1、Double Seventh DayChinese Valentines DayLiJunCowhert StarWeaving Girl StarMilky WayOn the night of the 7th day of the 7th lunar month every year,they meet at the Magpie Bridge for a short time.OutlineIntroductionThe origin of the Double Seventh DayLegend about the Double Seventh DayFolk Customs on t

2、he Double Seventh Day IntroductionA traditional festival full of romanceThe 7th day of the 7th lunar monthThe Weaving Girl（織女） and the Cowherd（牛郎） in heaven would meet at the Magpie Bridge Also called Begging-for-Dexterity Festival（乞巧節(jié)） （The Weaving Girl is a beautiful and smart fairy with deft hand

3、s and the women in the mortal world will beg for intelligence and deft needle work from her）The Origin of the Double Seventh Dayoriginating from nature worship of the human raceDouble-Seventh Day was also the product of time worship of the ancientsthe number 七 appears in both month and day giving a

4、strong sense of time. The Origin of the Double Seventh DayDouble Seventh Day is also a phenomenon of number worship七 bears the same pronunciation with 妻 (wife), thus the Double Seventh Day is to a great extent a festival related to women.Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weavin

5、g Girl The fairy tale of the Cowherd and the Weaving Girl is one of the four most famous folktales of ancient China. It is a classic love story between a fairy and a human being enjoying a widespread influence. Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weaving GirlLong long ago, there

6、was a very poor but clever, diligent and honest boy named Cowherd. His parents died when he was a child .Later he was driven out of his home by his sister-in-law .But his cattle is very loyal to him .Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weaving GirlThe Weaving Girl is a beautiful

7、and smart fairy with deft hands .She had grown tired of the life at the heavenly palace, longed for a life among the common people .Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weaving GirlThe cattle gave the Cowherd a tip:take the fairys clothes when she is taking a bath,then she cant go

8、 back to the heavenly palace.Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weaving Girl They fell in love with each other and lived a happy life.Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weaving GirlUnfortunately, the fact that they have fell in love was found out soon The Qu

9、een Mother of brought the Weaving Girl back and drew a big river across the sky, known to the Chinese as the Silvery River (the Milky Way in the West), to drive a wedge between them. Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weaving GirlHowever, all the magpies in the world, deeply tou

10、ched by the story, came to their rescue. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh month, they would flock together to form a bridge so that the Cowherd and the Weaving Girl could enjoy a brief reunion. Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weaving GirlThis story, to some extent

11、, reflects Chinese peoples wishes to pursue the freedom of love and marriage. Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weaving GirlThe fairy tale also contains Chinese peoples understanding about star images. In the tale, the Weaving Girl Star (the Vega) is the brightest star in the c

12、onstellation Lyra, facing the Cowherd Star (the Altair), the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, across the Milky Way.Legend about the Double Seventh Day the Cowherd and the Weaving GirlOn the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar every year, Chinese women customarily look u

13、p into the night sky, searching for the Weaving Girl Star and the Cowherd Star on both sides of the Milky Way and hoping to see their annual gathering. Meanwhile, girls on the ground hope to have clever hands and good sense, just like the Weaving Girl. They also pray for a happy marriage of their ow

14、n. Folk Customs on the Double Seventh Day -Ingenuity test by floating needle（投針驗巧） Ingenuity test by floating needle is one of the common customs on the festival. Put some water in a vessel and leave it in the open air until it is covered by a film of dust. Then cast a needle or thin straw on it to

15、see the pattern of the shadow at the bottom, so as to test their ingenuity Folk Customs on the Double Seventh Day -Pleading for Skills by Threading a NeedleIn order to plead for skills, threading a needle（穿針乞巧） is the most long-standing means. It tests the speed of threading a needle under the moon.

16、 It is said that the needles used in the contest are the seven-hole needle of the Han Dynasty or the nine-tail needle of the Yuan Dynasty. With more holes than ordinary needles, they are rather hard to handle. Folk Customs on the Double Seventh Day -Cobweb as the Determinant（喜蛛應(yīng)巧）Pleading for skills

17、 with cobweb is another common custom in the festival, in which everybody puts a spider into a locket and waits until the next morning to see if there is cobweb and if any, how it looks. The one with a most round cobweb of the most mesh will be the winner. Folk Customs on the Double Seventh Day -Qiaoguo(巧果)Qiaoguo（Fried Thin Pastes）is in different shapes with the materials mostly being oil, flour, sugar and honey. The deft hands will