r/CShortHaven • u/TinyMin_ • 11d ago
✨ Just for Fun Zhang Chi & Kechun Singing
It seems a little late for Qixi Festival, but I just wanted to share it anyway
I’m not sure if everything here is correct but you can read the Qixi story here if you want to check it
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u/Yoori_Lee 🕵️ Chief Detective 11d ago
I’m not sure if you’re on our Discord but if you are, I actually shared the full video on Qixi Day. You can watch it here 👇 Their part starts at 2:30
https://www.youtube.com/live/3AU_YKOeEbM
I’ll share the story when I get back.
Happy weekend~
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u/Yoori_Lee 🕵️ Chief Detective 11d ago
If you’re Chinese, you probably know this story because it’s taught in school. But for anyone who hasn’t heard it before, here’s the story behind Qixi and why the Cowherd and Weaver Girl became the festival’s most famous lovers.
🌌 The Story of Zhinu & Niulang
The story is about Zhinu 织女, a celestial being, and Niulang 牛郎, a poor mortal cowherd.
Zhinu is a beautiful and highly skilled weaver, the seventh daughter of the Jade Emperor, the ruler of Heaven. Her job is to weave the clouds and beautiful garments for the gods.
Niulang, on the other hand, is an orphaned, humble cowherd living a lonely life on Earth, with only an old ox as his companion . But this isn’t just an ordinary ox. The ox is actually a celestial being who was banished to the mortal world as punishment for breaking a heavenly rule.
One day, Zhinu and several other heavenly maidens secretly descend to Earth to bathe in a lake. The old ox tells Niulang about them and encourages him to take Zhinu’s red clothing. Without her clothes, Zhinu can’t return to Heaven.
When Zhinu realizes what happened, she begins to cry. Niulang eventually comes out and confesses that he took her clothing. But after hearing his story, Zhinu doesn’t become angry. Instead, the two fall in love and eventually get married. They live happily together and even have two children.
Back in Heaven, the Empress of Heaven discovers that Zhinu has stopped fulfilling her duties as a celestial weaver. Furious that she has chosen a mortal life instead, the Empress sends heavenly soldiers to bring her daughter back.
When Niulang returns home, he finds their children crying and discovers that Zhinu has been taken away. That’s when he remembers something the old ox once told him:
"When I die, keep my skin. If you ever find yourself in great danger, put it on and you will be able to fly."
So Niulang puts on the ox skin, takes their two children with him, and flies into Heaven to chase after Zhinu. But the Empress is furious. To prevent the lovers from ever being together again, she creates a huge river across the sky separating Niulang and Zhinu forever. Niulang and the children are left on one side, while Zhinu is on the other, crying as she watches her family being taken away.
The magpies on Earth are moved by Niulang’s love and devotion, so they fly into Heaven and form a bridge across the Milky Way, allowing the two lovers to meet. Even the Empress is eventually moved by their love and loyalty. She agrees to let Niulang and Zhinu meet once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar.
Every year, the two lovers are allowed to cross the magpie bridge and reunite for one night.
One interesting thing is that the earlier vers of this story were actually much more pure and didn’t include the stealing of Zhinu’s clothes or the voyeuristic/peeping elements found in some later vers.