Qixi Festival (Qixi Jie)

Festival origin

Worship of natural phenomena

Ancient Chinese astrological culture has a long history and is broad and profound. The ancients explored the mysteries of the universe from a very early time, and thus deduced a complete and profound astrological culture. "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" is a typical example. The legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl on Qixi Festival originated from people's worship of natural phenomena. As early as ancient times, the ancients who pursued order not only planned the sky in order, but also made a correspondence between the stars and the ground area one by one. This correspondence is called "sub star" in astronomy and "sub field" in earth. In short, the ancients corresponded each constellation in the sky to the physical geographical area on the earth one by one. The purpose of Star Division and field division in ancient times was mainly to cooperate with the astrological theory for astrological observation. In the ancient constellation system, "niuxiu" is composed of six stars, which is located on the East Bank of the Milky way. It is like two inverted triangles, one up and one down, which is very characteristic, but the triangle above is larger and brighter. The small triangle below is just located on the ecliptic. These stars form a cow with two horns on its head but only three feet. Therefore, the ancients called it "morning glory". There are nine small stars in the south of the cow, forming the "Tiantian", which is the place where it cultivates. Looking south, near the southern horizon, there are nine stars of "jiukan", which is a lowland for water storage and is used to irrigate farmland. To the east of niusu is the "Luoyan" 3 star, which is a water conservancy facility similar to a reservoir. Vega 3 is located in the north of niusu. Vega 1 is the fifth brightest star in the sky, second only to Arcturus, so it is often directly called Vega. People call "Niu Su Xing" and "Vega" together as "Niu Lang and Vega".

People's worship of the natural phenomena of Cowherd and weaver girl has a long history, which can be traced back to ancient times. "Spring and autumn Life Calendar preface": "heaven and earth are opened up, all things are muddy, ignorant and ignorant; Yin and Yang depend on... The sun, moon and five latitudes rise together, morning glory; 45000 years, the sun and moon rotate in five latitudes;... Determine the image of the sky and the instrument of the earth as the trunk and branch to determine the degree of the sun and moon." "Han Shu · law calendar records": "it refers to the beginning of morning glory, which records the sun and moon, so it is called star period; the five stars start at the beginning, and the sun and moon start among them." "Shuowen": "things are all things; cattle are great things; the number of heaven and Earth starts from morning glory; therefore, keep quiet from cattle". "Corpse": "the sky stretches and the morning glory rises on the left, and the earth splits and rises on the right". "Tianguanshu": "Nandou, morning glory and bearded women are all stars. Yu Chen is ugly, and the more it is divided, and bullfighting is the division of Wu". Volume 61 of the Kaiyuan ZHANJING quoted Shi Shi as saying: "morning glory was born in the cities of lieze and dominated the state of Yue.". Note: Altair is the dividing star of Wu and Yue. The original meaning of "Petunia Wu Nu" is that Guangdong is used as the "sub star" corresponding to the geographical division of astronomical Star area. Wu actress later evolved into a mythical goddess, known as seven sisters, fairy goddess, seven star goddess, seven mother, etc. she is a weaver of clouds and textile industry. She is the protector of lovers, women and children. July 7 is her birthday. It is said that on the seventh day of July every year, the Cowherd and the weaver girl will meet at the magpie bridge in the sky. Later, the folk story is further developed and endowed with the beautiful love legend of "Cowherd and the Weaver Girl".

Worship of time and number

"Qixi Festival" every seven months, every seven days. In ancient times, the ancients called the sun and moon together with the five planets of water, fire, wood, gold and earth "Qiyao". "Shangshu kaolingyao": "(heaven and earth open up), the seven Yao are at the beginning of the morning glory". "Supplement to the verification of Yi Wei tonggua": "before the emperor's family, it is in harmony with Qian Yao". Note: it is said that the emperor's ancestors combined with the sun, moon and five stars (seven Yao), that is, their identity is extremely noble. "Yi Zhuan": "the sun, moon and five stars start from morning glory." "Hanshu astronomy records": "morning glory starts from the sun, moon and five stars, counts the yuan and starts with the three corrections."

"The seventh day of July" is related to the ancients' worship of numbers and time. In ancient times, the "seven fold" of the first month, February 2, March 3, May 5, June 6, July 7 and September 9 were listed as auspicious days. In ancient China, "chongri" was regarded as a day of "the interaction between heaven and earth" and "the connection between heaven and man". In these "heavy days", it is not difficult to see the ancients' worship of numbers. For example, nine and five are important numbers, and the supremacy of the ninth five year plan is a symbol of status. "One" is the meaning of the beginning of all things and the symbol of achievement, status and honor.

"Seven" is the number of beads in each column of the abacus. It is romantic and rigorous, giving people a mysterious beauty. "Seven" is expressed as the periodicity of time among the people, and it often ends with "seven" when calculating time. The current "week" calculated by "Qiyao" is still reserved in Japanese. In Taiwan, July is known as the month of "happiness and auspiciousness". "Seven" is homonymous with "auspicious", and "seven" has the meaning of double auspicious, which is an auspicious day. Because the shape of the word "Xi" in cursive script is like the "seventy-seven" in continuous writing, the seventy-seven year old is also called "Xi Shou".

Seventh sister's birthday

Seventh sister's birthday, also known as seventh mother's Association, seventh mother's birthday, etc. Seventh sister (VEGA) is a weaver of clouds and textile industry. She is the protector of lovers, women and children. July 7 is her birthday. Before the founding of the "beautiful girls" festival in China. The main activities of "seventh sister's birthday" (seventh mother's birthday) include praying for blessings and wishes, begging for skillful skills, praying for marriage, protecting children's safety and so on. Such activities as worshipping the seventh sister have been forgotten. Only a few Zongxiang guild halls still set up incense tables to worship the seventh sister on this festival; The incense table is usually ready on the seventh day of July. In the evening, I began to pray for blessings and dexterity to my seventh sister.

People's worship of the natural phenomena of Cowherd and weaver girl has a long history, which can be traced back to ancient times. The Qixi Festival Festival has a long history and is derived from the worship of stars. It is the birthday of the seventh sister in the traditional sense. The Qiqiao custom of the seventh sister's birthday was introduced into the northern Xi'an area in the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty is a period of the dissemination and integration of customs and habits in the north and south. The collection of historical notes and novels compiled by Liu Xin in the Western Han Dynasty and Ge Hong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty has the record that "colorful women in the Han Dynasty often wear seven hole needles in the cardigan building on July 7, and everyone is familiar with it". Qixi Festival begging for dexterity is to pray to the seventh sister (Weaver Girl) for dexterity, hope for a happy marriage and a happy family. The seventh sister's birthday is known as "worshiping the seventh mother" in Southern Fujian, Wenling, Zhejiang and Taiwan. It is very popular among the people to worship the seventh mother, which is regarded as an immortal to protect children's safety and health.

According to folk legend, on the eve of Qixi Festival every year, when the Weaver Girl Niulang meets at the magpie bridge in the sky, the weaver girl is a beautiful, smart and dexterous fairy. In this evening, the girls put seasonal fruits and melons on the bright moon in the sky, prayed to the goddess in the sky to give them intelligent hearts and dexterous hands, skillfully knit needlework skills, and begged for the marriage of love and marriage.

Reproductive worship

”"Seven seven" is the life cycle. "Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic · Su Wen · ancient innocence theory": "men don't do eight or eight, women don't do seven or seven, and the essence of heaven and earth is exhausted. "It says that a man's life cycle is 8 years old and a woman's life cycle is 7 years old. When a woman is 7 years old, her kidney is full of Qi, her teeth and hair grow longer; when she is 27 days old, she has the essence of the kidney and Ren Du's two veins. According to traditional Chinese medicine," she is a sea of yin and Yang, Five Qi and Zhen Yuan ", that is to say, menstruation starts on February 7th, and you can have children. Sanqi has average kidney qi, and the last teeth are long and fully mature. Siqi has strong muscles and bones, extremely long hair and strong body, and reaches the peak. May 7th has a weak Yang pulse, his face begins to turn yellow and his hair begins to fall off. June 7th has a" Three Yang pulse failing at the top, his face is charred and his hair begins to turn white ". July 7th has a weak Ren pulse and a weak Taichong pulse, The sky is exhausted and the tunnel is impassable, so the shape is bad and childless, which is the end of a life cycle.

The number "seven" also refers to the west, so the meeting of seven and seven should be the birth in the end. "The book of changes · Fu Gua": "repeat its way, seven days to reply, and heaven will do it." Kong yingdashu: "after the Yang Qi of heaven disappeared, the Yang Qi of heaven revived in seven days. This is the natural principle of heaven, so it is called Tianxing." "Coming and going" is going and coming again, that is, rebirth and reincarnation. Therefore, the soul is scattered in 4749 days, and the soul is full in 7749 days.

Origin of festival name

Qixi : July 7th, known as "seventh sister's birthday", is called "Qixi " because the worship activity is on the seventh day of July (in the evening, it was called "Xi" in ancient times).

Double Seven: this day, month and day are all seven, so it is also called seven. Incense day: it is said that on the Qixi , the cowgirl meets, and the weaver girl has to dress up, paint and powder, so that the sky is fragrant, so it is called.

Week: the two stars of Cowherd and weaver girl are in a special position. They can only meet once a year, so this day is called week.

Qiqiao Festival: the custom of "Qiqiao" named after "seventh sister's birthday". July 7 is the seventh sister's birthday. "Qiqiao" is one of the important customs of the seventh sister's birthday, so it is also called "Qiqiao Festival". According to folk legend, the seventh sister is a weaver in the sky. In the old times, beautiful women "begged" the seventh sister to teach her dexterous skills; In fact, the so-called "Qiqiao" is just "douqiao".

Women's Day: the Qixi Festival takes girls' worship of immortals, Qi Qiao and Sai Qiao as the main festival customs activities, so it is called women's day, also known as daughter's day and girl's day. It is the exclusive festival for beautiful women in traditional Chinese festivals. Girls in this evening, in addition to the Weaver Girl begging for skilled hands, but also begging for marriage. In the past, marriage was a life-long event that determined the happiness of a girl's life. Therefore, infatuated women in the world would pray for their marriage to the stars on the night of Qixi .

Blue night: July of the lunar calendar was called "blue moon" in ancient times, so Qixi is also called "blue night".

Niuniupo day: in Vietnam, the main body of Qixi celebration is Chinese. Qixi has another name called "niuniupo day".

Children's Day: it is called Qiqiao, Qiwen and other customs because they are mostly done by girls and boys.

Needle threading Festival: it is called because there is a custom of needle threading on this day.

Tao Te La: according to the Taoist book of jade from the emperor to the Tao Taiqing, the seventh day of July is called Tao Te la. On this day, the five emperors will gather in the seven energy elements in the West.

Chinese Valentine's Day is endowed with a romantic connotation by the legend of Chinese Valentine's day, which has been endowed with the meaning of "lover's Day" by the history of Chinese Valentine's day.

Xiangqiao Club

In Yixing, Jiangsu Province, there is the custom of Qixi Xiangqiao meeting. Every Qixi, people come to participate and build a incense bridge. The so-called fragrant bridge is a bridge with a length of 45 meters and a width of about half a meter made of various thick and long wrapped incense (paper wrapped thread incense). It is equipped with railings and tied with five-color lines on the railings. At night, people offer sacrifices to the two stars, beg for good fortune, and then burn the incense bridge, symbolizing that the two stars have passed the incense bridge and meet happily. This fragrant bridge is derived from the legendary magpie bridge.

Dew connection

In rural Zhejiang, the custom of using a washbasin to catch dew is popular. It is said that the dew during the Qixi Festival is the tears of Cowherd and weaver girl when they meet. If it is applied to their eyes and hands, it can make people bright and handy.

Worship sister Qi

The seven Niang society on July 7 is often called "worship seven sisters" in Guangdong and "worship seven Niang mothers" in Fujian and Taiwan. Before the founding of new China, "Qixi" was a grand festival for beautiful women. In the old days, beautiful women begged the seventh sister to teach her dexterity. In fact, the so-called "begging for dexterity" was just "fighting for dexterity". Guangdong used to have a very lively Qiqiao Festival. Liu Kezhuang in the Song Dynasty once had a poem that said, "melons and fruits are blessed with boxing, and the throat is simple to sell sound. Guangdong people attach importance to skillful evening, and the light reaches dawn." Before the arrival of the festival, the girls prepared all kinds of ingenious toys in advance, and made all kinds of flowers and fruits, ladies, utensils, palace models and other objects with Tongcao, colored paper, sesame, rice grains and so on. Soak the seeds and mung beans in a small box to make them germinate. When the buds grow to more than two inches, they are used to worship God, which is called "worship Xianhe" and "worship God vegetable". Or organize people to gather in the Zongxiang guild hall and place all kinds of bright incense cases to worship Cowherd and Weaver girls. The "incense case" is filled with flowers, fruits, rouge powder, paper small flower clothes, shoes, daily necessities and embroidery. The "seven sisters' meeting" in different regions worked hard on the incense table to see who made it skillfully. The traditional "seventh sister's birthday" celebration ceremony starts on the sixth night of the seventh lunar month and lasts for one to two nights. The ceremony of celebrating the seventh sister's birthday in different places has different characteristics. The custom of "Qijie birthday" is also very popular in Southeast Asia.

In Guangzhou, girls dress up and light candles in both rich and poor families, "Prepare all kinds of ingenious toys in advance, and make all kinds of flower and fruit ladies' utensils and palaces with Tongcao, colored paper, sesame, rice grains, etc. (see the chronicle of the age of Guangzhou). Married women generally can't participate in the worship of immortals in Guangzhou's Qixi, but the newly married bride will hold a" farewell to immortals "ceremony during the first Qixi. According to Volume 17 of Guangzhou chronicles, on the seventh day of the seventh day of the lunar new year, there were also women's boat trips to Shimen chenxiangpu. Yachts are decorated with jasmine and jasmine flowers, which are called flower boats. They believe that this day is "fairy shower day". "Worship seven sisters" in Dongguan on Qixi is a traditional folk blessing ceremony of Qiqiao worship seven sisters. The ceremony includes tribute, hand purification, incense, sacrifice and other links. In some places, on the night of Qixi, beautiful women set up a table under the moonlight with offerings such as tea, wine, fruit and melon seeds; There are also a few flowers, a bunch of red paper, inserted in a bottle, and a small incense burner in front of the flowers. Sit around the table, meditate on your thoughts and make a wish to Vega. "Worship Vega" is purely a matter for girls and young women. Most of them make an appointment with their friends or neighbors in advance, up to a dozen or so. The young women and girls who made an appointment to worship Vega fasted for one day, bathed properly, and came to the host's home on time. After burning incense in front of the case and worship, they sat around the table, eating peanuts and melon seeds, and reciting their thoughts towards the constellation Vega. For example, girls who want to be beautiful or marry a happy girl, and young women who want to have a noble son early, can pray silently to Vega. The Qixi Festival in Tianhe District, Panyu District and Huangpu District of Guangzhou is called "seventh sister's birthday", also known as "seventh mother's birthday", "placing seven mothers" and "worshiping seven mothers", which is the survival of the ancient Qiqiao folk custom in Lingnan. On the day of Qixi, the community organized a "worship seven niangs" ceremony. In addition to the two stars of Cowherd and Vega, there are also six sisters of Vega. The display of handicrafts by women in the community is the main content of the "pendulum dexterity" activity.

In Southern Fujian, Wenling, Zhejiang and Taiwan, it is called "worship seven Niang mother". Seven Niang mother is also known as seven star mother, seven star mother, seven star lady and seven Niang lady. It is the embodiment of Vega. Qixi is the birthday of "Qiniang mother". It is very popular among the people to worship Qiniang mother, which is regarded as an idol to protect children's safety and health. On this day every year, people come in groups to qiniangma temple to offer flowers and fruits, fat powder, Animal gifts and so on. On this day, there is also a popular "adult ceremony" in Taiwan, that is, when the child reaches the age of 15, his parents lead him to the Qiniang mother temple with offerings to thank the "Qiniang mother" for protecting the child through childhood, childhood and adolescence. On this day, Tainan area will "make 16 years old" for 16-year-old children and perform adult ceremony. In addition to offering thanks to the "seven mothers" on the Qixi Festival, some parents also entertain relatives and friends to celebrate their children's adult ceremony. Although the folk Qixi in Southern Fujian and Taiwan do not attach great importance to begging for dexterity, they attach great importance to health food customs. On the occasion of Qixi, almost every family needs to buy traditional Chinese medicine and pomegranate. Shitang Qixi custom is popular in Shitang and Ruoshan along the coast of Wenling, Zhejiang Province. It is a traditional folk activity for children under the age of 16 to pray for Qiniang mother on Qixi day. The ancestors of Shitang moved from southern Fujian more than 300 years ago. This custom followed and continues to this day. The chief priests are female elders.

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Qixi Dou Qiao, the "divination skill" method to judge whether a person is skillful or not, mainly includes several forms, such as "threading a needle to beg for skill", "happy spider should be skillful", "threading a needle to the moon", "losing skill", "Lan night Dou Qiao" and "throwing a needle to test skill".

Wear a needle and beg for skill

Wearing a needle to beg for dexterity is also called "match dexterity", that is, women wear a needle in a competition. They tie colored threads and wear seven hole needles. The faster they wear, the more dexterity they beg. Those who wear slowly are called "lose dexterity". Those who lose dexterity "should give gifts prepared in advance to those who get dexterity. "Xijing miscellany" said: "Han colored women often wear seven hole needles in the open Lapel building on July 7, which is familiar to people."

Liang zongmou of the Southern Dynasty said in "the age of Jingchu" that "on July 7, it is the night when women in other people's colorful buildings wear seven holes, or take gold, silver and happy stones as needles." "Yu Di Zhi" said: "Emperor Wu of Qi started the city view. On July 7, many palace people went to wear needles. The world is called the needle wearing building."

Wang Renyu of the Five Dynasties said in the "legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao": "on Qixi, the palace forms a hall with brocade, which is 100 feet high and can win dozens of people. It is roasted with melons, fruits and wine, equipped with seats to worship the two stars of cattle and girls. Concubines and concubines wear it with nine hole needles and five-color threads to the moon. It is a skillful marquis to pass by. Move the song of the Qing Dynasty and entertain Dadan. It works in the homes of the local people."

Yuan Tao Zongyi's "yeting record of yuan family" said: "nine lead platforms are places to beg for dexterity on Qixi. On the evening of the seventh day, palace maids go on the stage and wear nine tail needles with colorful silk. The one who finishes first is the one who gets dexterity, and the one who finishes late is the one who loses dexterity. How can each contribute to give the one who gets dexterity?"

Needle to the moon

"Piercing needles on the moon" means that every family cleans the courtyard on the evening of the seventh day of July. Young women and girls should first kneel down to Vega and beg Vega to bless their dexterity. Then, they took out the colorful silk thread and seven silver needles prepared in advance and put them on the moon. Whoever put them on first indicates that she can become a skillful woman in the future.

Happy spider should be clever

The happy spider should be skillful is also an earlier way of begging for skillfulness. Its popularity is a little later than that of threading a needle, which roughly began in the northern and Southern Dynasties. Liang Zongyu of the Southern Dynasty said in the record of the age of Jingchu; "It's the evening when Chen melons and fruits beg for cleverness in the court. When you have a happy son's net on the melon, you think it should be a symbol."

Wang Renyu of the Five Dynasties said in the "legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao" that "on July 7, they catch spiders in small boxes until dawn; they think it's a coincidence to see that the cobwebs are sparse and dense. Those who are dense speak more skillfully and those who are sparse speak less skillfully. The folk also follow suit".

Meng Yuanlao of the Song Dynasty said in the Tokyo dream of China that on the seventh day of July, "a small spider is installed in the child. If you look at it the next day, it is just a coincidence if the net is round."

Song Zhoumi said in Qianchun's chronicle of age; "How long will it take to store a small spider inside and wait for the density of the web?"

Mingtian Rucheng's "Xi Dynasty pleasure" said that Qixi "holds spiders in small boxes. I think it's clever to watch their webs and density as early as possible."

It can be seen that there are different ways to test ingenuity in the past dynasties. In the northern and Southern Dynasties, the existence of the network, the rarity and density of the network in the Tang Dynasty, the roundness and correctness of the network in the Song Dynasty, and later generations mostly follow the customs of the Tang Dynasty.

Needle injection test

Throwing a needle to test skill is a variation of the custom of "Qiqiao" in the Chinese Valentine's day. It originates from and is different from needle wearing. It is the popular Chinese Valentine's Day custom in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The so-called needle test is to first prepare a washbasin, put it in the patio and pour "mandarin duck water", that is, mix the water taken during the day with the water taken at night. However, it is often enough to mix the river water and well water and pour them into the washbasin. The washbasin and water should spend the night in the open air. After the sun shines during the day on the seventh day of July, you can "test the coincidence" at noon or afternoon. It turned out that the water in the basin had a thin film on the surface after half a day of sunlight, so take the sewing needle and gently lay it flat on the water surface. The needle will not sink. Under the water, there will be a needle shadow. If the needle shadow is straight, it is the failure of "Qiqiao". If the needle shadow forms various shapes, or bends, or one end is thick, the other end is thin, or other shapes, It's "coincidence".

Liu Dong and Yu Yizheng of the Ming Dynasty said in their "a brief introduction to the scenery of the imperial capital" that "a skillful needle is lost on the afternoon of July 7. When a woman is exposed to the water, the water film will make her face, and the embroidered needle will float to see the shadow of the needle at the bottom of the water. Those who have the shadow of birds and animals with flower heads as clouds, those who have the shadow of shoes and scissors, and those who have the shadow of water eggplant are said to be skillful in begging; their shadow is as thick as a hammer, as thin as silk, and as straight as a shaft wax. This is a clumsy sign." Zhili Zhishu also said that in Liangxiang county (now southwest of Beijing), "on July 7, women begged for dexterity, threw needles into the water, borrowed the shadow of the sun to test their clumsiness, and still begged for dexterity in the weaver girl at night". Qing Yu Minzhong quoted the miscellaneous notes of the Wanshu office in his "old news examination under the sun" and said: "on July 7, the women in Yandu stormed the sun with a bowl of water. They threw small needles on the surface of the water and slowly looked at the shadow of the sun at the bottom of the water. They were scattered like flowers, moving like clouds, thin as lines, and coarse rent like cones, because of the skill of divining women."

Shu Qiao

Lose Qiao, Qixi begging Qiao, needle drop people, the latter is "lose Qiao". After worshipping the immortal, the girls hold the colored thread in their hands and pass the thread through the pinhole to the shadow of the lamp. If they can wear seven pinholes at one breath, they are called skillful hands. Those who can't wear seven pinholes are called loser skillful hands. As the poet of the Tang Dynasty described: "it's easy to wear a needle to the moon, but it's difficult to complete the line in the wind. I don't know who gets the trick. Try it in the Ming Dynasty." After the worship ceremony, the furnishings on the eight immortals platform remained unchanged and were reserved for the next day (seventh day) for the girls to visit and comment on each other. After Qixi, the girls give each other small handicrafts and toys to show their friendship.

LAN yedou Qiao

LAN yedou Qiao is a game. July used to be called "blue moon", and the night of Qixi, the seventh day of July, is also called blue night. It is called "mutual pity and love" to tie colorful threads together. The women went to the closed Lapel upstairs and learned to wear Qiqiao needles and beg for dexterity.

Beg for marriage

On a sunny summer and autumn night, the sky is full of stars. A milky way runs across the north and south. On the East and west sides of the Milky way, there is a shining star, facing each other across the river. That is Altair and Vega. Wu actress later evolved into a mythical goddess, which is called seven sisters, fairy goddess and seven mother among the people. She is the protector of weaving clouds, lovers, women and children. Countless sentient men and women in the world will pray to the weaver girl for a happy marriage on the Qixi night.

According to folklore, "Qixi Festival" expresses the emotion of "staying together" and "growing old together" between married men and women, and abides by the commitment of both sides to love. The love story of Cowherd and weaver girl is well known in China. Their loyalty and adherence to love are touching, so Qixi Festival is full of romance. It is said that on the seventh day of July, the Magpies on earth will fly to heaven to meet the Cowherd and Weaver Girl on a magpie bridge in the Milky way. Vega is a beautiful, smart and dexterous fairy. On this night, the mortal woman begged her for a smart heart and dexterous hands. In addition, she prayed for a happy marriage.

You Qijie water

According to folklore, the seven fairies in the sky will descend to the earth to take a bath in the river on the Qixi Festival. At this time, the river is stained with immortality. Washing will not only bring good luck, but also prevent diseases. In Guangxi Baise, Jingxi and other folk believe that the water on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is very holy and clean. The water on Qixi can not only drive away evil spirits and avoid diseases, but also make their love happy and life happy. This custom is related to the legend of the local seven fairies descending to take a bath.

Seed begets child

A few days before the Chinese New Year's Eve, it is a festival custom of the Han nationality to lay a layer of soil on a small wooden board, sow the seeds of corn, and let it produce green seedlings, and then put some small huts, flowers and trees on it to make it look like a small village of farmhouses, known as "shell plate", or soak mung beans, small beans, wheat, etc. in a magnetic bowl, wait for it to grow inch buds, and then tie them into a bundle with red and blue silk ropes, It is also called "five life pots" or "flower pots".

Han people all over the south are also known as "paoqiao". They call the bean sprouts as Qiao sprouts. They even use Qiao sprouts to replace needles and throw them on the water to beg for Qiao. Wax is also used to shape various images, such as the characters in the stories of Cowherd and weaver girl, or the shapes of vultures, mandarin ducks and other animals, which are floating on the water, which is called "floating on the water". There are wax baby dolls, which let women buy them and float in the water and soil. They think they are suitable for the auspiciousness of their children, which is called "Huasheng".

Before the festival, several kinds of plants, such as wheat, mung beans, adzuki beans and peas, are soaked in water in utensils. After sprouting for several inches, they are tied up with red and blue wire harnesses on Qixi, which is a symbol of having children and happiness. Wax is also used to shape various images and float on the water.

QiXi water storage

"Qixi water" is also known as "July 7th water". It is said that "Qixi water" has magical functions. It can be stored for a long time and can treat scalds and remove sore poison. Guangdong and Guangxi have the custom of storing "Qixi water", that is, after the first crowing of chickens on the morning of the seventh day of the lunar new year, each family goes to the well or the river for water storage. According to folklore, on the morning of July 7, the fairy will come down to earth to take a bath. Using its bath water can avoid evil spirits, treat diseases and prolong life; Therefore, on the morning of Qixi, people have to go to the river to get water. After taking it back, they put it in a new urn for future use. It is said that on Qixi night, washing your face with seven color flower water soaked with seven kinds of flowers, such as Milan, jasmine and rose, can make women more beautiful.

Celebrate Niu's birthday

In the old days, children would pick wild flowers on Qixi and hang them on ox horns, also known as "Celebrating ox's birthday". Because it is said that after the West Queen Mother separated the Cowherd and the weaver girl with the Milky way, in order to let the cowherd cross the Milky way to see the weaver girl, the old cow asked the cowherd to shave off its skin and drive its cow leather to see the weaver girl. In order to commemorate the sacrifice spirit of the old cow, people have the custom of "Celebrating the birthday of the cow".

Qiqiaogong case

In the old days, children would pick wild flowers on Qixi and hang them on ox horns, also known as "Celebrating ox's birthday". Because it is said that after the West Queen Mother separated the Cowherd and the weaver girl with the Milky way, in order to let the cowherd cross the Milky way to see the weaver girl, the old cow asked the cowherd to shave off its skin and drive its cow leather to see the weaver girl. In order to commemorate the sacrifice spirit of the old cow, people have the custom of "Celebrating the birthday of the cow".

Yingxian

The Qiqiao festival in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province is unique. Before the festival comes, the girls prepare colored paper, grass, thread and rope in advance to make all kinds of ingenious small toys. They also put grain seeds and mung beans into small boxes and soak them in water to make them germinate. When the buds grow to more than two inches, they are used to worship God, which is called "worship Xianhe" and "worship vegetables". From the evening of the sixth day to the evening of the seventh day, two nights in a row, the girls put on new clothes and jewelry. After everything is arranged, they burn incense and candles and kneel down to the starry sky, which is called "welcoming immortals". From the third to the fifth watch, they have to worship seven times in a row.

worship Gods

Some villages in western Guangdong have the custom of worshipping gods on July 7. According to traditional customs, people first worship the "master" (Bodhisattva) in the temple, and then worship the land lord. Offerings to worship gods generally include rice balls, three teas and five wines, fruits, etc.

Worship Niulang

According to some books in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Republic of China, the skillful skills displayed by Guangzhou girls on Qixi include embroidered shoes the size of a grain of grain, various fans the size of a nail, exquisite and light Luozhang, and special lotus, jasmine, rose, nocturnal flower, etc. the flower Basin is only the size of a sprinkling cup, and there are two flowers in the basin, one true and one false, which is difficult to distinguish. On the evening of the seventh day of the lunar new year, they continue to worship the gods as they did last night, which is called "worship the cowherd", which is generally held by boys.

Baikuixing

The first star of the Big Dipper is called Kuixing, also known as Kuixing. Kuixing is the God who dominates the rise and fall of articles in ancient Chinese mythology. In the eyes of ancient students, Kuixing has a supreme position. It is said that July 7 is Kuixing's birthday. Kuixing's literary affairs. Scholars who want to achieve fame especially respect Kuixing, so they worship Kuixing on Qixi and pray for him to bless their success in the exam. The number one scholar among the ancient scholars was called "the great Kui world scholar" or "winning the first prize in one fell swoop", all because Kuixing was in charge of the exam. Scholars in eastern Fujian revere Kuixing, and there is a custom of "worshiping Kuixing" on "Qixi".

The ceremony of "worshiping the goddess of honor" is held in the moonlight, which is similar to worshiping the weaver girl. Therefore, if the residents in villages in eastern Fujian are a family with a spacious house, two incense tables of "worshiping the Weaver Girl" and "worshiping the goddess of honor" are often placed in the patio on the night of "Qixi". The gathering of ladies is divided into two small worlds of different genders, which is very lively and interesting. "Worship Kuixing" needs to paste a paper man (Kuixing) in advance: it is about two feet tall, five or six inches wide, with a blue face and eyes, a brocade robe and soap boots, with a floating chest and red beard obliquely stroked in the left hand and a vermilion pen in the right hand. The ceremonious and indispensable sacrifice is the sheep head (RAM, with beard and horn), cooked, wrapped with red paper at both corners, placed on a plate and placed in front of the "Kuixing" image. Other offerings, tea, wine, etc. Those who attend the worship of Kuixing will have a dinner at the table in front of the incense table after firing firecrackers and burning incense.

Worship bed mother

In addition to worshipping Qiniang's mother on Qixi, Taiwan often prepares a small bowl of oil rice to worship the "bed mother" in the room. The two should have similar meanings. Producing and raising children are irreplaceable responsibilities of women. Therefore, such gods are also female gods; There is a close relationship between female gods and female believers, which resolves the anxiety and fear of women when they assume the position of mother. "Bed mother" is the patron saint of children. July 7 is the birthday of bed mother. Families with children at home worship bed mother at the bedside where children sleep in the evening of that day; Offerings include: fried rice, chicken wine (or sesame oil chicken), burning "Sifang Gold" and "bed mother clothes". It should not be too long to worship the bed mother. Unlike the usual worship, it is not necessary to pour wine for three rounds. After the offerings are arranged and the incense is lit, you can prepare to burn "Sifang Gold" and "bed mother clothes". After burning, you can withdraw the offering. I hope the child will grow up quickly and can't worship for too long. I'm afraid that the bed mother will spoil the child and stay in bed.

paint fingernails

Nail dyeing is a custom of Qixi spread in Southwest China. Young girls in many areas like to wash their hair with the liquid slurry of trees and water during festivals. They can not only be young and beautiful, but also find the right husband for unmarried women as soon as possible. Dyeing nails with flowers and plants is also a hobby of most women and children in festival entertainment, which is also closely related to fertility belief.

QiXi Stargazing

In early autumn, around 9 p.m., Vega with a brightness of 0 stars first appears near the zenith, and then Altair with a brightness of 1 star rises in its southerly direction. In the middle of the two stars, there is a vast white milky way (i.e. Milky way) across the north and south. The cowherd is in the east of the river and the weaver girl is in the west of the river. They look at each other affectionately and are full of poetry and painting. Below Vega, there are four darker stars, forming a small parallelogram. They are the beautiful clouds and rainbow shuttle woven by Vega in mythology and legend. Altair is a bright yellowish star. The two small stars on both sides of it are called shoulder pole stars. It is said that Altair carries a pair of children.

It is a folk custom to sit and watch the morning glory Vega on the night of Qixi. On the night of Qixi, young beautiful women should put on seasonal fruits prepared in advance and worship the bright moon; They also held various begging rituals, earnestly begged the goddess of weaving to give them smart hands, and prayed that they could get a perfect marriage match of love.

Listen to whispers

In some rural areas of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, there are many beautiful women who secretly hide under the lush pumpkin shed on the Qixi night. If they can hear the whispers of Cowherd and weaver girl when they meet in the dead of night, the girls to be married can get eternal love in the future.

Water purification video

The Qiqiao activity in Jiangsu is to take a bowl of clean water, expose it to the sun and spend the night in the open air. That is, pick up the fine grass stick and float it in the water, depending on its shadow. There are also many young women who use small needles to see the shadow of underwater needles to realize their wisdom and stupidity. Han people in other areas also use this method to fulfill their cleverness, clumsiness, wisdom and stupidity.

Knot red head rope

Tying a red head rope is one of the customs of Qixi. It is said that if there are weak and sick children at home, parents often tie seven red head ropes around their children's necks on this day to pray for God to bless their children's health and longevity.

Girl Shampoo

Girls shampoo on Qixi is also a special custom. Young girls in many areas like to wash their hair with the liquid slurry of trees and water during the Qixi Festival. It is said that it can not only make women young and beautiful, but also enable unmarried girls to find the right husband as soon as possible. This custom has something to do with the belief in "holy water" on Qixi. People believe that taking spring water and river water on Qixi day is just like taking Silver River water, which has clean and sacred power. Some places directly call it "heavenly sun (i.e. Weaver Girl) holy water". Therefore, women's hair bathing on this day has a special significance. It means that if they clean their hair with the holy water in the Milky way, they will be protected by the goddess of weaving.

It is recorded in Hunan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. For example, the chronicle of you County in Xiangtan, Hunan Province: "on July 7, women picked cypress leaves and peach branches, fried soup and bathed their hair." The famous prose writer Qijun (from Zhejiang) also mentioned that his mother and uncles and other dependents bathe their hair on Qixi.

Drying books and clothes

In ancient times, "Qixi" festival also had the custom of drying books and clothes, which is said to avoid moths. It is said that people choose to dry books on Qixi because on July 7, the door of heaven is open and the sun is strong. It is the "scale drying day" of king long. People often expose clothes and quilts to prevent moths. Readers often expose books on this day. After the Han Dynasty, the cultural exchanges and customs of envoys were integrated and spread, and the main traditional festivals have been popularized all over the country. Cui Shi of the Eastern Han Dynasty said in his four people's monthly order: "on July 7, expose the Scriptures and clothes, and don't bark."

According to the existing historical data, the era when drying books was paid attention to by the government began in the Song Dynasty. Although "the books of the past dynasties are more abundant in the Qin Dynasty than in the Sui and Tang Dynasties", the official act of drying books in the Sui and Tang Dynasties is rare in historical materials. The book drying meeting in the Song Dynasty is eye-catching. As for the book drying meeting in the Song Dynasty, it has been recorded in the notes of the people of the Song Dynasty. The first volume of song Cai Tae's series on Tiewei mountain said: "when the Secretary provincial year-old exposes the book, there will be a meeting. The number is called the book exposure meeting, and the attendants are all gathered, with the rank as the title." In addition, according to the records of Hongmai's four strokes of Rongzhai in the Southern Song Dynasty, Chen Ji's records of Guange in the Southern Song Dynasty and Yiming's continuation of Guange in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were cultural activities such as "Book drying party" in Shaoxing, Xiaozong Chunxi and ningzong Qingyuan years of the Song Dynasty. The book exposure meeting in Song Dynasty was generally presided over by the Secretary Province in charge of books and specifically undertaken by Lin'an government. Most of the time is on July 5, 6 and 73.

From the fact that the relevant historical materials of the Southern Song Dynasty are more than those of the Northern Song Dynasty, it seems that the Southern Song Dynasty pays more attention to drying books than the Northern Song Dynasty. The main reason is that Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, is located in the southeast with heavy moisture. Drying books has always been a habitual activity in the local area, and so has the official. In the Song Dynasty, the same thing happened in the Yuan Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the management of the official collection of books was lax, resulting in "no one asked about the cabinet officials and CI officials, and gradually lost", and the official book publishing activities did not continue. The book drying activities in the Qing Dynasty were not as standardized and large-scale as those in the Song Dynasty.

Ligation Qiao Gu

In the Loess Plateau of Shaanxi Province, it is also a custom to hold various Qiaoqiao activities on the night of the Qixi Festival. Women often ligate the grass man in flower clothes, called qiaogu. They not only supply melons and fruits, but also plant bean seedlings and green onions. On the night of the Qixi Festival, all women carry a bowl of clean water, cut bean seedlings and green onions, put them into the water, use the shadow of objects cast under the moon to divine Qiaozhuo's life, and wear needles and thread, Competition level. At the same time, the activity of cutting window flowers is also held.

Have fun

Mohuile is a children's toy of the folk Qixi Festival in Kaifeng, Henan Province, that is, a small clay doll. Its image is mostly a half arm dress with lotus leaves in hand. On July 7 every year, in Kaifeng, "the tile outside the East Song gate of Panlou street, the tile outside the West Liang gate of Zhou, the tile outside the north gate, the South zhuquemenwai street and the maxing street, all sell grinding and drinking music, which are small plastic earth puppet ears".

From the historical documents and combined with ancient customs relics, with people's understanding of astronomical phenomena and the emergence of textile technology, the worship of Cowherd and Weaver Girl's natural phenomena and festivals and customs such as sacrifice and blessing existed in ancient times. The Han Dynasty was the first great development period after China's reunification. The economic and cultural exchanges between the north and the South also integrated the customs and habits, which provided good social conditions for the spread and popularization of festival customs. The main traditional festivals began to be popularized in the Han Dynasty. Since then, the custom of Qixi has gradually appeared in the literature. The Qiqiao custom of "seventh sister's birthday" was introduced into Xi'an in the north and began in the Han Dynasty. Liu Xin of the Western Han Dynasty (Xijing, now Xi'an, Shaanxi): "colorful women in the Han Dynasty often wear seven hole needles in the open Lapel building on July 7, which everyone is familiar with.". This is the written record that the Qiqiao custom of the seventh sister's birthday appeared in Xi'an in the north. During the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty, Dai Zong Xuan wrote in the annals of the age of Jingchu that "on July 7, it was the night of the petunia Weaver girls' gathering. On the eve, people's women made colored wisps, wore seven hole needles, or used gold, silver and jade as needles, made several feasts, drank wine, preserved melons and fruits, and begged for dexterity in the court. If there were cucumbers on the net melons, it was considered to be a symbol". It can be seen that in the northern and Southern Dynasties, the Qiqiao ceremony of the southern Qixi was quite complex. It was not only necessary to worship the two stars of the petunia weaver and wear needles under the moon, but also to place melons and fruits in the court, and the custom of judging whether "Deqiao" was formed according to the webs made by spiders. In the Tang Dynasty, the palace even had to do Qixi. On this day, a special "Qiqiao building" was set up. Under the moonlight, concubines and women used five-color threads to wear nine hole needles to Qiqiao. According to the "legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao", Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and his concubine have a banquet in the Qing Palace on Qixi, and the maids beg for dexterity. This custom has also been enduring among the people and continues from generation to generation. Through the historical development and evolution, the character and astrology of the Petunia wunvtian have been endowed with the personalized legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl (Volume III of the "Sui Hua Jili" of the Tang Dynasty quotes the lost article of the "custom Tong" of Ying Shao of the Han Dynasty: "the weaver girl should cross the river on Qixi and make the magpie a bridge").

In the existing literature, the word "Qixi Festival" first appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty; Before the Song Dynasty, many documents called this day "July 7", "Qiqiao Festival", "Qixi" and so on. The Song Dynasty positioned the Qixi Festival as a national legal holiday, with prominent entertainment and commercial atmosphere, and the festival atmosphere reached the peak. During the song and Yuan Dynasties, the Qijie birthday's Qiqiao custom was quite grand. There was also a market in the capital that monopolized Qiqiao goods, which was called Qiqiao city by the world. Song luoye and Jin Yingzhi's "talking about the drunken man" said: "on Qixi, people buy and sell beggars in front of the pan building. From July 1, cars and horses swallow angrily. Until three days before Qixi, cars and horses are not allowed to pass. They are choked up in the second place. They no longer get there, and they disperse at night." Here, we can infer the lively scene of the Qiqiao Festival on the Chinese Valentine's day from the grand occasion of buying Qiqiao objects from Qiqiao city. People began to buy Qiqiao items from the first day of July. There were a lot of cars and people in Qiqiao city. When it was close to Qixi, Qiqiao city became a sea of people, and it was difficult for cars and horses to travel. It shows that Qixi Festival is one of the favorite festivals of the ancients. In ancient times, Qixi is closely related to the legend of Cowherd and weaver girl. It is a comprehensive festival dominated by women. On this day, beautiful women will visit their close friends, worship weaver girl, exchange needlework and pray for blessings. Therefore, Qixi is also called "daughter's Day". On the day when women compete and entertain happily, men also join in the fun and enjoy it. The love between men and women is only a by-product of the "daughter's Day" event. According to the written records, the activities of Qixi in the Yuan Dynasty mainly include begging Festival, needle threading and Qiqiao, douqiao banquet, Mahara (mud doll) and wusheng basin (potted plant). Ming Dynasty Qixi only floating needle Qiqiao. The activities of Qixi in the Qing Dynasty mainly include floating needle Qiqiao, sacrificial Qiqiao and wusheng basin.

In the "distant Altair" in the "Nineteen Ancient Poems", the morning glory and the weaver girl are a pair of lovers who admire each other. Since then, through the "processing" of modern literati, this legend that originally belongs to heaven has become more and more rich and vivid. In the classic drama of Huangmei Opera "Tianxianpei", the ancient people's imagination of stars has been almost perfectly integrated with a folk farmer named Dong Yong into a human love tragedy, that is, the legend of Cowherd and weaver girl. In modern times, Qixi was endowed with the beautiful love legend of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl", which made it a festival symbolizing love and produced the cultural meaning of "Chinese Valentine's Day". Although the Chinese Qixi Festival came into being much earlier than the Western Valentine's day and has been popular among the people for a long time, among the young people, the Chinese Qixi Festival is not as popular as the Western Valentine's day. Folklore experts said that compared with foreign festivals, traditional festivals such as Qixi have more potential in culture and connotation. If romantic, warm, entertainment and other fashion elements are implanted into traditional festivals, traditional festivals can be more wonderful.

The eating customs of Qixi Festival vary from place to place. It is generally called eating skillful food. An image of "Qiao" shows the uniqueness of Qixi food customs and expresses people's good wishes for dexterity, family well-being and happy life.

Qiaoguo: Qiaoguo is the festival food for Qiaoxi. Qiaoguo is the most famous. Qiaoguo, also known as "Qiaoguo", has many styles. "Qiqiao fruit" is the traditional sacrifice and beauty point of Qixi Festival. On the evening of Qixi, people brought "Qiaoguo" to the courtyard, and the whole family sat around and tasted the craft of making "Qiaoguo". Now this custom is no longer popular in many places. The traditional food of "begging for clever fruit" has also evolved into a variety of colored cakes. There are many styles of Qiaoguo. The main materials are oil, noodles, sugar and honey. In addition, there are many changes in the melons and fruits used in begging for coincidence: carve the melons and fruits into strange flowers and birds, or emboss patterns on the surface of the melon skin; This kind of fruit is called "flower melon".

Crisp candy: in pastry shops in some parts of China, some crisp candy with the image of weaver girl will be made on this day, commonly known as "smart person" and "smart crisp". When sold, it is also known as "sending smart person". People believe that people who eat this kind of "crisp candy" will become dexterous.

Qiaoqiao rice: in Shandong, China, Qiaoqiao rice is eaten on this day. The custom of Qiaoqiao is very interesting: seven good girls gather grain and vegetables to make dumplings, and wrap a copper coin, a needle and a red date into three dumplings respectively. After the Qiaoqiao activity, they get together to eat dumplings. It is said that they are blessed to eat money, skillful to eat needles and early marriage to eat dates.

Melons and fruits: in Fujian, during the Qixi Festival, the weaver girl should enjoy and taste the melons and fruits, so that she can bless the bumper harvest of melons and fruits in the coming year. Offerings include tea, wine, fresh fruit, Wuzi (longan, red jujube, hazelnut, peanut and melon seeds), flowers and pollen for women's make-up. Generally, after fasting and bathing, everyone takes turns to burn incense in front of the offering table and pray silently.

poetry

Nineteen Ancient Poems: the distant Altair the distant Altair is a Han woman in the Jiaojiao river. Slender and plain hands and machine looms.

All day long, I cry like rain. The river and the Han Dynasty are clear and shallow, and the phase goes away and complex. There is no language in the water.

"Xiangzi · Qixi" (Song Dynasty) Li Qingzhao

The grass is singing, and the Wutong is frightened.

Cloud terraces and moon terraces are heavily locked. If you come and go, you won't meet.

Star Bridge magpie drive, see for years, want to leave, don't hate hard poor.

Petunia weaver, don't leave. It's sunny, rainy and windy.

Book of songs · Xiaoya · Dadong

Wei Tian has Han and prison has light. She is the weaver girl. She has seven Xiangs all day.

Although Qixiang is not a newspaper. Screen that morning glory, not to suit the box.

Autumn Eve (Tang Dynasty) Du Mu

Silver candle autumn light cold picture screen, light Luo small fan fluttering fireflies.

The night is as cool as water. Sit and watch the morning glory Vega.

Qixi (Five Dynasties and later Tang Dynasty) Yang Pu

If you don't know how to lead a cow, you must invite the weaver girl to make the golden shuttle.

Every year I beg for human ingenuity, but there are many human ingenuity.

ballad

one of

Beg for dexterity and appearance; Begging heart, begging face; Begging my parents for thousands of years; Beg my sister for thousands of years.

Second

Emperor, emperor, I invite seven sisters to heaven.

Do not figure your needle, do not figure your thread, optical your 72 good means.

Third

Qiao Yaya is born strangely. Pots and pans, hands covered.

Take it off on July 7 and take a picture of your sister.

It's like flowers and vegetables. It depends on who has a quick mind and hands.

In November 2019, the list of protection units of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects was published, and the Ministry of culture and tourism was qualified as the protection unit of "Qixi Festival".

Japan

Influenced by Chinese culture, the Japanese also have the tradition of Qixi Festival, which they call "Qixi Festival". Japan's "Qixi Festival" originated in China and is said to have been introduced in the Nara era. Since the middle of Nara era, the Japanese court and upper class society imitated the Tang Palace, and Qixi sacrifice, needle threading and Qiqiao and Qixi poetry became common practice. It continues the customs and habits of "begging for cleverness", but it has nothing to do with love. Qixi Festival was originally the seventh day of July in the lunar calendar. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan abolished the lunar calendar, so Japan's Qixi Festival is July 7 of the Gregorian calendar every year.

The Qixi Festival in Japan is not mainly used to pray for love, but to pray that girls can have good skills. At this time of year, adults and children get together and write wishes and poems on colorful long poem pads, which are hung on the small bamboo in their own yard together with paper decorations. This custom began in the Edo era. In the days approaching Qixi, there will be Qixi bamboo trees in many places. Qixi wishing trees will be set up in places where stores sell summer clothes and supermarkets settle accounts.

At some large-scale celebrations, bamboo ornaments (evolved from hanging short vows) competitions will be held. Local kindergartens, primary schools and other schools or companies will create their own bamboo ornaments, compare them, and select the most distinctive ones for display. In addition, the annual "Qixi Festival" will be held in all parts of Japan every summer. People wear traditional clothes, sing and dance, and the streets with "short books" are crowded with adults and children watching and playing. With the "Qixi Festival", there is also the annual summer fireworks conference.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, the main body of Qixi celebration is Chinese. Qixi has a nickname - "niuniupo day". On this day, people will go to the temple to make wishes. The tribute used by the Chinese in Ho Chi Minh City to pay homage to the Qixi Festival is mainly based on the customs of southern China, mainly including water chestnut, chess cake, money cake, peanuts, as well as "Heyang" and a "seven sister plate", which are closely related to the legend of "Cowherd and Weaver Girl". The young people who participated in the activity also wrote their expectations for love on a note and made wishes when paying homage, hoping to have a happy family in the future.