Qixi Festival

Qixi Festival(ˈfestəvəl)

The Qixi Festival, also known as the Qiqiao Festival, is a Chinese traditional(trəˈdiSH(ə)n(ə)l) festival celebrating(ˈseləˌbrāt) the annual(ˈanyo͞oəl) meeting of the cowherd(ˈkouˌhərd) and the weaver(ˈwēvər) girl in mythology(məˈTHäləjē). “Qi” means seven in Chinese, and “Xi” means night in Chinese, so “Qixi” points out that the cowherd and the weaver maid(mād) meet with each other on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar(ˈlo͞onər) calendar(ˈkaləndər) every year, so Qixi Festival is also called Double Seventh Festival, Seventh Evening Festival or Night of Sevens.

The festival originated(əˈrijəˌnāt) from the romantic(rōˈman(t)ik) legend(ˈlejənd) of two lovers, Zhinü and Niulang, who were the weaver girl and the cowherd, respectively(rəˈspektivlē). The tale(tāl) of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has been celebrated in the Qixi Festival since the Han dynasty(ˈdīnəstē). The earliest-known reference(ˈref(ə)rəns) to this famous myth(miTH) dates back to over 2600 years ago, which was told in a poem(pōm,ˈpōim,ˈpōəm) from the Classic(ˈklasik) of Poetry(ˈpōətrē). The Qixi festival inspired(inˈspīrd) the Tanabata festival in Japan and Chilseok festival in Korea(kəˈrēə). Contemporarily(kənˌtempəˈre(ə)rəlē), the Qixi Festival has been given the cultural(ˈkəlCHərəl) meaning of Chinese Valentine’s(ˈvalənˌtīn) Day, because the love tale(tāl) of the cowherd and the weaver maid has made the Qixi Festival become a symbol(ˈsimbəl) of love.

The general(ˈjenərəl) tale is a love story between Zhinü (the weaver girl, symbolizing(ˈsimbəˌlīz) Vega(ˈvāgə)) and Niulang (the cowherd, symbolizing Altair(ˈalˌte(ə)r, -ˌtī(ə)r, alˈtī(ə)r, -ˈte(ə)r)). Their love was not allowed, thus they were banished(ˈbaniSH) to opposite(ˈäpəzət) sides of the Silver(ˈsilvər) River (symbolizing the Milky(ˈmilkē) Way). Once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, a flock(fläk) of magpies(ˈmagˌpī) would form a bridge to reunite(ˌrēyo͝oˈnīt) the lovers for one day. There are many variations(ˌve(ə)rēˈāSHən) of the story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qixi_Festival