Chen Shuai Fo, Chairman of the Chinese I Ching Association, believes that the Cowherd and the Weaver are one of the most famous folk legends in China, and the earliest story about the star by our people. North and South Dynasty era Ren Fang's "Description of differences" in this paragraph: "East of the river, there is a beautiful woman, is the son of the emperor, the loom female workers, year after year of labor, weaving into the clouds of thick waterproof silk clothes, hard work, but no joy, appearance is not flawless finishing, the emperor pity his alone, married with the river West Altair as his wife, since then that is abolished weaving yellow label work, greed for joy does not return. Emperor anger, the responsibility to return to Hedong, once a year to meet." There are many versions of the story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, the most well-known is: according to legend, the Cowherd's parents died early, and he was often mistreated by his brother and sister-in-law, so he only had an old ox to keep him company. One day the old ox gave him a plan to marry the Weaving Maiden. On that day, the beautiful fairies really went to the Milky Way to bathe and play in the water. At that moment, the Cowherd, who was hiding among the reeds, suddenly ran out and took away the Weaving Maiden's clothes. Panicked, the fairies rushed ashore, put on their clothes and flew away, leaving only the Weaving Maiden. At the Cowherd's request, the Weaving Maiden agreed to be his wife. After the marriage, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden plowed and wove, loved each other, and lived a very happy and fulfilling life. The Weaving Maiden also gave birth to a son and a daughter, and later, when the old cow was about to die, she urged the cowherd to leave its skin behind and put it on in times of emergency in order to help. After the death of the old ox, the couple took the pain to peel off the skin and buried the ox on the hillside. When the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother knew about the marriage between the Weaving Maiden and the Cowherd, they were furious and ordered the heavenly gods to come down to the heaven to retrieve the Weaving Maiden. The gods took advantage of Cowherd's absence to capture the Weaving Maiden. When the Cowherd came home and did not see the Weaving Maiden, he hurriedly put on his cowhide and chased after her with two children. Seeing that they were about to catch up, the Queen Mother was so anxious that she pulled down the golden hairpin on her head and made a stroke to the Milky Way, which used to be shallow and became turbid in an instant, and the Cowherd could not pass through it any more. Since then, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden can only tearful eyes, look at each other across the river, the sky is long, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother can not argue with the sincere feelings between them, permitted them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month, legend has it that, on the seventh day of the seventh month, the earth's bird of prey will be flying up to the sky in the Milky Way for the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden to build a bridge to meet. In addition, when the night is quiet on the eve of the seventh day of the seventh month, people can also hear the pulsating love words of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden in the sky under the grape arbor or other melons and fruits. Of course, this is only a legend. The ritual of begging for coincidences originated from the ancient primitive beliefs of the goddess of the weaving mulberry This belief combined with the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, who meet on July 7 every year, has become our present-day folk beliefs of the Tanabata 7 coincidences. The story of "Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden" is one of the best legends passed down in China's folk history. The pure and simple love between the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden is the longing and desire of people for a good life; and the loyal and diligent cow represents people's love for labor and expectation of a peaceful life.... ...; the separation of life and death in heaven and on earth, the happy reunion of the magpie bridge meeting, interpreting the ancient love, Danyang is rumored to be the origin of the legend of "Cowherd and Weaving Maiden", therefore, Danyang built a group of carvings along the vanilla river in the early years for people to memorialize the traditional culture, and textile modern moving scene of a comedy! --It is said that every year, countless young boys and girls in love come to the "Cowherd and Weaving Maiden" to meet and tie the knot.
[edit]Legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden and Chu Culture
Overview
Trace the formation of the Tanabata Festival from the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden to the process of the time in the Warring States period, and the place is in the State of Chu. Checking the canon, "Poetry - Xiao Ya - Da Dong" in the "crawling weaving girl, the end of the day seven Xiang ...... yipping their cattle, not to serve Cockscomb" verse, which is about the cowherd weaving girl legend of the earliest written records, is the cowherd weaving girl legend of the prototype. There is also a weaving maiden related to the "Zhounan - Han Guang" said "Han have traveled female, can not seek thought". According to historical records, the "Han" in the poem refers to the Han water, but also refers to the Tianhan (Milky Way), "Lady" refers to the Han water goddess or the Weaving Maiden Goddess. Chu people Xiong distance from the Jianghan region, very important ancestral worship "Han's tour female". In addition, in the Chu folk, the Altair star is often confused with the three stars of the River Drum. North and South Dynasties, Nanyang Zong懔 "荆楚岁时记 "注文云："牵牛星，荆州呼为'河鼓'". And in the Nanyang Han portrait stone "Cowherd and Weaving Maiden Constellation", it is the River Drum for Altair. Residence "north of the Han River" in Nanyang, known as "pillow Fuxiu and stirrups Jianghan, lapel three mountains and with the group of lakes," the name. During the Warring States period, Nanyang belongs to Chu, Chu began in Xichuan Danyang, is the birthplace of Chu culture, deep cultural deposits. Such a historical background and cultural heritage, is the formation of the legend of the cowherd weaving one of the important conditions.
Nanyang Han portrait stone and star
The legend of Altair and Vega originated from the star worship of the ancients, which is the result of the deification and personification of the stars in the sky. The star Altair is located in the east of the Milky Way, and the star Vega is in the west of the Milky Way, and the two stars look at each other across the river, which makes people have endless reveries. The legend of the cowherd and the weaving maiden originated from the Chu, to the Han Dynasty, along with the development of astronomy, its legend is more extensive, specific, vivid, image, is to become an important material for painting and carving. The Han Dynasty is an important period in the history of the development of astronomy in China, and Nanyang in the Han Dynasty is one of the famous cities in the country, and became the meeting place of the north and south of the cultural and scientific and technological development of the collision of a variety of cultural factors, resulting in a profound cultural deposits. Here also gave birth to a generation of astronomy master Zhang Heng ....... In this context, Nanyang and the emergence of a large number of expression of the remote and deep space of the Han portrait stone, which the "Cowherd and Weaver constellations", vivid image of the stars and legends together, but also a kind of historical inevitability, but also the legend of the Cowherd and Weaver originated in Nanyang is one of the strong evidence.
Nanyang Silk and the Weaving Maiden
According to the literature, Nanyang had sericulture and silk industry in the Zhou Dynasty. During the Western Han Dynasty, Nanyang County was one of the country's eight major silk production areas. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Heng's "Nandu Fugue" recorded "the mulberry of the Emperor's daughter" came from Nanyang and became famous all over the world. In many versions of the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, the Weaving Maiden's spinning and weaving techniques are indispensable. The folklore of the birthplace of Pangu, describes how the Weaving Maiden taught silkworm rearing, reeling and silk weaving techniques. This has a connection with the very prestigious Nanyang Silk. From the Tanabata Festival derived from the begging customary activities, mainly because the Weaving Maiden is "the daughter of the emperor", dexterous, for the young girls on earth to worship. When people talk about begging for coincidences, they often quote from the record of "Jingmeng Youshi Ji" (Record of the Years of Jingmeng) by Zong Security Department of Nanyang during the North and South Dynasties: July 7 is the night of the gathering of the weaving maiden. On this day, women would make colorful buildings, thread seven-hole needles or use gold and silver as needles, and display fruits and melons in the courtyard to beg for coquettish gifts. According to Henan University Press, "The History of Chu," the northern part of Jingchu extends from the southern part of present-day Henan, south to Hengyang, and east to the area around Jiujiang........ And before the Western Zhou literature referred to the 'Jing Chu' when the Nanyang Basin in present-day Henan Province to the Jianghan Plain area." According to this can be known, Nanyang is located in the land of Jingchu, thus forming the custom of begging for coincidences, the spectacle of a folk song as evidence: Tanabata this evening to see the blue sky, pulling the cow weaving across the river bridge, family begging for coincidences to look at the moon in the fall, wear all the red silk tens of thousands of strips. The above witnessed the "strange coincidence" in the Weaving Maiden and Nanyang silk origin relationship.
Nanyang in folklore
The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden has been widely circulated in folklore all over the country, and there are many versions of it, but the core content is basically the same. Myths and legends since the generation to the circulation process to form stereotyped stories. Generally with the generation of the region's geographical names and customs attached, which is a form of localization of myths and legends, resulting in people from the emotional or intuitive feeling that the story is more credible color and widely spread. According to many modern folklore publications, most of them record that the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden originated in Nanyang, such as the 1997 edition of Cheng Jianjun's Folk Myths by Haiyan Publishing House, in which it is said that the Cowherd is a native of Sanglin in Nanyang County, and in the Festival of Religion and Culture Publishing House and the Complete Book of Chinese Folklore and Art by Three Gorges Publishing House, in which it is recorded that "Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a smart, loyal young man in Niujiazhuang, west of Nanyang City ......". There is also another version of the legend of the cowherd in the birthplace of Pangu in Tongbai County, Nanyang: the yellow cow was in Pangu's opening of the sky and the earth, because there were no grains on the ground at that time, it stole the grains from the heavenly barn and spread them on the earth, and thus it was given by the Jade Emperor to the heavenly court, and it broke its leg. Sun Ruyi cured the yellow ox's injury with Hundred Flowers Dew, and the yellow ox helped the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden to become a family. Later, the yellow ox helped the weaving maiden and the cowherd to steal the silkworm blue, silkworm seed, loom and shuttle from the heavenly palace despite the punishment. Since then, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden have lived happily together. The story also describes how the Weaving Maiden teaches the techniques of sericulture, reeling and silk weaving. The characters and locations in the different versions of the legend all point to Nanyang, which is fully in line with the localization of myths and legends.
The Long History of Nanyang Cattle
The localization of the legend of the cowherd and the weaving maiden is not only related to the characters, places and localities in the legend, but also the characteristics of the farming area reflected are very obvious. The ox is an indispensable labor force in farming areas, and is the main "productive force" for farming. At the same time, oxen are also the main characters in the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden. Nanyang yellow cattle is one of the five good breeds of cattle in China, known both at home and abroad, Nanyang cattle have a long history, naturally produced a lot of "cattle" stories: "Fu Niu Mountain", "Chang'e and the Black Cow", "Bailey Xi", "The Black Cow", "The Black Cow", "The Black Cow", "The Black Cow", "The Black Cow", "The Black Cow". The best part is the story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden: "Fu Niu Mountain", "Chang'e and the Black Cow", "Thyme Raising the Cow" ....... Today, Nanyang is a large agricultural area, and the Han Dynasty was also very brilliant in the field of agriculture. Zhang Heng praised his hometown in his "Nandu Fugue", which reads, "Hundreds of valleys and clans, with wings and wings". As early as in the Spring and Autumn Period, Nanyang yellow cattle have entered the stage of feeding and pen feeding. Born in Nanyang and grew up in Nanyang, the famous prime minister of Qin Bai Li Xi was good at raising cattle, in his downtrodden career, in Nanyang, west of the city of Kirin Gang cattle ranching for a living, he heard that Prince Decadence of the Zhou Dynasty likes cattle, that is, cattle as a ladder to meet with the people, has been passed down as a good story. During the Han Dynasty, bullfighting became a popular activity in Nanyang, and a large number of bulls appeared in the world-famous Nanyang Han portrait stones. It is not surprising that such an abundance of "cow" culture has given rise to the "cowboys" of the Nujiazhuang family in the west of Nanyang city.
[edit]Legend of the Miao Cowherd
The Miao people around Leigong Mountain celebrate the New Year's Festival on the Dragon Day in October of the lunar calendar. The main activities of the festival are stepping on copper drums, jumping Lusheng, horse racing and touring the square, among which the girls' stepping on the drums and the lads' playing the Lusheng to the girls to borrow the flower belt is the most touching scene. Legend has it that these activities started on the day when the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden returned to the earth, and then gradually became a custom that has been passed down from generation to generation. A long, long time ago, there was a young man in the foothills of the Miaoling Mountains. He lost both parents at a young age, and people didn't know what his name was (in fact, there was a name, called Sun Shouyi), because they saw him and a buffalo depend on each other, so they called him Cowherd. Cowherd was loyal, hard-working and kind, and everyone respected him very much. Niu Lang's family was so poor that they had neither good fields to plow nor forests to plant, so they had to work with the buffalo all year round for the rich man and lived a hard life. One day, the buffalo suddenly spoke to Cowherd and said, "Cowherd, you are so old, you should have a family. The cowherd thought someone was talking to him, but when he looked to his left and right, he couldn't see anyone, it seemed to be the buffalo, but how could a cow talk? The cowboy didn't have time to think about it, but the buffalo opened its mouth again and said, "I'm talking to you. Tell you what, I'm not a normal cow, but a fairy, I see you are hardworking and simple, I came to help you start a family and live a happy life. Cowherd looked at the talking buffalo, the heart is very suspicious, remembering their own lonely life, said to the cow with tears in his eyes: ...... My situation you know, like me such a poor person, who will marry me? Capable hands can create wealth, hard work and bravery are gifts of love. The buffalo said to Niulang, and told him in detail about the wonders of the nymphs coming down to swim and the weaving maiden admiring life on earth. Cow Lang according to the buffalo said, silently came to the bank of the clear water river on the edge of a large lake, waiting for the miracle. Just see the lake water catch a, sparkling, fish roaming, mandarin ducks play, the lake shore willow thousands, azalea fire kind of red ...... in this intoxicating landscape and water color, the cowherd hid in a cluster of flowers underneath, anxiously waiting. Late afternoon, a miracle: seven fairies holding feather fan from the sky, floating down to the lake. Undressing their skirts, they entered the lake and swam. They either jumped or stepped on, chasing entertainment, the fairies graceful and carefree attitude, the cowherd looked dumbfounded. It was only after a long time that he remembered the words of the buffalo. The cowherd gently walked to the place where the fairies put their clothes, collected the clothes of the smallest fairy, and then ah - ah - a sound, sang a beautiful song. Abandoned full of deep feelings of the song, so that the nymphs listen to the fascination, when they realized that it is the latter in the song, are shyly run to the lake, dress dress, want to fly to the sky. But the Weaving Maiden could not find her dress, so she had to go back to the lake and cover her beautiful body with the water. At this time, the Cowherd came out of the flowers and came to the fairies. When the fairies saw the mortal beings, they all shook up their feather fans and flew away to the sky. Only the Weaving Maiden stood shyly in the middle of the lake. The Cowherd sang a song to the Weaving Maiden: The cedar trees on the Miao Mountain are the straightest, the flowers in the Miao area are the brightest, the water in the Clearwater River is the cleanest, the animated Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden cover Dear girl, you are the most beautiful in the world, the tranquil lake is disturbed by you, the joyful reed sheng only wants to sing for you, my flying heart is chained by you, dear girl, what do you think I should do? What should I do? The Weaving Maiden said softly, "If the lake is stirred up, it will be quiet when people go away, and the reed-pipe should sing for the love of the earth, and if I have stirred up my brother's heart, he will be quiet when I go away. Please return my dress and feather fan and let me go home. The Cowherd said: Why do you want to go back if you have the heart to come to earth? It is not difficult for me to return my sister s things, as long as my sister promises ...... to promise what? The Weaving Maiden asked. Marry me, said the cowherd. Weaving woman red face, said: you are on earth, I am a woman in the sky, the sky and the world far away from each other, where there is a heavenly weaver married to the earth's reasoning. Cowherd said: the most valuable gift in heaven and on earth are not love? Cowherd's simple and generous feelings, so that the weaving girl love and admiration, life on earth so that the girl envy and stay, she accepted the love of the cowherd. Cowherd was full of joy, jumped and ran to bring the weaver's clothes. At this time he thought: what if the weaving maiden wore the dress and flew away? He hesitated. The weaving woman saw through his mind, said to him: I can fly, mainly rely on the feather fan, no feather fan I can not fly, you put away the feather fan is, with the feather fan I can not help but fly it! The Cowherd put the feather fan over his heart and returned the dress to the Weaving Maiden. The Weaving Maiden finished her make-up and walked with the Cowherd. They went to the village, worshiped the village elders to become recognized as husband and wife, and then walked towards the Cowherd's home. To the door, the cowherd stops his feet, he is difficult, like this broken house, and no wear no cover, how can scurrying heavenly fairy beauty scolding Weaving woman is very understanding of the cowherd's pain in the heart, and comforted him, said: go into the house, the grass room is not ugly, can protect from the rain and the wind is good, as for the wear the cover, I weave good, don't need to worry about you. Cowherd sighed, leading the weaver into the grass house. Ho! Just see inside the red bed embroidered quilt, flower clothes Luo tent, bamboo chairs bead curtains, smoke dazzle ...... cowherd stunned! A long time before holding up the hands of the weaving woman, y grateful to her exquisite craftsmanship. Time flies like an arrow, the sun and the moon like a shuttle. Soon, they gave birth to their first child. The son was innocent, lively and smart. When Cowherd came back from a day's labor in the mountains, he was so happy to see his lively and lovely child. The Weaving Maiden could not bear to see Cowherd working all year round in the wind and rain, and wanted to change jobs with him. One day, the Weaving Maiden said to the Cowherd; you labor alone outside, hard enough today, you are at home with the child, I'll do the work in the field. The Cowherd also wanted to play with his own baby, so he agreed. The child is used to with the mother, where the father will take the doll, the child cried, what toys can not be coaxed. Cowherd remembered the feather fan hidden on the beams of the house, and went up to fetch it for the child, which made the little baby happy. After a few days, the Cowherd went to the mountains to labor, the Weaver at home with the child. The little one just cried all the time, so that the mother had no way out. The child was a good boy, but why is he so upset today? The weaver didn't know what was wrong. As the child cried and screamed, she raised her hand and pointed to the beam. What could be on the beam? The weaver went up the stairs to look for it. Ah! It's my feather fan! Seeing her flying wings, the weaver's heart was in turmoil. They were so happy in their love life that they forgot about time. Over how fast ah, leave the Palace of Heaven for some days, should go back, if not go back, cranky heaven will give the earth will fall disaster. The Weaving Maiden said to herself. But how could she leave her husband, her children and everything on earth? However, in order to keep all this from being destroyed by the Heavenly Lord, the Weaving Maiden decided to go back to her mother's house. She put her arms around the child with tears in her eyes and said: Forgive me, my heart, mother is going back to grandmother's house, you should listen to your father, practice your martial arts and learn to labor, the God of Heaven is a man of fiery temperament, he opposes me coming to the earth, if your father and son can subdue him, we will be reunited. The child seemed to understand the mother's mood, do not cry, obediently look at his mother with wide eyes. The Weaving Maiden put her arms around the doll, kissed it again and again, talked to it again and again, and finally put the doll in the cradle, and then, with her feathered fan in her hand, flew to the place where Cowherd was plowing, and came to bid farewell to her beloved husband: Thank you, my dear brother, for all the love that you have given to me; our love is like the rushing river of clear water, pure, entwined, and everlasting. And now I must go - to my mother's home, where my lonely sisters will be comforted, and the heavens will see that I am free from all evil. Farewell, dear brother, for I have never failed your love, nor have I ever left my beloved child behind, for it may take years to reach heaven, but the heavens will be angry at the sound of the shuttle! May you create miracles on earth, may you conquer the heavenly mountains and rivers. The day the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden meet, when the irascible God of Heaven is subdued. The Weaving Maiden flew above the Cowherd's head and sang, and when she had finished singing, she flew higher and higher and finally disappeared into the blue sky. Cowherd hand on the cool canopy, raise eyes to see his wife ascending far away, grief, remembering that there are children at home, only to run home in a hurry. As the saying goes, "A man without a wife is like a house without a beam." Without the Weaving Maiden, everything in the house was upside down. If a husband without a wife is boring, a doll without a mother is miserable. Cowherd wanted to get the Weaving Maiden back, but how could he go up in the ten thousand miles of blue sky? He spends his days wandering, looking up to the sky and sighing. All this was seen by the buffalo. One day, the buffalo said to the cowherd, "What's the matter? As the saying goes, there are high cliffs on the road of love, but with a strong will you can cross them. Are you frightened by difficulties again?" The cowherd said, "My friend, you can see that the flames of love are about to scorch me, but I have no wings to fly!" "It is not difficult," the buffalo told the cowherd, "I can take you to the sky. The question is, how will you get into the Palace of the Weaving Maiden, and how will you overcome the Heavenly Lord, who does not tolerate mortals?" "There is a way when you get to the sky," said the oxen, jumping up and down with joy, and he asked the buffalo to send him and his boy, who wanted his mother day and night, up there quickly The buffalo put the oxen and his son on his back, and instructed them, "Don't be afraid of any risk you may encounter, and don't come down until you get to your destination. " Then jumping into that rushing Clear Water River, he swam eastward until he reached the East China Sea at sunrise, and by the wild winds and swirling mists on that ocean wave, he leaped to the edge of the Heavenly Palace. "Here it is," said the buffalo, "work yourselves up, and I will now return to earth to await the good news." The buffalo went away, and the cowherd, with his child on his back, circled around the heavenly palace; there was no door to enter it, and he could find no one to ask. What to do? He remembered often with the reed fungus, "Li Le Li Le" blowing up? The melodious music of the reed-sheng spread to the palace, and the fairies who were alarmed all ran to the window to see it. The weaving maiden who is embroidering the flower belt, also with the sisters to the window to see the rare. "Ah, it's the Cowherd and the child!" The Weaving Maiden was so surprised that she ran out and welcomed them into the palace. All the fairies heard the earth guests, all rush to see the fun; Heavenly mother saw son-in-law and grandson, from the heart eyes happy, more and more want to see; Only the heavenly father attitude cold, he felt a heavenly fairy married to a mortal farmer, already very dishonorable, now this mortal even came to heaven, with the weaving girl to live a conjugal life, is not not insulting to the heavenly palace! The Duke of Heaven turned over in his heart all sorts of tricks to harm the Cowherd. Soon, the Duke of Heaven said to the Heavenly Mother: "Old fool, our Weaving Maiden has gone crazy, what kind of husband is she looking for! All she does is work all day long, and she smells of earth; think of a way to drive him away!" The Heavenly Mother said, "You're the one who's old and foolish. What's wrong with the Cowherd? What's wrong with the Cowherd? He's handsome and hard-working. What's wrong with him that makes him unworthy of the Weaving Maiden? Don't you see how much they love each other? If you want to send them away, you should send the whole family away. The Cowherd is here to pick up the Weaving Maiden, and the Weaving Maiden is very much in love with her life on earth. ......" The Heavens thought to themselves, "What a woman's insight! The Heavens thought, "What a woman's opinion!" "The more a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more interesting she sees him! Anyway, we can't get married with mortals, we must break them up. The heavenly lord racked his brains and came up with many plans to persecute the cowherd. Once, he said to the Cowherd: "You have been here for a long time, you should go out to see the place, tomorrow I will take you to the market, the market is very lively!" At night, the Cowherd told this to the Weaving Maiden. The Weaving Maiden knew that this was a trick to make the Cowherd lose his way and never come back, so she told the Cowherd the way to deal with it. At dawn, the cowherd set off after the heavenly lord, wherever there is a fork in the road, he dropped a chicken feather, exactly how many forks in the road, no one can count. To the downtown market, a sea of people, Tien Kung crowded in a crowded place, leaving Cowherd, a person first slipped home, called the next big feast to celebrate his return to the market. Cowherd to see Tian Gong has gone home first, he turned around in the field to see enough, but also from the original way back. Every time he came to a fork in the road, there was a big rooster to report to him, and he returned to the Weaving Maiden without any problem. When the Duke of Heaven saw that the Cowherd had also returned, he felt very bad in his heart, but on the surface he said in a hypocritical manner, "The field was so crowded that I couldn't find you, so I came back: it's good that you're back; here's a feast for you, please ...... please." Cowherd has no hesitation, beautifully satiated meal. Catch a trick did not throw the cowherd away, the God of Heaven and thought of other bad ideas. Spring and summer even, it is easy to peel the bark of the logging season, the heavenly father wants the cowherd to go with the cut cedar. The Cowherd asked the Weaving Maiden what he should do, and the Weaving Maiden gave him a piece of cloth to wrap around his head, saying, "It will be useful when the time comes." The next day, the Cowherd went to the mountain with the Duke of Heaven and found a tall, large fir tree. The God of Heaven said to Cowherd, "We have to peel the bark of the fir tree first, so that it can be peeled without damaging the bark; you are young and strong, climb up the tree and peel it, while I will take the ladder and peel the lower part, and then cut it after peeling the bark." Cowherd did as he was told, climbed high up the tree to peel the bark, and only when it was dark did he peel the section where Tian Gong set up a ladder to peel the bark. Tian Gong peeled the next section of the bark, the ladder off, first slipped home the cowherd in the tree can not get down, because just peeled the cedar tree is very slippery, can not grasp, the tree is too big and can not be held together, the cowherd only then realized that Tian Gong is trying to let him fall to his death or starve to death. Cowherd remembered the cloth given to him by the Weaving Maiden, so he knotted one end of it on a branch, followed the cloth down to the ground, and then returned to the Weaving Maiden's house in the Heavenly Palace. The Duke of Heaven was so angry when he saw it that he tore his intestines and twisted his heart, but he could do nothing about it. Cowherd saw that the cloth was useful and kept it wrapped around his head. It is said that now the Hmong men's wrapped head paw is passed down from then. Peeling the bark of a trick and did not cure the cowherd, the heavenly father and came up with a more poisonous way, he wants the cowherd to go with the burning of the mountain fence, wanting to borrow the fire to burn the cowherd. Cowherd asked the weaving maiden what to do, the weaving maiden told the cowherd to catch a big crab, put in the water gourd. She told him to carry the gourd and machete on his back, and went up the mountain with the God of Heaven. When he arrived at the place where he cut the mountain fence, the God of Heaven told the Cowherd to go to the hillside and burn from top to bottom. When the Cowherd was halfway up the slope, the vicious God of Heaven set fire from the bottom of the mountain, wanting to burn the Cowherd to ashes by means of a blazing fire. The Cowherd did not panic, but first started the fire from his own front, and then put the crab from the gourd, ordering it to dig the pool quickly; the Cowherd jumped into the pool, and watched the roaring fire go out before going back. When the Duke of Heaven saw the Cowherd return home again, he was furious, but he knew the ability of the earthly mortals and could not be bullied, so he had to superficially pay false tribute to the Cowherd. Although the Duke of Heaven was attentive to the Cowherd, it was a "weasel paying New Year's call to the chicken - not a good intention". Whenever the cowherd proposed to bring the weaving woman back to earth, the heavenly public always more than half stalled, but also spread rumors, disassociate the cowherd weaving woman's feelings, but did not succeed. Over time, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden love deeper. Soon their beautiful daughter was born in heaven. The God of Heaven held a banquet to celebrate the birth of their granddaughter and to give them a farewell party - the God of Heaven allowed the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden to return to earth. Everyone raised their glasses, ate and drank to their heart's content, singing and laughing. Wine to half-full, the God of Heaven hand-held wine pot, personally drink a large bowl of rice wine, held to the front of the Cowherd, asking him to toast. Cowherd took the bowl and drank it all. Then he became dizzy and swayed, and finally collapsed at the table: the Cowherd was dead! Ah, it's hard to prevent a person without a heart from having a heart, who would have expected to be poisoned on the day of celebration! It turned out that the God of Heaven had put poison in the wine. The poisoned wine harmed his son-in-law, scattering the guests, and he lost his husband in the midst of the joyous occasion, weeping over the heavenly fairies and weavers. But the God of Heaven pretends to be generous and wants to give the Cowherd a cremation. The Weaving Maiden insisted on sending the funeral according to the earthly custom, and the God of Heaven was unable to do so, and had to agree. The Weaving Maiden put the Cowherd in a cedar coffin without a lid, put a big rooster in front of the coffin, and then put the coffin in the river, letting it float freely. The rooster followed the weaver's instructions, "Oh! Oh! Oh!" and sang, "Brothers, come and get your medicine! Brothers, come and get your medicine!" The flower snake heard it and ran to suck the poison from the cowherd; the fish heard it and also leaped to swim in the coffin to suck the poison from the cowherd. The poison was sucked out, and the cowherd woke up, and the cowherd came back to life. Only the teeth of the flower snake were poisoned, and the gall of the fish became bitter. The Cowherd went back to the house of the Weaving Maiden in the Heavenly Palace. He said to the heavenly lord, "Your scheme, all failed you should let me pick up the Weaving Maiden, right?" This time, the ferocious Heavenly Duke was in his original form. His face was hideous, and he pounced on the Cowherd with all his teeth and claws. When it was too late, Cowherd's son lifted his slingshot and struck the Duke of Heaven in the left eye, and then in the right eye, causing the Duke of Heaven, a stubborn old man, to crack his eyeballs and grunt. Legend has it that the broken eyeballs of the Heavenly Duke turned into stars in the sky. The humming and shouting turned into rumbling thunder. The heavenly lord yielded, he had no way out, really lifting a stone to hit his own feet, starting the heart to harm others and ultimately harm themselves! Now, everything was arranged by the Heavenly Mother, who promised the family of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden to return to earth. But how to go back? The only one who can fly is the Weaving Maiden, and the buffalo has long since returned to earth. Jumping from the sky to the place, that is to be shattered ah! The Weaving Maiden's sisters came up with a solution: use money and silver threads rolled into a rope, tied to the two ears of the big drum, the Cowherd and Weaving Maiden family sat on the inside of the drum, and then notified the Weaving Maidens in the sky with the sound of the drum on the ground, and then they put down the rope. In this way, the Cowherd and Weaving Maiden family returned to earth and lived happily ever after. The buffalo learned that the cowherd and the weaving maiden to return to earth, also rushed to meet, it looked up at the sky with its head, standing happily, until now. Legend has it that the "Ox-Head Mountain" on the banks of the Qingshui River is the sacred cow of the Cowherd. Cowherd and Weaving Maiden back to the ground, it is the sunny season after the fall harvest, they knocked up the copper drums, blowing up the reed-sheng, tell up and down the four sides of all the people: Hoo ...... Well ...... Hoo, cowherd and weaving Maiden back home; le... ...ah ...... le, the beauty of the world is better than heaven. Shaking the earth's copper drums, echoing the space of the lusheng song, recruited folks from all directions, they with the drums, stepping on the bamboo song, dancing. Later, people celebrated the New Year at this time of the year, making merry, in order to recognize people's determination to win, and to celebrate a good agricultural harvest. Copper drums and reeds and bamboos became the main musical instruments of the festival. Nowadays, when the Miao families on the banks of the Qingshui River celebrate the New Year, the girls wear their own embroidered flower bands to step on the copper drums, and the young men play the reed-sheng to borrow the glorious flower bands from the girls. It is said that the embroidery skills of the Miao girls are handed down from the Weaving Maiden, so they are especially exquisite and beautiful. People also say that the daughters of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden were born in the Heavenly Palace, so all the Miao girls in the watershed of the Qingshui River grow up to be as beautiful as flowers.
[Edit] "Cowherd and Weaving Maiden" Songs
"Weaving Maiden Begging Song"
Begging for cleverness of hand, begging for appearance; begging for heart, begging for face; begging for my father and mother to be ten million years old, begging for my sisters to be ten million years old.
One of the Begging Songs
I invite my seven sisters to go to heaven. I don't want your needles, I don't want your threads, I just want to learn your 72 tricks.
The Song of Begging for a Coquettish Handicraft, No. 2
The coquettish buds and buds are strangely born. It's like a flower, like a vegetable, let's see who's quick with their hands
[Edit] "The Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden"
On the banks of the crystal-clear Vanilla River at the south gate of Danyang City, there is an attractive plaza, where a group of light ochre granite sculptures, namely the "Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden", is being displayed. Sculpture, that is the "Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden" group sculpture. Where couples or couples traveling to Danyang, must go here for a long time, almost forget to return. Group carving is very tall, the top of the Weaving Maiden from the ground about 20 meters, she is floating down from the sky, hands to welcome the child in the arms of the Cowherd, and the Cowherd seems to be full of tears, pulsating love to the day and night to the love of his wife to go to the side of the cattle, can not bear to disturb the parting of this couple of a year, gladly with the composition of the magpie bridge magpies Conversing about something ...... see the magpies with wings flying around the river of heaven (Milky Way), grouped around the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, *** enjoying the happiness of the reunion, but also reveals the eagerness and nervousness - hating the length of the parting, cherishing the shortness of the one night!
[edit]Altair
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