Qixi Festival & Valentine’s Day

Welcome to this edition of China Lifestyle Journeys, the series that brings you chats, discussions and insights on all aspects of Chinese living. We will cover festivals, food, traditions, customs and much, much more. I’m your host Jocelyn… and I’m Mat, just an English guy with lots of questions.

So, Mat, what’s your big question today?

(Mat)

Hello and welcome to another episode of China Lifestyle Journeys. And today we are talking about something that I guess most people know about. And that’s Valentine’s Day, or should I say we are going to talk two important dates in the calendar1, Valentine’s Day and something called the Qixi Festival. So first of all, I think a good place to start is with the question, is the Qixi Festival the same as Valentine’s Day?

(Jocelyn)

Thank you, Mat. Yes, that’s a good question to open with. So, both the Qixi Festival and Valentine's Day are celebrations of love. They do have some differences. The Qixi Festival, is sometimes called Chinese Valentine's Day, and I think this can cause some confusion, because it’s actually celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar2 month in the Chinese calendar (which is usually around the month of August), whereas the Valentine’s Day is in February. And the Qixi Festival has its own unique customs, traditions and cultural significance, so it’s quitemisleading3 to call it “Chinese Valentine’s Day”, actually. So while they both share some similarities on the theme of love, they havedistinct4 origins, customs, andsymbolism5. So, in short, they are two quite separate and distinct celebrations.

(Mat)

OK, so now we know that these are two separate things, really quite different. So let’s start with the origins. I know that the European Valentine’s Day comes from both Christian and ancient Roman traditions. It’s a combination ofboth. I think it’s named after a saint, Saint Valentine6, but I remember reading somewhere. There’s actually more than one Saint Valentine, there’s probably about four, so nobody really knows the story behind the celebration of Valentine’s Day, because there are many different versions of the same story. So, Jocelyn, tell me something about the origins of the QixiFestival.

(Jocelyn)

OK. The origins of the Qixi Festival can be traced back to ancient Chinese folklore7. The festival is based on an interesting legend about two characters Niulang (the Cowherd8) and Zhinv (the Weaving9 Maid).  

The story goes that a warm-hearted10 cowherd called Niulang, who lost his parents and led a hard life with an old ox, and he fell in love with11 a girl named Zhinv, a weaving maid who escaped from the heaven because all the strict rules there made her life dull. So, in the story, they got married, and soon had two children and lived together happily for a few years.

However, Zhinv’s mother, the Empress of Heaven12, was quite angry to find that her daughter had married a simple and poor human and sent soldiers to fetch13 her back.

Then Niulang tried to go to heaven to rescue Zhinv but they were separated by the giant river (which is actuallythe Milky Way14) and they could only meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, and that’s why the Qixi Festival falls on this day.

(Mat)

Wow, it’s quite a romantic story, which makes sense really, because it’s a romantic festival. Now, obviously on Valentine’s Day, couples buy gifts for each other, they go on dates, and I remember when I was a teenager, there was a special Valentine’s Day ritual. If you had a crush on15 someone, but they didn’t know, because you haven’t told them. You bought a romantic Valentine’s card, you wrote a simple message, such as“be my valentine”, but you didn’t sign your name. It was like a secret love letter, a mystery. It was like sending a message to someone saying “someone likes you”, but it’s not signed, so they never knew who. So, are there any similar traditions or rituals for the QixiFestival?

(Jocelyn)

Traditionally, in the past, one popular custom was for unmarried women to demonstrate their needlework skills by creating intricate16 handicrafts, such asembroidered17 silkand wovenaccessories18. It was a way for young women to show their creativity and dedication, and also a chance to impress others with their artistic abilities. Another tradition, which still exists in some places today, is making a wish, writing it on a piece of paper, then throwing it into a river or stream during the festival, hoping that the wishes will come true. Usually the wishes are related to love and romance. So in some ways, that’s similar to the secret love letters of Valentine's Day that you mentioned. 

Today, however, the festival has become increasingly commercialised19 – with many couples celebrating by going on datesor giving each other gifts on that day, again similar to Valentine’sDay.

(Mat)

OK, so although the origins and original ancient legends are different, I suppose just like many things in the modern world. Once they become more commercial, things tend to become more similar and less unique. They lose some of their original flavour. So as we are talking about festivals, I always have to ask, are there any foods that are traditionallyeaten on this festival?

(Jocelyn)

Well actually, there are some. The most well-known is probably something called “Qiaoguo20”  pastry. It’s a thin pastry made from flour, sugar,sesame21 and sometimes honey. The fragrant and sweet pastry dough22 is moulded into different shapes and decorated with elegant patterns and decorative designs. In some regions of China, they deep fry this Qiaoguo pastry. It’s really delicious. I recommend that you try it if you have a chance. 

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