What is July 7th?

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month, also known as China Valentine's Day, is a traditional festival with a long history in China. According to the folklore in China, magpies bridge the Milky Way on the seventh night of the seventh lunar month, so the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the bridge.

In ancient times, on this night, girls in China had to use needles. Magpie Bridge will eulogize the faithful love of the working people in China and their strong desire to pursue a better life.

Valentine's Day in China originated from people's worship of natural phenomena. As early as ancient times, people had the knowledge of astronomical phenomena, which corresponded the sky star area with the geographical area. Ge Hong's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty records that "Han Cai women often wear seven-hole needles on July 7th, and everyone has them", which is the earliest record of begging skills we have seen in ancient literature.

In later Tang and Song poems, women's begging for cleverness was mentioned many times. Wang Jianyou of the Tang Dynasty wrote a poem: "The stars are shining, and the Qixi Palace is busy begging for skills." This festival is closely related to the myths and legends of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Cowherd and Weaver Girl is a beautiful and eternal love story, which is one of the four folk love legends in China.