Qixi Festival
01 · Historical Records
The Qixi Festival is one of the important festivals handed down from China's agrarian society; besides the Han, minority peoples such as the Manchu, Korean, Zhuang, Dong, Miao, and She also observe it. The Qixi Festival originated in the myth of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The night of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is popularly known as the Qixi Festival, also called the "Qiqiao Festival" (Begging for Skills) or the "Daughters' Festival"; it is the most romantic of China's traditional festivals and was the day young women valued most in former times. Some minority peoples, however, have their own names for the festival: the Manchu call it the Star-Worshipping Festival, the Oroqen call it the Moon Sacrifice, and so on. Records of the Cowherd star and the Weaver Girl star date back as far as the Warring States period. In the Eastern Han, legend had it that the Heavenly Emperor acted as matchmaker and allowed the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl to marry, but the Jade Emperor then ordered the Queen Mother of the West to draw a boundary across the river with a silver hairpin, decreeing that only on the seventh day of the seventh month each year could the Cowherd cross the magpie bridge to meet the Weaver Girl. The people formed the Qixi Festival on the basis of this legend, and it has been preserved ever since. The Qixi Festival mainly includes: 1. Worshipping the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and listening for "words from heaven" beneath the melon trellis; 2. Dropping the skill needle to divine one's luck; 3. The sworn alliance of the seven sisters; 4. Collecting dew and planting for fertility; 5. Sacrificing to the Seventh Lady, the Kui star, Wenchang, Lord Guan, and the Grandson of Heaven (Tiansun), and so on. Implements and products related to the Qixi Festival include New Year prints of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, images of the Seventh Lady, Qixi paintings, skill-begging towers, skill-begging needles, skill-begging fruits, and tangram puzzles. The Qixi Festival is a women's festival. In the course of its development and change, the theme of romantic love between men and women was also absorbed into it, reflecting people's emotional wish to pursue the good and the beautiful. In addition, various intellectual games are played during the Qixi Festival, enriching its content. Among them, the deeply beloved story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is an important theme in Chinese folk literature; combined with folk life, it has formed distinctive folk activities, and it is an important subject of research in literature, folklore studies, and the study of recreation.
Paying respects to the weaver girl
Girls gather at night before an altar of fruit and incense, and in some places climb a lofted qiqiao tower to thread needles under the stars.
Threading the needle by moonlight
Threading a needle in the moonlight is the heart of the festival, but the act also serves as a way of testing a suitor’s patience.
Listening at the melon frame
In the melon frame one listened for words from heaven to read the year, and seven girls might swear a lifelong sisterly pact.
Gathering dew and offering to the seventh lady
Dew is caught at daybreak to water seed or wash the face, and melons are offered to the seventh lady and the god of literature.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Qixi is known by different names and has different protagonists in different places. In most Han areas it is called Qixi or Qiqiao; in former times it was viewed as a festival of maidens and called the Daughters' Festival. The Manchu call it the Star-Worshipping Festival and the Oroqen the Moon Sacrifice; the star-worship traditions of the various peoples gave this night different rites among different groups. In the countryside the festival was mostly run by women, with needle-threading, begging for skill, and the offering of melons and fruits all gathered on this day; in cities the festival has gradually faded, leaving only gifts and seasonal foods, while the rites of begging for skill are already known to few.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Qixi Festival · Qixi Festival · Qixi Festival · Qixi Festival.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Qixi Festival is of important value for the study of Chinese history and culture. At present cities generally do not observe the Qixi Festival, while the countryside still preserves the related festival customs, and some legends are still current; however, the skill-begging activities have already faded, so the cultural content of the Qixi Festival is progressively weakening and needs to be excavated and protected.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Qicai 04-1956
- Xi Lanlan
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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