‘Wish upon the stars’ festival returns to Chinatown after half a century
The Qixi festival will return to Chinatown from July to August, after an absence of more than 50 years
The Qixi festival – marked by the age-old custom of wishing upon the stars – will return to Chinatown from July to August, after an absence of more than 50 years.
Spearheaded by festival director Lynn Wong together with clan associations and community partners in Chinatown, the seven-week Qixi Fest starting from July 7 will feature talks, workshops, exhibitions and tours, leading up to a mega carnival held along Smith Street on Aug 19 and 20.
Over 50 per cent of the programmes will be open to the public for free. The project is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board.
Falling on the seventh day of seventh lunar month, the Double Seventh Festival in China, also known as Qixi Festival, is what Valentine's Day to the western countries. As it is a day of great importance to girls, the event is also called Young Girls' Festival. Because of the beautiful legend about Niu Lang and Zhi Nu, the festival has been endowed with the meaning of great romance.
While the customs of this festival varies according to the different regions, the same hope is cherished by all. The most prevalent custom is that of girls praying to Zhi Nu for skillful hands for sewing. Because Zhi Nu is regarded as a beautiful woman deft at weaving, in the evening of the festival, girls sew some articles to compete with each other and prepare some delicious fruits to worship Zhi Nu in order to be endowed with the masterly sewing skill. Not only hoping for this skill, they also pray to have a sweet love.
In the rural regions, people usually see the meeting of Niu Lang and Zhi Nu as two stars in the sky. At the same time, the old people tell the young about this old love legend. Unfortunately, this is not popular in cities nowadays.
read more
CHINESE DOUBLE SEVENTH FESTIVAL
The Double Seventh Festival falls on July 7th on the Chinese lunar calendar.
Originated in Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), the Double Seventh Festival is what Valentine's Day to the western countries. In Chinese, it is called Qixi. As it falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the festival is named the Double Seventh Festival. It is the most romantic festival among all the traditional Chinese festivals with a legend about the two lovers - cowherd and weaver girl.
Because in the past it is a day especially for young girls to pray for dexterity in needlework and happy marriages, it is also known as the Young Girls' Day or Qiqiao (pray for intelligence and skills) Festival.
read more
Celebrating Qixi Festival
The Chinese character 爱 ("ai"), meaning love, is the keyword for China's Qixi Festival. This traditional festival has a history of around 2,000 years and originates from the romantic tale of Niulang and Zhinu (Cowherd and Weaver Maid).
The festival is also known as Double Seventh Festival as it is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar, usually in August. This year, it falls on Aug. 4. Let's find out more about its romantic history and unique traditions.
Qixi Festival is also known as the festival to "pray for dexterity." On this day, especially in ancient China, females would pray to Zhinu, the goddess of weaving, wishing for wisdom and dexterity in skills like spinning, weaving and sewing.
Double Seventh Festival
The traditional Qixi Festival
The Qixi Festival (七夕节), or the Double Seventh Festival, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, is a traditional festival full of romance. It often goes into August in the Gregorian calendar.
This festival is in mid-summer when the weather is warm and the grass and trees reveal their luxurious greens. At night when the sky is dotted with stars, and people can see the Milky Way spanning from the north to the south. On each bank of it is a bright star, which see each other from afar. They are the Cowherd and Weaver Maid, and about them there is a beautiful love story passed down from generation to generation.
Long, long ago, there was an honest and kind-hearted fellow named Niu Lang (Cowhand). 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, a fairy from heaven Zhi Nu (Weaver Maid) fell in love with him and came down secretly to earth and married him. The cowhand farmed in the field and the Weaver Maid wove at home. They lived a happy life and gave birth to a boy and a girl. Unfortunately, the God of Heaven soon found out the fact and ordered the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens to bring the Weaver Maid back.
Qixi festival returns to Chinatown on 7 July
‘Wish upon the stars’ will return to Chinatown from 7 July to August, after an absence of more than 50 years. ST PHOTO: RYAN CHIONG
A magpie mascot named QiQi, or “seven seven” in Mandarin, has been created for the festival, which is also known as Double Seventh Festival, Seven Sisters Festival and Qiqiao Festival. Associated with the legend about the brief reunion of the cowherd and the weaver fairy on this day, it used to be one of the most important traditional Chinese festivals for women in Singapore. Legend has it that magpies would form a bridge every seventh day of the seventh lunar month for the lovers separated across the Milky Way, fulfilling their wish to meet. Since the Han Dynasty, it has been a custom to wish upon the stars on this day. Within Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese households, women would lead younger family members in different “wish-granting” rituals.
The Qixi Festival had its heyday here in the 1930s to 1950s. Women would form over 100 “Milky Way associations” in Chinatown, displaying their exquisite handicrafts, which included miniatures of items like furniture and food. This attracted throngs of visitors throughout the night. Celebrations that were grander than Chinese New Year were mostly held in the Keppel Harbour area. They lasted for several days, with elaborate offerings, auction banquets and opera performances by local and Hong Kong artistes. The festival faded from public consciousness in the 1970s, even as places elsewhere in Asia like Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan continued to celebrate it.
Qixi Festival 2014 七夕節 Chinese Valentine's Day
Chinese Valentine’s Day – Qi Xi Festival (七夕节)
When the goddness came and took off their silk ropes then jumped into the water. Niulang found Zhinu's clothes and hide away. Other goddesses witnessed Niulang and dressed up quickly and flew away, only Zhinu left. He had adored her from the first moment he saw her. They looked into each other's eyes. The heavenly girl told the poor cowherd that she would be his wife. They soon got married lived together in that cottage. Niulang worked hard to grow crops and Zhinv raised silkworms. They lived a simple but happy life, with a little boy and girl Zhinu give birth afterwards. One day the old ox died and they preserve the its hide according to its words left. At the same time, the king and queen of the heaven found that Zhinu married a man and had babies. The queen flew down to earth with her solders and caught Zhinu away. Niulang came back home and found Zhinu not at home, only the children left. The babies cried and told him where Zhinu was going. Niulang remembered what the old ox told him and placed the twins in wicker baskets on a pole to carry on his shoulder, put on the magic hide, and flew up, up into the sky. The queen noticed that Niulang was following them, she became angry, with wave of her arm, and a raging torrent immediately appeared between her group and Niulang. He could not get past this wide swollen river. Heartbroken, Niulang and his children could only look and weep bitterly. The King in his Heavenly Palace was moved by the sound of their crying, and decided to allow Niulang and Zhinu to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
This sad love story was passed down from ancient times, with little magpies were seen on double seventh day, as most of them fly to Milky River to form a bridge for the annual meeting of Niulang and Zhinu. In ancient times, the double seventh day was an important festival for young women and young girls. No matter poor or rich, they would put on their best clothes and place an incense burner in the courtyard and lay out some fruit as offerings. Then all the girls in the family would kowtow to Niulang and Zhinu and pray for ingenuity. But nowadays, these traditional customs were lost and most Chinese young people favored Western Valentine's Day, a great day to express love between lovers.
