults, and can also be used as raw materials for various arts. China's Cowherd and Weaver Girl can be juxtaposed with the Greek Odyssey, golden fleece and the French Ring of Nibelum. On Tanabata every year, we might as well continue to tell the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl: on the one hand, we can appreciate this poetic myth, on the other hand, we can also take the opportunity to publicize science and let ordinary people notice many new knowledge about stars discovered by scientists for us.

Defendant: Tang Ziwei University1Grade 6- 14 20:35.

China's famous folklore. This legend is the feudal society of China in the past.

Artistic reflection of the economic life of small farmers cultivated by men and woven by women. It was born in a feudal family.

Living in the background, separated by the combination of cowherd and weaver girl, Tanabata can only be in the sky.

The fantasy plot of The Last Meeting reflects the family under the feudal patriarchal clan system.

Relationship and the resulting marriage tragedy.

Yangliuqing New Year Picture "Tianhe Match"

The legendary hero Cowherd and Weaver Girl comes from Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

From the name of a star. During the Han and Wei Dynasties, people had this story. Han Ying

Literature and art quoted the words in Sui Ji Hua in the Custom Yi Tong of literature and art: "The Weaver Girl will celebrate Qixi.

The river makes magpies a bridge. "In the Southern Dynasties, Liang Zong was shocked by the record of Jingchu era:

"There is a weaver girl in the east of Tianhe, and the son of the Emperor of Heaven is there. Year after year of hard work, knitting

Tian Di Jin Yun Tian Yi mourned his loneliness and betrothed him to Niu Lang, the leader of Hexi. Abandon after marriage

Weave □. The Emperor of Heaven was furious and ordered him to return to Hedong until he crossed the river on the seventh day of July every year.

Yes "This is about the early face of this legend. Later, that day in the story

The emperor is said to be the Queen Mother, and the Weaver Girl became her granddaughter, the Cowherd.

He is a human cowherd. The weaver girl married the cowherd and gave birth to a man and a woman, the most

The Queen Mother took it back and drew a galaxy between her and Cowherd with a hairpin.

Cowherd and his children chase each other, but they are blocked by the river. They can only meet at Qixi Bridge every year.

At this time, women gathered under the melon shed and could hear their cries when they met.

On this day, magpies will shed hair from their bald heads because they cross the bridge with their own bodies. In addition, it also

There is a saying that stories are used to explain the two stars in the sky: the cow in the sky and the woman.

The two little stars around Lang Xing are a man and a woman weaving girls; Vegahuai

There is also a cow cangue star, which was thrown across the river by the cowherd when the husband and wife quarreled; but

The shuttle star near the cowherd is called when the weaver girl is angry, but the weaver girl

Small strength, inaccurate shooting, shuttle star is not close to the cowherd. such

The statement added color to the legendary life.

The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has been a household name for thousands of years. Its source, from

Such as "daughter of He" and "He" as seen in The Book of Songs Dadong.

Petunia "and so on. And about Nineteen Ancient Poems and Altair.

Its singing. In the process of spreading and evolution, the story has changed from the original Crossing the River.

Meet at Queqiao on Tanabata. Dissolve people's sympathy for cowherd and weaver girl, increase

Ideal composition. But this story often gives birth to promise in folk oral.

There are many variations, some of which combine the stories of two brothers to describe Cowherd's behavior.

It was the younger brother who was abused by his brother and sister-in-law; Some of them are woven in combination with the story of feather clothes.

The woman said that the goddess came to take a bath, and the old Niu Jiao Cowherd hid the clothes of the Weaver Girl.

After getting married, Weaver finally found clothes and flew back to the sky. Cowherd put on old cowhide and went up.

I'll find the Weaver Girl. Contemporary Records of Tian Niulang in Inner Mongolia

Among the couples, the old cow is an assistant to help the cowherd overcome his brother's abuse. therefore

At the end of the story, there is also a plot in which my father-in-law tests this cowherd son-in-law. Niulangwang

After instructions from the Weaver Girl, the result was separated by Tianhe. Later scholars used this

Legendary themes were written into operas such as Tianhe Pei, which further expanded its influence.

It is called China with the legends of Meng Jiangnv, Legend of White Snake and butterfly lovers.

Four legends.

The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is closely related to the begging custom on July 7.

Secret. The Story of Jingchu Times recorded the influence of this story on customs earlier:

"July 7th is the night when Penny and the Weaver Girl get together. It was a woman at night and she was married.

Pinch, pierce seven holes □ (needle), or take the gold and silver stone as the needle to bring fruits and vegetables into the palace.

In order to be clever, there is a happy subnet on the melon seeds, so I think it is appropriate. "