Viewing the Tianhe River on the Seventh of July: A Romantic Star Party on the First Autumn Festival

In the seventh month of the lunar calendar, summer turns to autumn.
"Shuowen" explains "seven, the righteousness of yang"; in the hexagrams of "Zhouyi Fu", the number "seven" has the meaning of "repeated" and "returned": "repeated the way, come and return in seven days. "Xu Zheng's "San Wu Li Ji" in the Han Dynasty stated: "The number starts at one, stands at three, becomes at five, flourishes at seven, and is at nine." , the beginning of the four seasons of heaven and earth." In the time concept of the early people, the overlapping of the double "seven" was given a mysterious and special meaning.
"July 7th" has many other nicknames for festivals, such as "First Autumn, Week, Fairy Season, Qi Festival, Luo Zhi Festival, Qiao Ri, Qi Qiao Festival" and so on. The name "First Autumn Festival" originates from the first solar term in autumn - the beginning of autumn with many people around, and the autumn harvest will begin after the beginning of autumn. Xie Lingyun's "Song of the Bull Girl on the Qixi Festival" describes: "The first autumn festival when the fire passes away, and the new moon and moon twilight. Proverbs "July 7th, eat the grain", "July 7th, dry the grain", at this time, farmers sacrifice to heaven, earth and ancestors, not only to be grateful for the first harvest of the first autumn, but also to pay tribute to the harvest year of the big autumn. Make a prayer, very earnestly.
"July 7" is closely related to the theme of silk, silk and textiles, so it is called "Luozhi Festival" and "Qiji Festival", which is related to the Weaver Girl, the star god of textiles. Emperor Liang Wu's "Qi Xi" poem of the Southern Dynasty said: "The wonderful meeting is not a beautiful festival, and the good period is a good year." Xia Wanchun's "Qiu Huai" poem of the Ming Dynasty also mentioned: "The good period is not a beautiful festival, and the wonderful meeting is a cool evening." In the Qing Dynasty, "Yuanjian Class Letter · Years · July 7th" stated: "Qi Festival is also the festival of Luo weaving in the evening." In addition, "Qiao Qiao Festival, Needle Threading Festival", etc., are named after the Qixi Festival customs, and many Show the colorful folk activities of this ancient festival.
1. Astrology worship and the legend of the cow girl
"July 7, Watch the Star River". The ancients who pursued order "looked up to observe astronomy and looked down to observe geography", and planned the constellations in the sky in an orderly manner and corresponded with the ground areas one by one, which was called "dividing the stars" and "dividing fields". The Eastern Han astronomer Zhang Heng's "Lingxian" said: "The stars are also born in the earth, refined in the sky, placed in the wrong place, and each has its own genus. . . . , so you are ready." This simple view of nature and cosmology believes that there is a "correspondence between heaven and man" between the starry sky and all phenomena in the world. The ancestors have accumulated abundant astrology knowledge. As early as the Warring States Period, the complete names of the twenty-eight constellations have appeared. There is a star map on the cover of the lacquer box excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Hubei, showing the constellations in the sky. The ancients determined the seasons by observing the positions of the stars. "Da Dai Li Xia Xiaozheng" records: "Han case households. Han people are also rivers. Case households are also straight households, and they are north and south." It means that the Milky Way rotates in the night sky, and in July, the Milky Way is just right The north and south are erected vertically. The door of the window case faces south, and the Milky Way is just standing in the door and window at this time. "Poetry, Taiga, Yunhan" said: "Mourning for Yunhan, Zhao Hui is in the sky." It also pointed out the celestial law of the "running" of the vast and bright Milky Way in the night sky.
"To the west of the Tianhe River, there are splendid stars", which is called "Altero"; "to the east of the Tianhe River, there is a little star", which is called "Vega". The bright twin stars are separated on both sides of the Milky Way. To the southeast of Altair, there are six stars, which resemble the outline of horns; and to the southeast of Vega, there are four stars that form a loom, which is like a loom. The two star gods, Cowherd and Weaver Girl, perform their respective duties. The "Historical Records of Justice" says: "The Altair star is unknown, and the world is dead from the plague." It is also stated: "The three stars of the Weaver Girl are mainly fruit, silk, and treasures." "(Three Stars) When it is dark and small, the female workers in the world are abandoned; when it is bright, it is rational. The big star is angry and horned, and the cloth and silk are expensive; if it is not seen, the army rises."

Altair and Vega

Although the twin stars are across the Tianhe River, the wise ancients observed that in the first autumn of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the two stars of Niu and Nu are the closest. "Wrestling with the Weaver Girl, there are seven Xiangs all day long." "Xiaoya Dadong" accurately describes the change of the Vega star seven times a day; "Xia Xiaozheng" also says that "the Weaver Girl is heading east at dusk in early July." Pushing the window in the night sky, looking up at the Yinhan, provides an endless source of inspiration for the generation of the myth of "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and the Tianhe Phase".
The myth of "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" was formed around the pre-Qin period, and its lower limit was no later than the late Warring States period. In the chapter "Getting a Wife", Qin bamboo slips unearthed in Sleeping Tiger Land of Yunmeng, "the cow was brought up to get the Weaver Girl, but if it didn't work, the three were abandoned", and there has already been a description of the marriage of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. During the Han Dynasty, the "Legend of the Bull Girl" was about to take shape. In "Han Book of Emperor Wudi", it was recorded that there are two statues of Morning Bull and Weaver Girl in the Kunming Pond. "There are two stone men in the Kunming Pond. The Morning Bull and the Weaver Girl are placed in the pool to resemble the Tianhe." Ban Gu's "Xidu Fu" " and Zhang Heng's "Xijing Fu" have described this. The Cowherd and Weaver Girl in the Han portrait stones are mostly presented in the image of ordinary farmers and peasant women, which is a reflection of the natural economic model of "men ploughing and women weaving" in the agricultural society at that time. The portraits on the top of the sarcophagus excavated in Xinsheng, Pixian County, Sichuan Province, are engraved with the portraits of "Dragon and Tiger Holding Bi" and "Cowherd and Weaver Girl". The Cowherd is holding a cow in his hand and striving to move forward, while the Weaver Girl is holding a shuttle in his hand and is anxiously waiting for the arrival of the Cowherd.

In 1973, the lid of a sarcophagus was unearthed in Xinsheng Township, Pixian County, Sichuan Province. The picture above shows a blue dragon and a white tiger holding a bib, and the picture below shows a part of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl.

"The long Altair, the bright river Han girl. The slender hands are slender and the hands are tied and the machine is used. The whole day is broken, and the tears are like rain. The river is clear and shallow, how much does the phase go away? Han Yuefu's "Nineteen Ancient Poems" places the suffering of Niu Nv's lovesickness in the long parting period, which indicates that the storyline of Cowherd and Weaver Girl gathering less and leaving more has tended to be complete and stereotyped. The story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, which has entered a gradual period, has been added with more social factors that cause "separation of cattle and girls" and "weeks", and the symbolic meaning is more prominent. For example, Liang Yinyun's "Fiction" of the Southern Dynasty recorded: "To the east of Tianhe, there is a Weaver Girl, the son of the Emperor of Heaven. Years of labor and labor, weaving into cloud brocade tianyi, the appearance is not perfect. The emperor took pity on her alone, and promised to marry the Hexi morning cowboy, but she was abandoned after marriage. Weaving. The Emperor of Heaven was angry and ordered to return to Hedong, but he made them meet once a year." The patriarchal patriarchal system represented by the Emperor of Heaven and the moral discipline of persuading farmers and weaving are clearly visible.
The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is the result of the ancestors who personified the natural stars and combined their naive and magical romantic imagination. Since then, it has undergone a double evolution from deification to secularization, and penetrated into the cultural psychology and way of thinking of the Chinese nation through various channels such as literature, art, customs, religion, and morality.
2. The Weaver Girl's Poems and Paintings and the Fashion of Begging Skills
In the night sky at the turn of summer and autumn in July, Vega rose to the highest point of the year, dazzling. At this time, the weather turned cold, and women were busy spinning and weaving to prepare winter clothes. On a silent night, the weaver woman working beside the loom can see the bright Vega star who is in charge of spinning when she raises her head, silently promising infinite expectations for a happy life.
The identity of the Weaver Girl is the "Sun of Heaven", "Daughter of the Emperor of Heaven" and "Goddess of Weaving". "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" records: "The Weaver Girl, the Son of Heaven is the real daughter." "Records of the Grand Historian, the Book of Heaven Officials" says: "The Weaver Girl, the grandson of the Goddess." It is also stated in Yuan Mingbao: "The Weaver Girl is the word, the goddess, and the clothing is established. Therefore, Qi can embroider in writing, which is in line with the way of heaven." It is recorded in the "New Book of Tang, Baiguan Zhi": "The weaving and dyeing is signed in seven On the seventh day of the lunar month, offering sacrifices." Song "Tai Ping Guang Ji" described the appearance of Zhi Nu as "bright and unparalleled, with brilliance and brilliance, robes of profound silk and silk, and the robes of Luoshuang."
With the wide spread of the love story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, the praise of the Weaver Goddess, who is graceful and quiet, diligent in weaving, and emotionally loyal, can be seen in the works of art created by painters and poets of past dynasties. The Weaver Girl painted by Ming Dynasty painter Zhang Ling in the Shanghai Museum, the Weaver Girl has a plump figure, with a bun on her head and a long silk on her shoulders, holding a weaving shuttle. meet. The women's silk flutters in the wind, and the feet gradually disappear into the clouds, leaving no background, just like the Weaver Girl floating in the boundless sky. "Ling painted figures, crowned and dressed in a mysterious way, halal in shape, and without humility." As the commentary said, Zhang Ling painted a goddess who is not greedy for the heavenly palace, but has an infinite yearning for mortal life. , its meaning is also lingering, its affection is also earnest, and there is no meanness.

Ming Zhang Ling's "The Weaver Girl" in the collection of Shanghai Museum

Vega has a variety of sacred responsibilities, in charge of textiles, fruits, treasures, fertility, child protection, marriage, etc. Therefore, people worship her on Qixi Festival, not only begging for "smart" and "wisdom", but also "begging for wealth, longevity, Beggar" and other private wishes. In Ge Hong's "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "Han Cai women often wear seven-hole needles in the Kailoulou on July 7th, and people learn it", which is the earliest document about Qiqiao. Zhou Chu's "Fengtu Ji" says: "On the seventh day of the seventh month, on the night of the seventh lunar month, I sprinkled and swept the courtyard, threw a few feasts, set up wine, dried fruit, scattered fragrant powder, and begged for riches and longevity in the river, drums and weaving girls. If you can beg one, you can’t ask for both, three years are the words, and there are quite a few people who have been favored.” The Southern Dynasties Liang Zongyan’s “Jing Chu Sui Ji Ji” also recorded: “The seventh day of the seventh month is the night of the morning cow and weaver girl gathering. On the evening of the eve, the women of other households knotted colorful threads, pierced seven-hole needles, or used gold, silver, and stone as needles, and cherished melons and fruits in the courtyard to beg for skill.”
"Qixi Qi Qiao Tu" is an important theme of Chinese festival paintings. The earliest extant "Qi Qiao Tu" was drawn in the Five Dynasties and developed to the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has formed the mother painting of high-rise palaces, threading needles, offering melons and fruits, and worshipping the Weaver Girl. The Qing Dynasty Kesi "Qixi Tu" collected in the Palace Museum vividly reproduces the Qixi begging scene through skilled Kesi techniques. The picture is divided into two parts, the sky and the mortal world. The sky above is vast and quiet. The picture below shows the freshness and vitality of the world: a courtyard covered by green trees, two women on a high pavilion are collecting clothes exposed to the sun during the day; on the right side of the moon gate, a woman is holding a water basin, as if preparing The needles are thrown into the water; there are several tables in the middle of the courtyard, with offerings such as begging fruit, and women stand beside them; in the small pavilion on the left, two women raise their arms and raise their heads towards the moon-piercing needles, and they stare at them with devotion.

Qing Dynasty Kesi "Qixi Tu" in the Palace Museum

Yao Wenhan's "Qixi Tu" in the Qing Dynasty showed the grand Qixi Festival activities in the palace from three clues: first, the Cowherd and Weaver Girl met at the Magpie Bridge, focusing on the men's ploughing and the women's weaving and farming and persuading the mulberry, and then through the description of the palace sacrificial ceremony, Come to symbolize the abundance of grains; the middle part of the picture is the activity of begging for cleverness. On the steps, there is a lady with a water bowl serving a spider box. There is a woman on the platform who worships needles. On the left side of the clever building, there is a lady who raises her hand to beg for cleverness facing the weaver girl. The characters are all lifelike; The front end of the hall is a blooming lotus pond. On the platform and in the courtyard, there are "grinding and drinking music" and children who are educated by "six arts" are scattered, implying the custom of begging and raising children on the Qixi Festival.

Qing Dynasty Yao Wenhan's "Qixi Scroll" in the Palace Museum

In addition to Qiqiaotu and Qixi poems, the forms of emotional expression of the people are described in detail. Tanabata poetry, originated from the Book of Songs, began in Yuefu, flourished in the Six Dynasties, and extended to later generations. The "Preface to Mao Poems" says: "Poets, the feelings of people's hearts are more than words." Qixi poems may express the lovesickness of wanderers and wives, or describe the relationship between king and minister, or merge with folk customs of begging for cleverness, or for Cowherd and Weaver Girl As a biography, the meaning is profound and rich. Such as Tang Dumu's "The sky is as cool as water at night, lying down to watch the morning glory and Vega"; Wang Jian's "Looking at the stars by the river alone, it is difficult to weave Tensi at night"; Needle and thread"; Quan Deyu's "Family likes to open a makeup mirror and wear needles under the moon to worship Jiuxiao";
When the Weaver Girl and Morning Glory met, they did not forget their duties, but left their needle skills to the Weaver Women. Women's beauty in traditional Chinese concepts such as "ingenuity, industriousness, kindness, and perseverance" are concentrated in the Zhinu, exuding a charming light. The nationality, aesthetics and morality in the legend of the cow girl and the poems and paintings of Qixi Festival have continuously cultivated the sentiments of the people and enlightened their minds.
3. Crossing the Bridge and Crow Magpies and Promoting Weaving with Smart Wisdom
1. Wu Que Ferry Bridge
Regarding the ways of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meeting, there are Xingqiao, Yanqiao, Phoenix extradition, sedan, etc., showing the diversity of the evolution of folklore. In Han Yingshao's "Customs Pass", "The Weaver Girl should cross the river on Qixi Festival, and use magpies as bridges. It is said that the heads of magpies are all straight on the seventh day for no reason, because the bridge crosses the Weaver Girl." Liang Yinyun's "Fiction" of the Southern Dynasty also said: "On the seventh day of autumn, The heads of magpies are all straight up for no reason. According to legend, it was the Rihe Drum and the Weaver Girl who met in the east of the river, and they used the black magpie to cross the beam, so all the hairs were taken off." It is also recorded in the "Suihua Jili" of the Han Dynasty in the Tang Dynasty: "The Weaver Girl should cross the river on Qixi Festival, and make the magpies cross the river. It is a bridge"; Luo Yuan's "Erya Wings" in the Song Dynasty also said that "for seven days in autumn, magpie heads are all similar for no reason. According to legend, it is believed that the river drum and the weaving girl would meet in the east of Han, and the black magpies were used as bridges to cross, so all the hairs were taken off." describe.

Qing Dynasty Jingdezhen official kiln pastel figures in the collection of Beijing Art Museum Pan Queqiao Xiandu

There are two factors for the magpie to enter the "Legend of the Bull Girl" and become an important medium for meeting. One is the natural attributes of birds, magpies are good at building nests and building bridges. In the Western Jin Dynasty, Zhang Hua's "Natural History" said: "The magpie's nest opens its mouth and carries the Taisui back. This is not intellect, it is natural." Duan Chengshi of the Tang Dynasty stated in "Youyang Zazu·Yu": "There must be in the magpie's nest. Liang... two magpies build a nest, and the city holds a piece of wood like a pen tube, more than a foot long, and it is placed in the nest." It is said that magpies are familiar with yin and yang and celestial phenomena, and are good at building bridges. In addition, magpies fly in groups, gather strength, and have a persistent sense of responsibility. Xu Mian's "Magpie Fu" of the Liang Dynasty said: "Looking at the many types of wings, the size and size of the wings are flying in groups. It is like a cloud and it reaches up, and it also perches on the eyelashes and forgets to return." "Yongzhi" states: "The fear of jade is always intimidating, and the power to fill the river is exhausted... Sooner or later, it should arrive, and it will be emptied lightly." "The firm strength and momentum against all odds played the role of a group hero.
2. From the perspective of cultural imagery, magpies are symbols of "good omen, lovesickness, and happiness". The Tang Dynasty "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" stated: "In the family of the people of the time, hearing the sound of magpies is a good omen, so it is called a magpie to announce the good news." Note: "Take one male and female magpie brains, burn them in Taoism, and drink Bingyin in wine every day, which makes people miss." And because magpies are good at building nests, the so-called "allowing the righteousness of the family to live in a magpie's nest" , and become synonymous with family happiness. In "Book of Songs, Zhaonan", it is repeatedly sung: "Wei magpie has a nest, Wei Hong lives in it, his son returns, and a hundred liang guards it." The magpie nest is used as a comparison to describe the warm scene of a woman's welcome and farewell when she gets married. It also extends to the happy vision of a happy family after leaving the wife and returning to the husband's room.
The Magpie Bridge spanning the Han Dynasty made Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet once a year to get rid of the limitations of "God and Man", "Time and Space", and it was a sign of their courage to pursue freedom, loyalty and firm belief in love. Witness and praise, so it has become a representative symbol of the cultural spirit of the Qixi Festival.
2. Wisdom and Weaving
Tang and Song Zhiwen mentioned two kinds of insects that are good at weaving and clever in "Qixi Poems", one is cricket (promoting weaving), and the other is spider (xizi). "
Crickets are also known as "promoting weaving, tending weaving, urging weaving, and Shaji". Cui Bao, a native of Jin, said in Ancient and Modern Notes: "Promoting weaving is a speculator, and his voice is like urgent weaving." "Poetry Yishu" note: "(Cricket) quiet people call it fun weaving, and supervising the making of words." The crickets sing like the sound of a loom spinning, sometimes high and sometimes low, as if urging the weaving girl to speed up the weaving. "Shaji (Cricket) Zhenyu in June, wild in July, in the house in August, in the house in September, and crickets under my bed in October." "Book of Songs Binfeng" vividly describes crickets as autumn insects, in different seasons Habits and characteristics of transformation. In July, crickets sing in autumn, urging women who are responsible for the textile mission to work diligently in weaving, sewing red, and raising seasonal clothes to prepare for the needs of autumn and winter clothes.

Song Mouyi's "Rongpo Promoting Weaving" in the National Palace Museum, Taipei

In ancient times, spiders were called "crickets, xizi". Liu Xin of Han Dynasty stated in "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes": "When dry magpies are noisy and pedestrians come, spiders gather and Pepsi is happy." Tang Quan Deyu's "Xi Zheng Lun" also said: "Hipsters hang down and Pepsi is auspicious." In addition to auspicious signs, spiders are good Weaving a web to catch flying insects is also considered a symbol of cleverness. For example, it is said in "Lunheng": "A spider knots its silk and uses a net to fly insects. Can people use it safely?" In the verse of zhuan, spider skillful twilight eaves silk", Su Shi also has the poem cloud "painted eaves spider knots web, silver han and magpie form a bridge".
"Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" records the details of catching spiders and begging for cleverness in the Tang Palace: "Every night on the seventh day of the seventh month, when the emperor and his concubines were on a banquet in the Huaqing Palace, the palace maids, Chenguahua wine, were listed in the court, asking for grace. It is also in the morning glory and the weaving girl. He also catches spiders and closes them in a small box. When they open at dawn, they see that the spider webs are thin and dense, and they think that when it is a coincidence, those who secretly say more are clever, those who are rare say that there are few words, and the folks also follow it.” Song Meng Yuanlao's "Tokyo Dream Hualu" also states that every July in Bianliang, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, "on the sixth and seventh day and night of the first lunar month, your family often builds colorful buildings in the courtyard, which are called Qiqiao Buildings. ... Women look at the moon through needles, or use small spiders. In Anhezi, look at it the next day, if the net is round and straight, it is a coincidence." Zong Yi's "Jingchu Suiji Ji" also says: "Chen Guaguo is in the court, and there is a Xizi net on the melon, it is considered a coincidence. ." Using the density of spiders' webs to predict the skill of a young girl's weaving skills in the future, it was also practiced after the Ming and Qing dynasties.
In the legends of the Qixi Festival, the cultural images of magpies, kiwis, spiders and other animals and insects contrast with the splendid galaxy, which not only truly reflects the pursuit of the ancestors to be "wise and skillful", but also truly reflects the importance of agriculture in ancient China. social characteristics of weave.
4. Conclusion
"The fine clouds make a coincidence, and the flying stars spread hatred", but as long as "the golden wind and jade dew meet, they will win but there are countless people in the world", this is the poet Qin Guan's best interpretation of the true meaning of the legend of the cow girl's love - blowing the golden autumn wind , In the season of sparkling white dew, just one meeting is better than countless reunions in the world. The legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl reflects the Chinese ancestors' pursuit of perfection of life, love and naturalistic cosmology. "Guanzi·Light and Heavy Armor" says: "If a farmer does not cultivate, the people will be hungry; if a woman does not weave, the people will be cold." The story has been a symbol of the agricultural laborers of the Chinese nation since its birth, reflecting the social forms and consciousness of different historical stages, and is the cohesion of the agricultural culture, national consciousness and folk psychology of Chinese civilization.
On May 20, 2006, Qixi Festival and other five traditional festivals were included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list by the State Council; in 2008, "The Legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl" was successfully included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage In addition, the Qiqiao Festival in Xihe, Gansu Province, the Little People (Children) Festival in Shitang, Wenling, Zhejiang Province, the Seven Sisters Festival in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, the Tianhe Landscape Group in Yunxi, Hubei, and the unique Qixi Festival customs of ethnic minorities, etc. , is constantly being discovered, protected, restored and reconstructed. The Qixi Festival culture is deeply rooted in the spiritual fertile soil of the Chinese nation, which is brave in exploration and good at creation.
(The author Fang Yun, Ph.D. in Folklore, lecturer at the School of International Education, Shanghai University.)