Qixi Festival 七夕節, "The Night of Sevens" is also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; thus its name. It is sometimes called Chinese Valentine's Day in recent years.
The story of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl
See also: The Princess and the Cowherd
In late summer, the stars Altair and Vega are high in the night sky, and the Chinese tell the following love story, of which there are many variations:
A young cowherd named Niulang (Chinese: 牛郎; pinyin: niú láng; literally "[the] cowherd"), came across seven fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Encouraged by his mischievous companion the ox, he stole their clothes and waited to see what would happen. The fairy sisters elected the youngest and most beautiful sister Zhinü (simplified Chinese: 织女; traditional Chinese: 織女; pinyin: zhī nǚ; literally "[the] weaver girl", who represents the star Vega) to retrieve their clothing. She agreed to do so, but since Niulang had seen her naked, she agreed to his request for marriage. She proved to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children. But the Goddess of Heaven (in some versions Zhinü's mother) found out that Zhinü, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal human. She was furious and ordered Zhinü to return to Heaven. (In another version, the Goddess forced the fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds in the sky because she could not do her job while married to Niulang, a mortal.) Down on Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had gone. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife. Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin. Carrying his two children with him, he went off to Heaven to find Zhinü. The Goddess found out that he had come and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever (thus forming the Milky Way, which separates Altair and Vega).
Zhinü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar and takes care of their two children (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae or by their Chinese names Hè Gu 1 and Hè Gu 3).
But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (鵲橋, "the bridge of magpies", Que Qiao) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon.
It is said that if it rains on the night of Qi Xi, it is the tears of Niulang and Zhinü crying at the misery of their life because the magpies will not come on a night that rains.
As an interesting note, Barry Hughart's fantasy novel Bridge of Birds is loosely based upon this celestial story, though the two figures are switched here. The girl is forced to remain on earth, and her male paramour in heaven. She is a peasant girl, and he shepherds the stars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_Xi
