七夕Chinese Valentine's Day!
cassielin
August 06, 2008, 02:13 PM posted in General Discussion明天是中国的七夕情人节，牛郎和织女相会的日子！^_^
Have you ever heard about it? Do you know the story of the cowherd and the weaving maid?
liansuo
August 06, 2008, 08:33 PMThank you so much, Cassielin -- there is a lot in your story that I did not remember clearly -- the positive role of the cow especially.
Are there any traditions still alive regarding this myth that you know of?
daizi
August 06, 2008, 09:11 PM
There are many Chinese variations on this story. Here's one.
牛郎与织女的故事
Niúláng yǔ zhīnǚ gùshi
相传牛郎父母早逝，又常受到哥嫂的虐待，只有一头老牛相伴。有一天老牛给他出计谋，要娶织女做妻子。到了那一天，美丽的仙女们果然到银河沐浴，并在水中嬉戏。这时藏在芦苇中的牛郎突然跑出来拿走了织女的衣裳。惊慌失措的仙女们急忙上岸穿好衣裳飞走了，唯独剩下织女。在牛郎的恳求下，织女答应做他的妻子。婚后，牛郎织女男耕女织，相亲相爱，生活得十分幸福美满。织女还给牛郎生了一儿一女，后来，老牛要死去的时候，叮嘱牛郎要把它的皮留下来，到急难时披上以求帮助。老牛死后，夫妻俩忍痛剥下牛皮，把牛埋在山坡上。
织女和牛郎成亲的事被天庭的玉帝和王母娘娘知道后，他们勃然大怒，并命令天神下界抓回织女。天神趁牛郎不在家的时候，抓走了织女。牛郎回家不见织女，急忙披上牛皮，担了两个小孩追去。眼看就要追上，王母娘娘心中一急，拔下头上的金簪向银河一划，昔日清浅的银河一瞬间变得浊浪滔天，牛郎再也过不去了。从此，牛郎织女只能泪眼盈盈，隔河相望，天长地久，玉皇大帝和王母娘娘也拗不过他们之间的真挚情感，准许他们每年七月七日相会一次，相传，每逢七月七日，人间的喜雀就要飞上天去，在银河为牛郎织女搭桥相会。此外，七夕夜深人静之时，人们还能在葡萄架或其他的瓜果架下听到牛郎织女在天上的脉脉情话。
Xiāngchuán niúláng fùmǔ zǎoshì，yòu cháng shòudào gēsǎo de nüèdài，zhǐyǒu yī tóu lǎo niú xiāngbàn. Yǒu yī tiān lǎo niú gěi tā chū jìmóu，yào qǔ zhīnǚ zuò qīzi. Dàoliǎo nà yī tiān，měilì de xiānnǚ men guǒrán dào Yínhé mùyù，bìng zài shuǐzhōng xīxì. Zhèshí cáng zài lúwěi zhòngdì niúláng tūrán pǎo chūlai názǒu le zhīnǚ de yīshang. Jīnghuāngshīcuò de xiānnǚ men jímáng shàng'àn chuānhǎo yīshang fēizǒu le，wéidú shèngxia zhīnǚ. Zài niúláng de kěnqiú xià，zhīnǚ dāying zuò tā de qīzi. Hūnhòu，niúlángzhīnǚ nángēngnǚzhī，xiāngqīnxiāng'ài，shēnghuó de shífēn xìngfú měimǎn. Zhīnǚ huángěi niúláng shēng le yī ér yī nǚ，hòulái，lǎo niú yào sǐqù de shíhou，dīngzhǔ niúláng yào bǎ tā de pí liú xiàlái，dào jínàn shí pīshàng yǐqiú bāngzhù. Lǎo niú sǐhòu，fūqī liǎ rěntòng bōxià niúpí，bǎ niú mái zài shānpō shang.
Zhīnǚ hé niúláng chéngqīn de shì bèi tiāntíng de Yùdì hé Wángmǔ niángniang zhīdao hòu，tāmen bórándànù，bìng mìnglìng tiānshén xiàjiè zhuā huí zhīnǚ. Tiānshén chèn niúláng bùzài jiā de shíhou，zhuāzǒu le zhīnǚ. Niúláng huíjiā bùjiàn zhīnǚ，jímáng pīshàng niúpí，dān le liǎng ge xiǎohái zhuī qù. Yǎnkàn jiùyào zhuīshàng，Wángmǔ niángniang xīnzhōng yī jí，báxià tóushang de jīn zān xiàng Yínhé yī huá，xīrì qīngqiǎn de Yínhé yīshùnjiān biàn de zhuólàng tāotiān，niúláng zàiyě guòbuqù le. Cóngcǐ，niúlángzhīnǚ zhǐnéng lèiyǎn yíngyíng，gé hé xiāngwàng，tiānchángdìjiǔ，Yùhuáng Dàdì hé Wángmǔ niángniang yě niùbuguò tāmen zhījiān de zhēnzhì qínggǎn，zhǔnxǔ tāmen měi nián Qīyuè qī rì xiānghuì yīcì，xiāngchuán，měiféng Qīyuè qī rì，rénjiān de xǐ qiǎo jiùyào fēi shàngtiān qù，zài Yínhé wèi niúlángzhīnǚ dāqiáo xiānghuì. Cǐwài，Qīxī yèshēnrénjìng zhī shí，rénmen hái néng zài pútaojià huò qítā de guā-guǒ jià xià tīngdào niúlángzhīnǚ zài tiānshàng de mòmò qínghuà.
liansuo
August 07, 2008, 08:23 AMThank you, daizi -- my favorite and entirely new detail is the 人们还能在葡萄架或其他的瓜果架下听到牛郎织女在天上的脉脉情话. Knowing this specific myth gives one access to the poignant meaning behind so many of the finest love poems etc. in Chinese and even Japanese which otherwise might remain quite bland to our Western eyes.
changye
August 07, 2008, 09:18 AMHi liansuo,
七夕 (tana-bata) is one of the deeply-rooted traditions in Japanese culture, and, of course, it is originated in China and modified in Japan. Japanese people hung a strip of paper、on which is a written wish, on a bamboo tree branch on this day. A lot of 七夕 festivals are held throughout Japan, and the most famous one is the 仙台 (Sendai) 七夕 Festival. It's really gorgeous.
The Sendai 七夕 Festival.
http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&q=%E4%BB%99%E5%8F%B0%E3%80%80%E4%B8%83%E5%A4%95&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
The song of 七夕.
Almost all of Japanese can sing this song.
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=_-giDVy18bA
liansuo
August 07, 2008, 01:08 PMThank you so much, Changye, for the surprise trip to Sendai on tana bata day. Really impressive decoration! And the song is sweet, too! You definitely chose the nicest version.
What does one wish for, I wonder?
Here is my favorite 詞 on the topic. It would not make sense without the background cassielin and daizi have given us.
鵲 橋 仙
纖 雲 弄 巧， 飛 星 傳 恨, 銀 漢 迢 迢 暗 度。
金 風 玉 露 一 相 逢 , 便 勝 卻 人 間 無 數 .
柔 情 似 水, 佳 期 如 夢 , 忍 顧 鵲 橋 歸 路 ?
兩 情 若 是 長 九 時，又 豈 在 朝 朝 暮 暮 !
秦 觀， 1049-1100
liansuo
August 07, 2008, 02:13 PMHmmm, clicking through the tana bata links I just realized -- it is celebrated in the seventh month = July now in Japan, isn't it? Obviously China still goes by the lunar Calendar for this kind of holiday.
cassielin
August 06, 2008, 04:15 PMIn ancient times, there was an orphan who lived with his brother and sister-in-law, who treated him badly. They made him graze a cow during the day and sleep with it at night. He was known only as Cowherd.
When the Cowherd grew up his brother gave him the old cow and a cart and drove him out of the house, he had to cut firewood and farm during the day and sleep in the cart at night.
One day the cow told him that the next day fairy maidens would come down to bathe in the lake, and the one in pink gauze would become his wife.
The next day, Cowherd really saw the maiden. He told her about his hard life and she sympathized with him and took a fancy to him. She told him her own story. She was the granddaughter of the Queen Mother of the West on her mother’s side. She was good at weaving and was called the Weaving Maid.
The Weaving Maid and Cowherd were married and led a happy life, the one farming and the other weaving. Later a boy and girl were born to them.
One day, the old cow told Cowherd, “I can no longer help your work. After I die, strip off my skin and if you are in a tight spot, put it over your shoulders.” The cow died soon and the husband and wife cried bitterly.
The Queen Mother did not want the Weaving Maid to stay in the human world, so she decided to take away. The Cowherd tries to pursue her, but how could he go up to the sky? Remembering the old cow’s words, he put on the skin, found two baskets and put one child in each basket. Carrying the basket on his shoulder pole, he flew up as soon as he went out the door. He almost caught up with her hand. In front of the Cowherd appeared a river which he could not cross.
From then on, people could see this river (the Milky Way) at night. They called it the Heavenly River. The stars on both sides they called Cowherd (Altair) and the Weaving Maid (Vega).
It is said that the Queen Mother allows them to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. On that night, flocks of magpies fly to the Heavenly River and form a bridge so the two can meet.
RJ
August 07, 2008, 03:13 PMhappy 七夕 cassie. It falls on Aug 7th this year.
liansuo
August 07, 2008, 03:27 PMChangye, see, you can even do it after your -- whatever you got tipsy on! There are just a very few spots where my sober view i.e. drunk only on poetry :) differs from yours. But Cassielin is the native expert -- let her tell you (and me) what she thinks.
Somehow it makes me very happy to have given Qin Guan a little outing on this night...
cassielin
August 07, 2008, 03:29 PMha,七夕节快乐！^_^ it is Aug 7th today, but lunar July 7th.
cassielin
August 07, 2008, 03:35 PMliansuo,
what do you mean by Qin Guan? a little outing on this night?
“两情若是长久时，又岂在朝朝暮暮！”是说如果两个人是真心的相爱，感情深厚的话，是不会在意是否能天天见面的！也就是说不在乎那一点点的离别！
henning
August 07, 2008, 03:40 PMPerfect, cassie. Just turned that into a mail to my wife who always has to wait for me all week long while I am working in remote Stuttgart.
:)
liansuo
August 07, 2008, 03:46 PMThank you, Cassielin -- for the explanation -- this line seems to be the most quoted one then.
What I meant by Qin Guan is : 秦 觀， 1049-1100-- He wrote this poem almost nine.hundred years ago -- tonight I wanted him to make an appearance on ChinesePod. Thank you for providing the opportunity!! (Changye will have to decide whether he saw 秦 觀's legs or not...)
cassielin
August 07, 2008, 04:07 PMhenning,
你的太太肯定会很开心的！这句诗非常的浪漫！^_^
liansuo
你说的没错，这句诗是恋人们（爱人们）表达爱意最常引用的诗句之一。
So it is秦观，I learned this poem when I was a middle school student. To be honest, I only remember the last line because it is very famous！^_^
Oh, I should add a chinese idiom成语here.
男耕女织nan2geng1nv3zhi1
这是形容在中国封建社会中的小农经济时期，一个家庭中，男的耕种，女的织布。
henning
August 07, 2008, 04:36 PMcassie,
yes, indeed. Thanks a lot. That had some significant and immediate effect..
:)
changye
August 07, 2008, 02:59 PMHi liansuo,
You are right. Japanese 七夕 is celebrated on July 7th according to the solar calendar. In the lunar calendar, the seventh month is regarded as the first month of autumn, and that is why the word 金风 is used in this poem. Anyway, it’s rather tough for a tipsy guy to interpret a Song poem. Good night.
鹊桥仙 （宋词, Song poem）
Fairyworld of the Magpies Bridge
纤云(delicate clouds)弄巧(change skillfully)，
飞星(meteorite)传恨(conveys sorrow)，
银汉(Milky Way)迢迢(remote, all the way to)
暗(secretly, privately)渡(cross)....the lovers cross.
金风(Autumn)玉露(dewdrops)一相逢(once meet)，
便(就)胜(more precious than)却(on the contrary)
人间(everyday world’s)无数(numerous ordinary lovers’ meetings)。
柔情(tender feelings)似水(like water)…passionately devoted
佳期(pleasant time)如梦(like a dream)，
忍(endure)顾(to think about)
鹊桥(the magpies bridge for)归路(way back home)
两情(two lovers’ feeling)若是(if)久长时(last long)，
又岂(it wouldn’t be necessary)
在朝朝暮暮(to meet everyday)
liansuo
August 06, 2008, 03:23 PMDo tell the story, Cassielin -- it is such a beautiful variation on your theme of "one-night-stands" and a lot older and more romantic than Valentine's Day!