The Story of the Chinese Valentine's Day
2023 Chinese Valentine's Day is on August 22, 2023.
The Love Story
Chinese Valentine's Day is on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar. A love story for this day is about the 7th daughter of Emperor of Heaven and an orphaned cowherd. The Emperor separated them. The 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the cowherd moved to the star Altair. They are allowed to meet only once a year on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month.
The story began from the good-looking poor orphaned boy living with his elder brother and sister-in-law. After his parents passed away, his brother inherited the house and the land. The boy owned an old ox. He needed to work on the farm's field with the ox every day. So he was called a cowherd. His daily life was just like in a Cinderella story.
The 7th daughter of the Emperor is good at handcrafting, especially weaving clothing. So she was called a Weaving Maid. The Emperor likes her skill to weave clouds and rainbows to beautify the world.
The ox was actually an immortal from the Heaven. He made mistakes in Heaven and was punished as an ox on the Earth. One day, the ox suddenly said to the cowherd, "You are a nice person. If you want to get married, go to the brook, and your wish will come true."
The cowherd went to the brook and saw all seven pretty daughters of Emperor came down from Heaven and took a bath in there. Fascinated by the youngest and also the most beautiful one, he took away her fairy clothes secretly. The other six fairies went away after a bath. The youngest couldn't fly back without her fairy clothes. Then the cowherd appeared and told her that he would not return her clothes unless she promised to be his wife. After a little hesitation, she agreed to the request from this handsome man with a mixture of shyness and eagerness. So they married and had two children two years later.
One day, the old ox was dying and told the cowherd that he should keep its hide for emergency purposes.
The Emperor found the sky's not that beautiful as before without the 7th daughter weaving clouds and rainbows. He wanted his daughter's grandmother to find the missing daughter and to bring her back. While the 7th princess was flying to Heaven with her grandmother, the cowboy wore the ox hide, took his children in two bamboo baskets with his wife's old fairy clothes, and chased after his wife in the sky. The grandmother made a milky way in the sky with her hairpin, which kept them separated. The 7th princess was moved to the star Vega (The swooping - Eagle) in the Lyra (Harp) constellation. And the cowherd with his two children stayed in the star Altair (Flying one) in the Aquila (Eagle) constellation. The star of Vega is called the Weaving Maid Star; the star of Altair is the Cowherd Star in China.
Magpies were moved by their true love and gathered and formed a bridge for the couple to meet in the evening of the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, which is the day the Emperor allowed them to meet once a year.
They said that it's hard to find a magpie on Chinese Valentine's Day in China because all magpies fly to make the bridge for the Weaving Maid and Cowherd. People discover the feathers on the head of the magpies are much lesser after the Chinese Valentine's Day. If the night Chinese Valentine's Day rains, the rain are the tears of the Weaving Maid and Cowherd.
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