Beijing, August 14 (Reporter Shangguan Yun) The Qixi Festival has arrived. Have you figured out how to send blessings to others? Have you chosen a gift for your lover? Recently, similar issues have become a hot topic on the Internet.
In recent years, Tanabata is a lively festival. Merchants from all walks of life hope to make a fortune by taking the opportunity, while couples are busy giving gifts to each other and thinking about blessing copywriting. There are also singles who laugh at themselves as "not suitable for holidays".
How much do you know about this festival?
Is it appropriate to say happy holidays to singles?
The present Qixi Festival is also called "China Valentine’s Day".
As early as it has not yet arrived, many people have made careful preparations: couples exchange gifts and wish each other a happy holiday, making this festival extremely warm.
At the same time, some people laugh at themselves for "two delays in love career", which is not suitable for festivals; Considering the love theme of the festival, some people make fun of it. Don’t say "Happy Holidays" to singles, which is a double blow.
Wang Juan, a folklore expert, explained that Tanabata is rich in connotation, including begging for cleverness, begging for children, tying a red rope and so on, which is far more than just love. In ancient times, there was no unified way of blessing in the whole country, so we had to talk about the matter.
"For example, if you treat it as Valentine’s Day, you will wish it everlasting; When the girl’s adult ceremony is over, I wish the girl what she wants, and what kind of blessing to send, generally depends on the needs of both sides. " She said.
Of course, on Tanabata, you can also say happy holidays. Wang Juan believes that singles can use this festival to express their love, and those who don’t want to celebrate this festival don’t have to. It is a very romantic festival in itself, so don’t give yourself so many restrictions.
Not just love.
Indeed, earlier, Tanabata had little to do with love. The spread of the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has something to do with the ancient people’s observation of the actions of Vega and Altair.
According to ancient records, at that time in July evening, Vega just rose to the highest point of the year, which was clearly visible. In addition, the two dark stars next to Vega look like an opening to the east, and when you look to the east, you can see the "Altair".
Later generations, the connotation of Tanabata gradually enriched. Begging with needles, for example, started in Han Dynasty, and is especially popular among women. The gameplay is very simple. They wear the needle in the competition. The faster they wear it, the more "cleverness" they beg for, and the success of threading the needle is "skillful".
There is also a game called "floating needle trick". The girls will prepare a basin of water one day in advance and put it in the courtyard, and there will be floating dust on the water the next day. Then, the girls put the needle in and observe the projection of the needle after the sun comes out.
In addition, according to folklore, July 7th is Kuixing’s birthday, and scholars who want to achieve fame will make sacrifices on Tanabata to pray for their success in the exam.
In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there was also a "Qiqiao City". The festive food on Tanabata is called "proper fruit", which is mainly made of oil, flour, sugar and honey. It is called "laughing tired of children" and "fruit eating pattern" in Tokyo Dream of China Record.
Constantly enriched festival connotation
Besides, Wang Juan once mentioned that in ancient times, one of the main contents of Chinese Valentine’s Day was begging for cleverness, so most unmarried girls celebrated this festival. In some areas, this day is a rite of passage for girls.
For a traditional festival, its connotation, customs and so on would have been enriched and developed with the passage of time. In modern society, inheriting beneficial customs also needs to be linked with daily life.
Therefore, as far as Tanabata is concerned, some experts suggest that we can start with the details, such as girls can still hold similar handicraft competitions and let children do proper fruit, which can also encourage young people to pay attention to and participate in this festival.
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