This is Chinese Valentine’s Day, the day when those in love go to the temple to thank their God for the love and a day for those who aren’t in love to go make petitions for a good love.
This is the day where in Chinese mythology the weaving maid and the cowherd are allowed their yearly meeting. For those of us on earth and in China now we are hopeful that this will not be a one time meeting with our loves. Traditional gifts for women to give me are hand made gifts like a scarf or hat. These will display your domestic skills to your potential mate.
The literal meaning ‘night of sevens;’ this falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. It celebrates the meeting of the cowherd Niulang with the weaver girl Zhinu. Zhinu was the youngest daughter of the King of Heaven and she had a special gift for weaving the clouds and rainbows in the sky. She along with her six older sisters had come to earth and bathed in a lake. Niulang saw her and fell in love, stole her clothes and would only return them once she agreed to marry him. Her sisters could return home but without her clothes she couldn’t. The king was upset that his Heavens were not as pretty without his youngest daughter. The king sent the girl’s grandmother to retrieve her and his daughter was placed on the star Vega and her husband the cowherd was put on the star Altair. This one day a year is when they have been granted an opportunity to see one another by the king.
This is a famous myth and first appeared during the Han Dynasty over 2600 years ago.
Other names for this day:
Qing ren jie 情人莭, Chinese Valentine’s Day, qiqiao jie 乞巧莭, night of sevens, and double seventh festival.