But the Goddess of Heaven found out that Zhinü, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhinü to return to heaven. Alternatively, the Goddess forced the fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds, a task she neglected while living on earth with a mortal. On Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had disappeared. 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, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhinü. The Goddess discovered this 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 between Altair and Vega. Zhinü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar while taking care of their two children. But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridgeover 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.
Magpie Festival is Valentine’s Day in China. It is also called Double Seventh Festival or The Begging Festival. It falls in 13th of Auguest of 2013.
The Double Seventh Festival is a traditional festival full of romance. It is on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month and often goes into August in the Gregorian calendar. It is also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the lunar calendar. It has sometimes been called Chinese Valentine’s Day since the late 1990s, which is, strictly speaking, an inaccurate portrait of the festival. Girls traditionally demonstrate their domestic arts, especially melon carving, on this day and make wishes for a good husband.
Long, long ago, there was an honest and kind-hearted fellow named Niu Lang. His parents died when he was a child. Later he was driven out of his home by his sister-in-law. So he lived by himself herding cattle and farming. One day, he came across a beautiful girl–Zhinü, the seventh daughter of the Goddess, who just had escaped from boring heaven to look for fun. Zhinü soon fell in love with Niulang, and they got married without the knowledge of the Goddess. Zhinü proved to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children.
