How did ancient women in China spend their time in Chinese Valentine's Day?

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the day when the "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" meet the Milky Way in China folklore. Therefore, it is also called "Valentine's Day" in China, while it was called "Daughter's Day" or "Begging for Qiaojie Festival" in ancient China, leaving many unique and interesting customs.

On Tanabata, Jiangnan women washed their hair with hibiscus leaves. Legend has it that on this night, the Weaver Girl will wash her hair in the Milky Way to welcome the Cowherd. Tears of Weaver Girl's missing Cowherd for a year are scattered on hibiscus leaves, and the flowers are lavender, pink or white. Therefore, on that day, women in Jiangnan will pick hibiscus leaves with bamboo baskets, then crush them and wash their hair with juice. In the dead of night on Tanabata, girls will hide under the grape trellis or by the hedge. It is said that they can eavesdrop on the cries of Acacia Weaver Girl. There is a poem that says: Cowherd Star, a Han girl by the Jiao Jiao River. Slim hands tied to the loom. All day, tears poured down my face. On this day, the married daughter will be taken back to her mother's home in the capital area of the Yuan Dynasty and celebrated "China Valentine's Day". "Palace, Zaifu, Shishu's house, salty greenhouse, morning glory on Qixi, Weaver Girl map, melons, fruits, wine, cakes, vegetables, bacon, and invited women to make a clever festival, called Daughter's Day. Divination, feast, and go home the next day. " Legend has it that Cowherd and Weaver Girl are also called "Lingpi". Li Qiao, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Feng He Qi Xi Ying Zhi": "Linghui Sanqiu, Qixi Celebration." Therefore, the ancients also called Valentine's Day in China "begging for cleverness", and on this day, women "begging for cleverness" from the ingenious Weaver Maid. ""unfortunately "is to ask whether a girl will be smart in the future. Youzai: During the Chinese Valentine's Day, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and his concubines would gather in Tsinghua Palace for a banquet every night, so that the ladies-in-waiting could put spiders in a small brocade box, and you would know how clever it was to see the fineness of spider silk. Speaking of Hangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty, "In the end, women and children in the city, rich and poor, all put on new clothes. A wealthy family arranged a banquet in a dangerous pavilion in a tall building to enjoy the festival sequence. In Guangting, there is a table of mellow wine and fruit, which makes the girls look forward to the moon, dare to worship, and beg women and cows skillfully. Or take a little spider and put it in a small gold and silver box. The next morning, its net is round and straight, and it is called "Jojo". "Yue Tuo. In the folk women's competition, whoever dresses fast will dress right. He said, "That night, other women got married and had seven stitches, or took gold, silver and elm stones as needles. Chen Guaguo begged in court. "In Hangzhou, small fruits of various shapes are made of flour and sugar and then fried in oil. It's called positive results. Later, I accompanied Lian and Bai Ou to court. Put the needle in your eye and pray for the weaver girl to give it skills. There is a poem that says, "Go through your neighbor every year and you will try to crucify God with your skills." Who saw the dragonfly shadow embroidered mandarin duck alone? "Three words are begging skills. The day before Tanabata, the girls took half the rain and half the well water, put them in bowls, put them in the open air for one night, and then exposed them to the sun for half a day. At noon, we put the embroidery needle on the water, floating but not sinking, and then observe the shadow of the embroidery needle in the water, either scattered like a flower, or moving like a cloud, or shaped like a thing, smart. This is considered a coincidence. If the needle shadow is thick, thin or straight, and there is no pattern, it is considered as "begging for help." "