Information about Cowherd and Weaver Girl

The earliest record on July 7th is the Chronicle of Jingchu written by Liang Renzong in the 6th century A.D., in which it is mentioned: "July 7th is the night when Petunia and Weaver get together, and it is the night when women in Xi family wear seven-hole needles (needles) or use gold, silver and jade as needles. Chen Guaguo is smart in court, and if there is fun on the melon, he thinks there is a response. " However, if you want to know the origin of Valentine's Day in China, you should start with the love story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

The legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl comes from very old fairy tales and also from two stars. Altair belongs to Eagle, Vega belongs to Lyra, and there are three Altair: Hegu I, Hegu II and Hegu III. The commonly said Altair is Hegu II, Hegu I and Hegu III are the two children of Altair. There are also three Vega, Vega One, Vega Two and Vega Three. A Han Dynasty stone relief was unearthed in Nanyang, Henan Province, with a white tiger as the center, a Vega constellation carved in front of the white tiger and an Altair carved behind the white tiger. The image of Altair is a farmer holding a cow, and the three stars above the cow are the river drum constellation. Weaver, sitting in a high bun, surrounded by four stars. "Shi Dadong": "There is Han, and there is light in prison. The weaver girl falls down seven times a day. Even if the weaver girl is busy, she can't knit a stripe well. If you come late, you can't take the box. " Although there are metaphors, there are no stories. "Nineteen Ancient Poems: Jumping Altair" records a little detail: "Jumping Altair, a woman from Jiao Jiao River, has a delicate hand, and Zhazha works on the loom all day, and tears fall like rain. The water in the river is clear and shallow, with many differences, and there is much water in it. " This passage already has the basic outline of the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Later, it was recorded in Wu Jun's books, such as Continuation of Qi and Harmony, Chronicle of Jingchu and Natural History of Customs. In Volume 887 of The Whole Tang Poetry, Lu Tong wrote an Eclipse Poetry, which vividly described the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl:

A phoenix tree floats in the world, and Ru Shou returns to fight in autumn.

The shrine calls serving magpies and crossing the Milky Way Cloud a bridge.

The beauty of Hedong, the son of the Emperor of Heaven, expressed her early years.

Woven into clouds and purple gauze, hard work is no joy.

The emperor was poor and lived alone without entertainment, and Hexi married a cowherd.

Waste knitting after marriage? , green temples, clouds, comb in the morning and evening.

Greed and joy do not return to the emperor's anger, but return to the road.

But I'll see you at the age of one and cross the bridge on July 7.

Don't be too overwhelmed, but remember how much you loved before.

Don't talk about anything. Candle dragon has reconciled with Renyi.

On the bridge, the mental officer urged him to leave, regardless of the seriousness.

Empty tears, endless tears.

I said, Vega, don't sigh. Heaven and earth will meet endlessly.

Still winning? I won't marry and sleep alone in Guanghan Palace every night.

In folk literature, there are more materials about the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, which are handed down from generation to generation and supplemented from generation to generation, and finally form a very full folk story, making the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl one of the four major folk stories in China. The general contents are as follows:

According to legend, the weaver girl is the granddaughter of the Emperor of Heaven, or the granddaughter of the Queen Mother. She has six sisters, * * * is Seven Sisters, and there is a group of seven stars in the sky, which is the symbol of Seven Sisters. Seven Sisters lives on the east bank of the Milky Way. They weave wonderful clouds with a special kind of silk thread. With the change of time and season, these clouds also change color. The so-called "sky clothes" are to put colorful clothes on the sky.

The Milky Way is very shallow and crystal clear. On the west bank of the river, there lived a cowherd. When his parents died young, his brother and sister-in-law treated him badly, so they separated the cowherd and gave him only an old cow. However, relying on his own strength and the help of the old cow, the cowherd plowed the land and soon established his own home, but he lived alone very lonely. One day, the old cow suddenly spoke, saying that Seven Sisters was going to take a bath in the Milky Way in warm spring, and the Cowherd could take the opportunity to hide the clothes of the Weaver Girl and make her promise to be the wife of the Cowherd. According to the old cow, the cowherd hid the clothes of the Weaver Girl. Sister Liu got dressed and went home. Weaver Girl couldn't go back to the sky, so she was so anxious that there was nothing she could do. At this moment, the cowherd spoke. He said I could give you your clothes back, but asked you to be my wife. The Weaver Girl was very helpless. She also wanted to try the feeling of living on the earth, so she agreed to marry the Cowherd. Since then, they have become real husband and wife.

After marriage, they cultivated fertile soil, loved each other, lived a very happy life and gave birth to a son and a daughter. But their marriage was known by the Emperor of Heaven and the Queen Mother, and the gods were sent to take the Weaver Girl back to heaven for criticism. The cowherd and his children ran after her, only to find that the river had moved to the Tianshan Mountains, where the fairy and the weaver girl were separated by the Milky Way. Cowherd has to live on the earth with his children. One day, the old cow spoke again and gave a good idea. The old cow said, "I'm going to die." After I die, skin me. You can wear it on your body and meet the weaver girl in the sky. " After the old cow died, the cowherd followed the old cow's practice, dressed in cowhide and carrying his children, and went to heaven to find a wife. Just when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were about to meet, they were discovered by the Queen Mother. She tore off the golden hairpin from her head and rowed along the Milky Way. The clear Milky Way suddenly turned into a rolling Tianhe, making the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl face each other across the river.

Cowherd didn't lose heart. For faithful love, in order to find maternal love for children, Cowherd scooped out the water of Tianhe with a wooden spoon. Cowherd is tired, his children scoop, and then Cowherd scoops. In this way, day after day, year after year, they have been scooping water from the Tianhe River. Their behavior touched the Emperor of Heaven and the Queen Mother, allowing them to meet on the evening of July 7th every year. "Moon Order" in a broad sense, "July Order" quotes the novel: "To the east of the Tianhe River, there is a weaver girl, the son of the Emperor of Heaven. Every year, the loom works hard to weave a brocade. The emperor pitied him for being alone and promised to marry a cowherd in Hexi. After marriage, he abandoned the knitting of pregnancy. The Emperor of Heaven was furious and died in Hedong, but they met once a year. " In order to meet, the magpie bridged the bridge and the two met on the magpie bridge. "Custom": "The Weaver Girl crosses the Qixi River and works on the Que Bridge. According to legend, the magpie's head is flat and high because Liang Yi has crossed the Weaver Girl. " Miscellanies of Xijing: "The weaver crosses the river and the magpie is the bridge, so there is no magpie in the world. By the eighth day, the magpie's tail was bald. " When the Weaver Girl sees the Cowherd on the Magpie Bridge, it is inevitable that she will pour out her heart and even shed tears. It is said that the drizzle on Tanabata is the tears of Weaver Girl. When they saw the rain, they said, "Sister Weaver is crying again." Daoguang's "Qijiang County Chronicles at the Age of Years": "On July 7th, it is commonly known as Niu Nvhui, like a woman begging for cleverness. When it rains, it is called' tears rain'. "

Since then, the cowherd has lived a happy family, but he can't get together with the Weaver Girl because the Tianhe River is across the river. The night sky in autumn is clear. There are two big stars on both sides of the Milky Way, namely Altair and Vega. The two little stars in a straight line with Altair are Altair's children. A little further, there are four little stars, which are the four shuttles that the Weaver Girl threw at the Cowherd. Near Vega, there are three little stars. They are isosceles triangles. They are cowherd's kidnappers to Vega. It is said that the cowherd tied the love letter to the cow kidnapper, and the weaver girl tied the love letter to the shuttle, transmitting information to each other and communicating love.

Here, people associate the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl with the stars in the sky. "Taiping Yulan" Volume 6 quotes "Elephant Star Map": "The three stars of the river drum are in the north of the morning cow, and the main drum and the three generals of Gaitian are also there. The central general is also, and its south left star left general is also; Its north right star right general also; So it is difficult to prepare the beam. Yesterday it was said that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl met on July 7th, so this is also true. Therefore, the cloud' the river drum calls the cow'. Another ancient song says:' The shrike flies east, the swallow flies west, and the oriole meets the weaver girl'! Its aunt Huang, the river drum, was mistaken for Wu Yin. Today, the speaker said that she is a cow driver and can make up girls. This analysis is clear. She is suspicious! "