Festival of the Cowherd and Weaving Maiden

The Festival of the Cowherd and Weaving Maiden is also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day. Ok, everybody. This is the time for a bedtime story, so why don't you gather around me (the monitor) with some cookies.

A long time ago, when heaven and earth were close with each other, the fairies up in the sky would occasionally come down from heaven to play. Down here on earth, there was a cowherd. He was a poor man and his only possession was a cow. He lived a peaceful life but was very lonely.

Because the cow sensed his loneliness, one day it spoke to him. The cow said that the daughters of the Jade Emperor of Heaven, also known as the Weaving Maidens, like to bathe in the river close to the cliff. All the cowherd has to do was to steal one of the outfits when the maidens were taking a bath. Then, whichever maiden lost her outfit would stay and become his wife.

The next day he waited by the river, and what the cow had said was true. The maidens indeed were taking a bath in the river. He quickly stole an outfit that belonged to the youngest out of seven sisters. After hearing a noise, the maidens started to flee, but the youngest was stuck behind. Because the cowherd has seen her naked body, the maiden agreed to be his wife.

They lived happily for ten years and had two kids together. Side note - according to the legend, one year on earth is equal to one day in heaven. In this case, ten years is equal to ten days in heaven. Ok, let's continue.

One of the maiden's jobs was weaving the celestial cloth in heaven; however, after she left the color of the clouds stayed the same. Because of this reason, the Mother of the West was furious.

As punishment, she banished the maiden back to heaven. As the queen tried to prevent the cowherd from following, she took the maiden's hair pin and tore the sky, which created a Great River (also known as the Milky Way) in the sky to keep them separate.

From that point, the maiden sat on one side of the river weaving the cloth with tears in her eyes, and the cowherd raised their kids on the other side of the river. Over time, this story reached the Jade Emperor. Out of sympathy he let the family see one another on July 7 of every year.

To help them reach each other, the emperor ordered the crow to be a bridge between two sides of the river.

There is another version of the story. (Sadder version)
Cowherd and Weaving Maiden

When the Queen banished the maiden back to heaven, the two children missed their mom and they would not stop crying. The earth wizard had empathy for their situation and he then gave them a magical drum. Every time the drum was hit, it would carry the family up into the sky.

As they almost reached heaven, the children started to get hungry, and they wanted to eat. When the cowherd fed his kids with rice, the crow started to attack and try to take the food. Accidentally, when the crow tried to get the rice, it broke the drum. From heaven, the cowherd and two kids fell down and died.

This story reached to the emperor, and out of sympathy he allowed them to see each other one day out of every year. As punishment for the crow, the emperor makes it become a bridge for the family every year.

As a result, if you look carefully in the month of July, the crow does not have any hair on its head. The explanation is that the family of the cowherd steps on its head when they cross over the bridge. Also, in the beginning of July, there is always a slight rain, meaning the family is crying up in the sky.

According to Western astronomy, the star name after the cowherd is Altair, located in the constellation Aquila. The star named for the Weaving Maiden is Vega, which is located in the constellation Lyra.

To celebrate this holiday, Chinese couples exchange gifts with each other and are romantic at the "Sin City of Las Vegas." (I'm just kidding.) I know this is a sad story, just wanted to break the ice.

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Raphita Tobing