Speaking of the Qixi Festival, the first thing to know is its origin. The earliest records of Qixi can be found in "Xijing Zaji" by Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which says, "The Han dynasty girls often threaded seven holes with needles on the seventh floor of the building on the seventh day of the seventh month, and everyone practiced this." The beginning of Qixi as a festival dates back to the Han Dynasty. Then, during the Tang Dynasty, Qixi began to be frequently mentioned, and many poets created many famous poems and lines with "Qixi" as their theme.

Qixi

Du Mu

Once meeting on the cloud steps and moon land,
Not yet reaching a year, the sorrow of separation is much.
The most annoying is the rain on the next morning for washing the car,
Not allowing the feet to return across the Milky Way.

Since we are talking about the origin, it is not enough to mention just a time. The origin of Qixi comes from people's worship of nature, time, and reproduction. Nature worship refers to people's worship of the stars "Niu Xing" (the Cowherd Star) and "Zhi Xing" (the Weaver Girl Star). Of course, there are many other stars worshipped besides these two, but they are not listed here one by one. Time worship refers to the special feelings ancient people had for certain numbers. In folk traditions, the days like January 1st, February 2nd, March 3rd, May 5th, June 6th, July 7th, and September 9th were considered very important festivals. Perhaps stating the dates directly does not seem so sensitive, but these days correspond to the following festivals: Spring Festival (formerly called New Year), Dragon Head-raising Day, Shangsi Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Heaven's Gift Festival, Qixi Festival, and Chongyang Festival. It was mentioned earlier that Qixi was not originally a Valentine's Day, but the traditional Chinese "Valentine's Day" should be the Lantern Festival and Shangsi Festival (now Shangsi Festival is mainly maintained by people in Guangxi). Reproduction worship refers to what is stated in "Su Wen" of "Huangdi Neijing": "Men do not exceed eight eights, and women do not exceed seven sevens, and the essence of heaven and earth will be exhausted." Seven represents the life cycle of women, while eight represents that of men. Therefore, it is believed that Qixi is a festival for women. Of course, the customs corresponding to Qixi have been passed down to this day. Qixi Festival is also known as Qi Qiao Festival, where "Qi Qiao" literally means to pray for being smart and skillful, which also indirectly shows that Qixi is a festival for women. There are four ways to practice Qi Qiao: threading needles to seek skill, observing spiders to respond to skill, testing the needle to determine skill, and competing in skill on the Lan night. As we mentioned earlier, the customs of worshipping stars must also exist, such as worshipping Zhi Nu, worshipping Kui Xing, and Qixi Birthday (Qixi Birthday is not only another name for Qixi but also a custom). Reproduction worship is reflected in "planting sprouts to seek children," and Qixi also includes customs such as "exposing books and clothes" and "celebrating the birthday of the ox." Here, the editor will not elaborate further. Although Qixi was not originally a Valentine's Day, it does not mean that it cannot be regarded as a Valentine's Day now. A festival is the accumulation of culture, and giving meaning to festivals is something people should do. Wishing everyone a happy Qixi.

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