What is The Legend Behind Qixi Festival?

The legend of the Chinese Valentine’s Day or Qixi festival centres on two star-crossed lovers, Zhinhu, a weaver girl and the daughter of a powerful goddess, and Niulang, a humble cowherd.

It was love at first sight for the two. They eventually married, and Zhinhu had two children, a boy and a girl.

When Zhinhu’s mother learned that her daughter had married a mere mortal, she returned her to heaven and cast a massive river between earth and heaven to separate the couple, which is now known as the Milky Way.

Touched by Zhinhu and Niulang’s love, the magpies on earth flew up to heaven and assisted the couple by forming a bridge across the river, allowing the two to be reunited.

Their love moved Zhinhu’s mother, who eventually agreed to let the couple meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

During the festival, single women would pray to the celestial couple in the hopes of finding a suitable husband, and newly married women would wish to have a child.