Why do you want to eat cookies made of noodles on Tanabata?

The seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Tanabata in China, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is commonly known as China Valentine's Day, and some people call it "Begging for Cleverness Festival" or "Daughter's Day", which is the most romantic festival among the traditional festivals in China and the most important day for girls in the past. On a clear summer and autumn night, the sky is full of stars, and a huge white galaxy runs across the north and south. On the east and west banks of the river, there is a shining star across the river, that is, Altair and Vega. It is a folk custom to sit and watch morning glory and weaver girl on Tanabata. According to legend, this night every year is the time when the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd meet at the Magpie Bridge. The Weaver Girl is a beautiful, clever and clever fairy. On this night, ordinary women prayed to her for wisdom and skillful skills, and they also prayed to her for a happy marriage. Therefore, the seventh day of July is also called Begging Festival. It is said that on Tanabata night, you can look up and see the Milky Way where the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet, and you can also eavesdrop on the love story when they meet in the sky under the melon and fruit shelf. On this romantic night, facing the bright moon in the sky, the girls put the fruits and vegetables of the season in the sky, begging the goddess in the sky to give them intelligent hearts and dexterous hands, so that they can master their needlework skills, and even beg for the combination of love and marriage. In the past, marriage was a lifelong event for women to decide whether they were happy or not. Therefore, on this quiet night, countless sentient men and women in the world will pray for a happy marriage under the stars. The origin of Qixi began in the Han Dynasty. Ge Hong's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty records that "women in the Han Dynasty often put seven-hole needles in the building on July 7, and everyone gave them", which is the earliest record of begging for skill in ancient literature we have seen. In later Tang and Song poems, women's begging for cleverness was repeatedly mentioned. In the Tang Dynasty, Wang Jian wrote a poem "The stars are bright and the pearls are bright, and Gong E is busy begging for cleverness". According to "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao", every time Emperor Taizong and his concubines held a banquet in the Qing Palace on Tanabata, the ladies-in-waiting begged with their own ingenuity. This custom is also enduring among the people and passed down from generation to generation. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Qiaqiao was quite grand, and there was also a market in Beijing that monopolized Qiaqiao goods, which was called Qiaqiao City by the world. Song He's series "Talking about Drunken Weng" said: "Tanabata, the property is a gimmick. From July 1 ST, horses and chariots were swallowed, and three days before Chinese Valentine's Day, horses and chariots were not allowed to pass, and they stopped driving again and again until the night. " Here, we can infer the lively scene of the Jocci Festival from the grand occasion of buying Qiao Qi goods from Qiao Qi. People have been putting up flattering articles since the first day of July, and people are coming and going in the flattering market. By the time of Tanabata, the market of Qiqiao was already crowded with people, as if it were the biggest festival-Spring Festival, which showed that Qiqiao Festival was one of the favorite festivals of the ancients. Tanabata, the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, has always been associated with the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. This is a beautiful love story that has been passed down through the ages and has become one of the four folk love legends in China. Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a clever and honest young man in Niujiazhuang, west of Nanyang. His parents died early, so he had to live with his brother and sister-in-law. His sister-in-law, Ma Shi, is vicious, often abusing him and forcing him to do a lot of work. One autumn, his sister-in-law forced him to herd cattle and gave him nine cows, but he was told to wait until he had ten cows, so the cowherd had no choice but to drive them out of the village. The cowherd drove the cow to the mountains alone. On the mountain with deep grass and dense forest, he sat under the tree and was sad. He doesn't know when he can drive ten cows home. At this time, an old man with white hair and beard appeared in front of him and asked him why he was sad. When he learned what had happened to him, he smiled and said to him, "Don't be sad. There is a sick old cow in Funiu Mountain. You go and feed it well When the old cow is ready, just wait. " The cowherd walked a long way over the mountains and finally found the sick old cow. Seeing that the old cow was very ill, he went to bundle the grass for the old cow. After feeding for three days in a row, the old cow looked up and told him that he was a great fairy in the sky, but he was sent to heaven because he broke his leg and could not move. His injury needs to be washed with toilet water for a month. Cowherd carefully took care of old Niu Yi for a month, picking flowers for the old cow during the day and sleeping beside the old man at night. After the old cow recovered, the cowherd happily drove ten cows home. After returning home, my sister-in-law is still not good to him. She hurt him several times and was saved by the old cow. Finally, my sister-in-law got angry and drove the cowherd out of the house. The cowherd only wanted the old cow to accompany him. One day, the weaver girl in the sky played games with the fairies and took a bath in the river. With the help of the old cow, the cowherd got to know the Weaver Girl, and they hit it off. Later, the Weaver Girl sneaked into the world and became the wife of the Cowherd. The weaver girl also distributed wild silkworms brought from the sky to everyone, teaching them to raise silkworms, spin silk and weave bright silks and satins. After the marriage of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, a man plowed and a woman weaved, giving birth to two children, a man and a woman, and the family lived happily. But the good times didn't last long, and it was soon known to the Emperor of Heaven that the heavenly queen herself came down to earth and forcibly brought the Weaver Girl back to heaven, and the loving couple separated from each other. There is no way for Cowherd to go to heaven, or the old cow told him that he could wear shoes with his own skin after he died. Cowherd did as the old cow said, put on shoes made of cowhide and took his children with him. On the verge of catching up, I'm afraid the queen mother pulled out the golden hairpin on her head, and a choppy Tianhe appeared. Cowherd and Weaver Girl are separated on both sides, and they can only cry each other. Their loyal love touched the magpies, and thousands of magpies flew to build a magpie bridge, where the cowherd and the weaver girl met. The Queen Mother has no choice but to allow them to meet on July 7th every year. Later, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, it is said that when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Magpie Bridge, the girls will come to the flowers and the moon, look up at the stars and look for the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl on both sides of the Milky Way, hoping to see their annual meeting, and pray to God that they will be as ingenious as the Weaver Girl and that they will have a happy marriage, thus forming China's Valentine's Day. In the past, July 7th was a very lively festival for people. At that time, young women were most interested in this day. They wear new clothes, worship double stars and seek wisdom. In the Song Dynasty, children in Hangzhou often played the role of "Mohoro" on Tanabata, dressed in half-length flowered clothes and decorated with catalpa leaves, melons and fruits on their chests. Beauty and laughter, competing to put waterbirds such as wax mandarin ducks on the lake and float on the water. Women like to store little spiders in boxes and let them weave webs in the boxes. According to the density of the net, it is called "smart". Needle piercing is one of the programs for little girls on Qixi Festival, which is said to have been popular in Han Dynasty. The Chronicle of Jingchu's Age says: July 7th is the night when Petunia and Weaver Girl get together, and it is the evening when women wear colorful ribbons and seven-hole needles. Others changed "wearing" to "throwing". The form is to hold a bowl of water and put it under the starlight of Qixi night. Then throw the embroidery needle into the water and let it float on the water. The needle shadow under the starlight shines on the bottom of the bowl, which will produce floating shadow and change a lot. According to its shape, it can be inferred whether the needlework of the needle-throwing girl is clumsy or dexterous. There is also a game show in which seven girls invite each other together in the garden on Qixi night, each covering her eyes with a towel, then looking up at the sky, facing the cowherd and the weaver girl, and predicting lifelong events according to what she saw. But how can you see the sky by covering your eyes? Naturally, this is not looking at a binary star, but dreaming with your eyes closed. The mythical Tanabata, as a "Valentine's Day", should also be meaningful. Due to the differences of regional culture, the contents of the same Qixi Festival and festivals all over the country are also different, showing rich and colorful characteristics. The following is a brief introduction to the activities in various regions. In Gudoujing Village, Tang Hui Town, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, there is a Qixi Xiangqiao Club. Every year on Tanabata, someone will participate and build a fragrant bridge. The so-called fragrant bridge is a bridge about four or five meters long and half a meter wide. It is made of all kinds of thick and long wrapped incense (paper wrapped incense), mounted with railings and decorated with flowers made of five-color lines. In the evening, people offered sacrifices to the Double Star, begging for good luck, and then burned Xiangqiao, symbolizing that the Double Star had crossed Xiangqiao and met happily. This fragrant bridge originated from the legendary magpie bridge legend. In Jiaodong area, more people worship Seven Sisters on Tanabata. Young women put on new clothes, got together, tied the knot for Seven Sisters in the court, and sang songs: "Yellow Emperor, I invited Seven Sisters to heaven. I don't want to draw your needle, I don't want to draw your line, I want to show you 72 good means. " In many places, "Qiao Hua" has also been made. Girls use flour to make cakes, and steamed buns (or appropriate fruits) use flowers, such as peony, lotus, plum blossom, orchid and chrysanthemum. There are also clever dishes, that is, malt is cultivated with a small handleless wine cup (this is the "breeding" in the Song Dynasty), and appropriate fruits and clever dishes are used to sacrifice to the weaver girl. In Shaanxi, on the night of Qixi, the girls will tie the straw into the shape of an "ancient bridge" more than one meter high (also called Qiao Niangniang, that is, the weaver girl), and let her put on the girl's green coat and red dress and sit in the yard; The girl presents melons and fruits, takes out pre-planted bean sprouts and onion buds (that is, "planting", which women call clever buds), cuts a piece, puts it in a bowl of clear water, floats on the water, and looks at the shadow of the buds under the moon, so that divination is clever; However, the competition is fast and slow; Hold a window competition to compete for ingenuity. In Fujian, women and girls set up incense burners and various sacrifices: tea, wine, vase flower arrangement, Wuzi (longan, red dates, hazelnuts, peanuts and melon seeds) and the powder of Weaver Girl. After worshipping the Double Star, the powder for the Weaver Girl was divided into two parts, half of which was thrown on the roof for the Weaver Girl, and the other half was dressed and beautified by herself. According to legend, the weaver girl can keep her beautiful appearance by using powder. And the decoration of Wuzi means seeking fertility. Women also drink tea, eat fruit and play chess. In Guangdong, Valentine's Day in China received the most attention during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and there were many interesting customs. In Qu Dajun's Guangdong Newspeak, the grand occasion of the "Seven Mothers' Meeting" in the early Qing Dynasty was recorded, and many interesting customs were circulated in the Republic of China. In Qu Dajun's Guangdong Xinyu, the grand occasion of the "Seven Mothers' Meeting" in the early Qing Dynasty has been recorded, and people often call it "worshipping Seven Sisters". According to the memories of the old people who participated in the "Seven Sisters Worship" activities during the Republic of China, "Seven Sisters Worship" was particularly popular in Xiguan, Guangzhou. Activities are generally carried out among young girls and young women (men and elderly women can only watch and salute). Organize a dozen good sisters to prepare for "Seven Sisters worship" in advance. In June, some rice, wheat and mung beans will be soaked in porcelain bowls to germinate. Tanabata is getting busier as it approaches. We need to raise some money and ask our families to help us build a magpie bridge with bamboo paper and make all kinds of exquisite handicrafts. On the evening of Chinese Valentine's Day, the square table was set up in the hall, embroidered tables (table skirts) were tied, and various colorful flower and fruit products and needlework were placed to show the ingenuity of the daughters. Paper-cut safflower belt surrounds the rice seedling and bean sprout tray, and oil lamps are lit in the tray, revealing colorful tissue paper lampshades under the light, which is dazzling; There are carefully arranged flower arrangements, and flowers such as vanilla, jasmine and jasmine are inserted in copper porcelain vases; There are lotus flowers, roses, cordate telosma and camellias as big as teaspoons in the small basin. One flower really matches one fake, and it is difficult to tell the truth from the false. There are also fruit bowls that cut and stack raw fruits such as apples, peaches and persimmons into various shapes such as birds and beasts; Embroidered clothes, shoes, socks and flower clogs; Small curtains, sheets, curtains and skirts embroidered with gold and silver colored lines; Nail-sized fans and handkerchiefs; In short, the more meticulous, the more skillful, that is, pavilions made of fine wood, and small boards attached to local bean seedlings and millet seedlings. In addition, rice grains, sesame seeds, rushes and colored paper are used to make various forms of towers, tables and chairs, bottle ovens, flowers and fruits, Four Treasures of the Study and beans with various patterns and characters. There are also lanterns made of glass or colored paper, palace lanterns, pomelo peels, eggshell lanterns (carved with landscape flowers and birds) and animal-shaped lanterns. The most pleasing thing is the exquisite dolls made of colored silk by daughters, that is, dolls. The puppy has the image of a cowherd, a weaver girl and a pair of young children, usually placed on the upper floor, and a child playing the piano and dancing on the bottom floor to celebrate the meeting of the two stars. There are also complete sets of drama characters such as The West Chamber, The Red Chamber and Miss Yangmen (there are also porcelain dolls, which parents buy for their young children as holiday gifts). In addition, of course, cosmetics should also be placed, such as small rouge boxes, mirrors, colored combs, velvet flowers, powder cakes and so on. , for the use of weaver girls and daughters. There are wax figures, fruits, small animals and so on. In addition, there are sweet and salty snacks, tea, wine, melon seeds, peanuts and other foods. There are candlesticks, incense burners and incense sticks, which are lit with good sandalwood. It is essential. People in China usually call July 7th Tanabata. According to legend, morning glory and Weaver Girl will meet on this night. In the Tang Dynasty, Li Nian of Han and Hubei cited the cloud of Customs Tong three times: "Weaver crossing the river on Qixi, the Queqiao Club". The river here refers to Tianhe, which is the Milky Way. In the past, women greeted them with needles and fruits. Zhang Songlei's "Tanabata" poem says: "Empty tears will pour, tears will never stop." Just in line with the popular saying, the rain on Tanabata is the sad tears of the weaver girl.