The Legend of Chinese Valentine's Day

Chinese Valentine’s Day is on the Seventh Dayof the Seventh Month on the Chinese calendar,which falls on August 4th this year. Legend has it that the seventh daughter of the Emperor of Heaven, a weaving maid, fell in love and married a cow herd. They were so much in love that they forgot everything else in their lives and didn't complete their farming and weaving duties, which angered the Jade Emperor. He exiled them to opposite banks of the Silver River (Milky Way), and only allows them to meet each other once a year on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month. This legend has been handed down for nearly two millennia. The Chinese people believe that the star, Vega, east of the Milky Way, is Zhi Nu, and that Altair, on the western side of the MilkyWay is Niu Lang waiting for his wife. The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the only Chinesefestival devoted to love in the lunar calendar. Chinese Valentine’s Day traditions abound and this special day iscelebrated differently depending on the Chinese province. Some of the many traditions include Chinese girls preparingfruits, melons, and incense as offerings to Zhi Nu, the weavingmaiden, praying to acquire high skills in needlecraft, as well ashoping to find satisfactory husbands. Girls place sewing needles on water. If the needle doesn’t sink,it’s a sign of the girl’s maturity and intelligence and she is readyand eligible to find a husband. People in some Chinese provinces believe that decorating thehorns of oxen with flowers will save them from catastrophe. Another tradition is for women to wash their hair to make it lookfresh and shining.chinese romantic coupleOn Chinese Valentine’s Day, young lovers goto the temple of the Matchmaker and prayfor their love and happiness, and theirpossible marriage in China. In the evening, people sit outside toobserve the stars. On this night, Vega and Altair are closer together than at any othertime of year. Chinese grannies say that ifyou stand under a grapevine, you can probably overhear what Zhi Nu and Niu Lang are saying to one another.