On July 7 of the third year, the weaver fairy delivered a son and a daughter. The son was called Gold Brother, while the daughter was Jade Sister. The cowherd worked hard in field, and the weaver fairy wove at home. Consequently, they led a very happy life.
Several years later, one day when the cowherd was plowing, thunders went out in sky. The old bull looked at the cowherd with tears full of eyes, “My boy, I have to die because I have violated the heaven law to bring the weaver fairy down here. After my death, the heavenly empress would not let you off the hook. When that moment comes, you can eat my flesh to be immortal, and wear the shoes made of my hide to fly on clouds.” After this, the old bull dumped onto the ground, died. The cowherd cried sorrowfully, and then did as the old bull instructed him.
On July 7, when the cowherd was hoeing field, Gold Brother and Jade Sister ran to find him crying. They told their father that there came an old lady, and dragged mama away from her loom. Immediately, the cowherd wore his magic shoes made of the old bull hide, drew his son and daughter by hands, and flew into sky to pursue his wife. When he was about to catch up with his wife, the heaven empress pulled off her hairpin and drew a line between them. Instantly, a river with big waves emerged. Helplessly, the cowherd and his children stood on the bank cry day and night. The Jade Emperor heard their cry and felt sympathetic with the two children, so he determined that the family could meet once a year on July 7.
All of a sudden, the villagers found the cowherd family disappeared, and they felt quite surprised. Therefore, at night they went under the bean trellis in front of the cowherd’s home, and looked up into the sky. They saw a large river with violent billows, on one side of the river the weaver fairy was crying, while on the other side the cowherd together with Gold Brother and Jade Sister was crying too. Afterwards, people found there appeared a silvery band in sky, which they named it the Milky Way; on one side of it emerged a new star, the Vega, and on the other side three stars, the Altair. The villagers missed the cowherd family very much, so they often went under the bean trellis of their house and raised their heads to look into the sky. At night of July 7, people found numerous magpies flocking towards the heavenly river, where they bit each other’s tail to set up a magpie bridge. Now the cowherd, taking the hands of Gold Brother and Jade Sister, moved to meet the weaver fairy on the bridge.
Alternative Names of Qixi Festival
On Qixi Festival, the sequence of month and date are both seventh, so it is also called Double Seven Festival, or Twice Seven Festival.
Fragrance Date Festival: It is said that, when the cowherd and the weaver fairy meet on July 7, the fairy would carefully dress up and apply rouge and powder, so her fragrance would drift all over the sky, hence the name.
Xingqi, meaning star meeting. The positions of the Altair and the Vega were quite special, as they would meet once a year, thus the name.
(Source: bjchinese.bjedu.cn)
