At the night of Qixi Festival, girls would dress up carefully. They would bathe with heavenly river water, then put on their best silk dresses, and wore flowers on their hair. Next, they would blacken their eyebrows, smear rouge and powder, redden the mouth, and paint flowers on forehead, as well as dye fingers with balsamine juice. After this careful making up, every girl looks like fairies coming down from heaven. They sit around the table or the magpie bridge to play various games, or compose poems and couplets, puzzles. They also play needle threading game to pray for dexterity. They point to the seven stars in the Big Dipper (as legend goes the weaver fairy was formerly one of the seven sister stars), the Altair, the Vega. They would narrate tales of the cowherd and the weaver fairy, poems and classic stories. Sometimes, artists are invited to sing the local songs and play music. The girls would participate and play music themselves. At this moment, people can go to visit the altar arrangements in other families, where they can get warm entertainments. When it goes to 12 o’clock mid-night, the auspicious time for the weaver fairy to descend from heaven, all the colorful lanterns, candles, and incense sticks would be used, and the surroundings are very bright. Girls would be very happy to thread their needles, welcome the seventh sister fairy, and laughter could be heard everywhere. Afterwards, they will do the last feasts and entertainments, then leave for homes. Poet of Qing dynasty Wang Lun wrote in his poem Qixi in Yangcheng City, “Embroidered doors and jade windows open in succession, flowers are screen and jade makes up the terrace. Girls and sisters assembled at green brook and blue bridge, meeting to seek for dexterity.”
Taiwan – Worshiping the Bed Mother
On Qixi Festival, besides worshiping the seventh fairy, people in Taiwan also prepare a small bow of rice to worship bed mother, but the two ceremonies should have the same meanings. Delivering and educating babies are the irreplaceable duties for women, so the deities for these are all goddesses. There is a close relationship between female gods and female believers, relieving the concerns and worries for females when they are carrying out their duties. Bed mother is the patron of babies. July 7 is the birthday of the bed mother, so families with babies would worship her at that night. The sacrificial offerings include: oil rice, chicken, wine. Women would burn square gold signs and bed mother clothes. The ceremony should not last too long, which is not like other formal services. When the offerings are put up, the incense sticks are burnt, then square gold paper and bed mother clothes can be burnt. As soon as they are burnt, all the things can be withdrawn, because the prayer would expect the babies would grow up soon, but they are also afraid that the bed mother would spoil their babies if they pray too long.
Jiangsu Province – Qixi Fragrant Bridge Fair
In Gudoujing village, Tanghui township, Jiaxing, Jiangsu province, there is Qixi Fragrant Bridge Fair. Every year on Qixi Festival, people assemble here to set up fragrant bridge. The so-called fragrant bridge is a bridge about 4 meters long and half a meter wide, made of thick incense wrapped by paper. The bridge would have balusters with flowers made of colored threads. At night, people worship the Altair and the Vega to pray for blessings. At last, the fragrant bridge will be burnt, symbolizing that the two stars have walked on the bridge and met each other happily. The fragrant bridge is said to have been derived from the magpie bridge in legend.
(Source: bjchinese.bjedu.cn)
