raiseyourheadonaugust4andgazeatthestars,youwillfindsomethingromanticgoingoninthesky。 valentine‘‘sdayinchina,theseventhdayoftheseventhlunarmonth,fallsonaugust4thisyear。 thatis,onmondayevening,niulangandzhinuwillmeetonabridgeofmagpies(鹊桥)acrossthemilkyway(银河)。chinesegrannieswillremindchildrenthattheywouldnotbeabletoseeanymagpiesonthateveningbecauseallthemagpieshavelefttoformabridgeintheheavenswiththeirwings。 romanticlegend thelegendhasbeenhandeddownfornearly2millennia。thestoryhasbeenrecordedasfarbackasthejindynasty(256420ad)。poetscomposedhundredsofversesonthelovestoryandmanytypesofchineseoperatellthestory。 thechinesepeoplebelievethatthestarvega(织女星),eastofthemilkyway,iszhinuand,attheconstellationofaquila(天鹰座),onthewesternsideofthemilkyway,niulangwaitsforhiswife。 zhinuwassaidtobetheyoungestofsevendaughtersofthequeenofheaven。withhersisters,sheworkedhardtoweavebeautifulcloudsinthesky,whileniulangwasapoororphancowherd,drivenoutofhishomebyhiselderbrotherandhiscruelwife。 niulanglamentedoverhislonelyandpoorlifewithanoldcow,hisonlyfriendandcompanion。themagicalcowkindlytoldhimofawaytofindabeautifulandnicewomanashislifecompanion。 underthedirectionofthecow,niulangwenttotheriversideonanevening,wherethesevenfairiesslippedoutoftheirheavenlypalacetobathe。 hetookoneofthebeautifulsilkdressesthefairieshadleftonthebank。whenthefairiesleftthewater,thheyoungestcouldn‘‘tfindherclothesandhadtoseehersistersflybacktoheavenwithouther。 thenniulangcameoutwiththedressandaskedtheyoungestfairy,zhinu,tostaywithhim。 severalyearspassedonearth,whichwereonlyafewdaysinheaven。niulangandzhinulivedhappilytogetherandhadtwochildrenbeforethequeenofheavendiscoveredzhinu‘‘sabsence。 shewassoannoyedshehadzhinubroughtbacktoheaven。seeinghisbelovedwifeflyinginthesky,niulangwasterrified。hecaughtsightofthecowhidehangingonawall。themagicalcowhadtoldhimbeforedyingofoldage:keepthecowhide(牛皮)foremergencyuse。 puttingthecowhideon,hewentafterhiswifewithhistwochildren。 withthehelpofthecowhide,niulangwasabletofollowzhinuintoheaven。hewasabouttoreachhiswifewhenthequeenshowedupandpulledoffherhairpintodrawalinebetweenthetwo。thelinebecamethesilverriverinheaven,orthemilkyway。 zhinuwentbacktotheheavenlyworkshop,goingonweavingtheclouds。butshewassosad,andmissedherhusbandacrossthesilverriversomuchthatthecloudssheweavedseemedsad。finally,thequeenshowedalittlemercy,allowingthecoupletomeetonceeveryyearonthesilverriver 很久以前,有一个跟着哥嫂过活的孤儿,既聪明又勤快,可嫂嫂仍嫌弃他,天不亮就赶他上山放牛,大家都叫他牛郎。几年后,哥嫂和牛郎分了家,狼心的嫂嫂只给他一间破茅房、一头老牛。从此,牛郎白天放牛、砍柴,晚上就和老牛同睡在那间破茅房内。一天,牛郎赶牛走进了一片陌生的树林,这里山青水秀、鸟语花香。牛郎见到九个仙女驾着祥云落在河的草地上,然后脱去五彩霓裳,跳进清澈见底的河水里,牛郎盯着一个最年轻是美丽的仙女看入了神,这时老牛突然说话了:她是天上的织女,只要拿走五彩霓裳,她就会做你的妻子。牛郎悄悄地沿着树从,悄悄拿走了织女的五彩霓裳。天近午时,其他仙女纷纷穿起五彩霓裳,驾着祥云而去。唯独找不到五彩霓裳的织女留下了。这时,牛郎从树后走出,请求织女做他的妻子。织女见牛郎忠厚老实,勤劳健壮,便脉脉含羞地点了点头。牛郎织女喜结良缘后,男耕女织,互敬互爱。两年后,织女生下一男一女。然而天帝闻知织女下嫁人间,勃然大怒。七月初七,王母奉旨带着天兵天将捉了织女。悲痛欲绝的牛郎在老牛的帮助下,用萝筐挑着儿女追上天去。眼看追上了,王母拔下金簪一划,牛郎脚下立刻出现一条波涛汹涌的天河。肝肠寸断的织女和肩挑儿女的牛郎,一个在河东一个在河西,遥望对泣。哭声感动了喜鹊,霎时无数的喜鹊飞向天河,搭起一座鹊桥,牛郎织女终于可以在鹊桥上相会了。王母无奈,只好允许牛郎织女每年的七月初七在桥上相会一次。 当然,这只是个传说。乞巧的仪式源自古代织女桑神的原始信仰。这种信仰结合了牛郎织女每年七月七日相会的说法,成了我们今时今日的七夕