Qixi

The shepherd boy and the weaver girl in the gallery of the New Summer Palace in Beijing

The Chinese festival Qixi ( Chinese 七夕 , Pinyin qīxī - "The Night of the Seven") falls on the evening of the 7th day of the 7th month according to the Chinese lunar calendar . It is the Chinese festival of lovers, a Chinese counterpart to western Valentine's Day . The underlying folk tale of the cowherd and the weaver is very well known in China and is celebrated by many young people in the cities and in the country.

pronunciation

The two syllables qi and xi are reproduced in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [tɕʰi¹] and [ɕi¹] or [tɕʰī] and [ɕī], whereby the i is not spoken briefly. Both syllables are spoken in the first tone . The Q sounds similar to the ch in the English "cheese", the X similar to "ch" in the German ich . If you speak the festival in a similar way to chih shih , the Chinese pronunciation is not reproduced correctly, but you are relatively close to the Chinese pronunciation. More detailed explanations can be found under Pinyin - Writing the Syllables .

Legend

According to legend, Qixi is the evening on which two lovers, namely the shepherd boy ( 牛郎 , niúláng ) and the weaver girl ( 織女 / 织女 , zhīnǚ ), two stars ( Altair and Vega ) separated in the sky by the Milky Way , spend one night can be together.

The legend comes from a traditional love story about a cowherd. His parents had died a long time ago and his sister-in-law drove him out of the house. He then led a hard life, tending cows and tilling the fields. Then a fairy fell in love with him, she came to earth and they got married. While he worked in the field and tended the cows, she wove. They lived happy lives with a son and a daughter. When the Heavenly Emperor found out, he was enraged and sent the Heavenly Empress to earth to separate her and bring the fairy back to heaven.

The cowherd loved her very much and followed her on an unearthly cattle. As soon as he caught up with her, the Heavenly Empress drew a heavenly river with a golden hairpin, which separated the shepherd and the weaver. They both loved each other very much and were now facing each other with tears in their eyes. When the magpies saw this, it moved them, they came flying and formed a bridge for the two of them across the sky river so that they could meet on her. This moved the Heavenly Empress so much that she allowed them to meet on the Elster Bridge on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Chinese calendar every year . According to legend, on this day it should rain, as the two lovers shed tears of joy or, depending on the interpretation, of sadness over their separation. Nevertheless, of course, people generally hope for good weather so that they can celebrate the festival in the open air with a view of the stars.

In Japan the corresponding festival is called Tanabata .

Variants of the legend

There are several variants of the legend. It is also reported:

Niulang and Zhinü neglect work because of their love. The Heavenly Emperor then has the two separated by the Milky Way. They are only allowed to meet once a year. Zhinü then travels with the moon across the Milky Way to Niulang. In rainy weather, magpies form a bridge with their wings. Zhinü is in the starry sky as Wega , Niulang as Altair .
The Empress of Heaven, touched by their love, lets them come together once on the 7th day of the 7th month.
The star Deneb acts as a " chaperone " when the lovers meet at the Elsterbrücke .
In another narration, lovers are allowed to meet once a month instead of once a year.
A Chinese myth says that during the Qixi night the stars Altair and Vega unite in the Milky Way.

Calendar dates

According to the Chinese peasant calendar (bound lunar calendar), the festival is celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th month ( 農曆七月初七 / 农历七月初七 , nónglì qīyuè chūqī , for short mostly 七月初七 / 七月初七 , qīyuè chūqī ). The following dates of the festival since 2015 are according to the Gregorian calendar :

date
20th August 2015
August 9, 2016
August 28, 2017
17th August 2018
7th August 2019
August 25, 2020
August 14, 2021
August 4, 2022
August 22, 2023
August 10, 2024
August 29, 2025

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