中國傳統文化 第22期:七夕節

Qiqiao Festival

七夕節

Qiqiao Festival (Ingenuity-Begging Festival) falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar Month; it is also called Girls’ Festival, or Daughters’Festival.

每年農曆七月初七的七夕節，簡稱七夕，俗稱乞巧節，又稱少女節或女兒節，是中國傳統節日中最具浪漫色彩的一個節日。

The legend related to this festival goes like this：Once upon a time a fairy in heaven (the Weaving Girl) fell in love with a cowherd (the Herd Boy) on earth.

傳說天上的仙女（織女）愛上了人間的牛郎。

The fairy was so devoted to her love that she gave up all her priviledges of being a fairy in heaven and came down on earth to live with her beloved.

仙女深墜愛河，決定放棄天堂仙女的所有特權，下凡到人間和牛郎結婚。

For several years, they led a happy life, and the Weaving Girl gave birth to two lovely children.

他們男耕女織，情深意重，生了一男一女兩個孩子.

Then the fairy’s mother—the Lady Queen Mother learnt about this and she was so angry that she had her daughter, the Weaving Girl, taken back to heaven by force.

但是好景不長， 這事很快便讓織女的母親--王母娘娘知道了。她非常氣憤，強行把織女帶回天上。

The Herd Boy, with their two children, ran after the Weaving Girl, but the Lady Queen mother took out her hairpin and drew a river between them.

牛郎拉着自己的兒女，一起騰雲駕霧上天去追織女，眼見就要追到了，豈知王母娘娘拔下頭上的金簪一揮，一道波濤洶涌的天河就出現了.

People were very sympathetic with the couple, and to help them， thousands of swallows formed a bridge across the river on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month so that they could meet each other once a year.

牛郎和織女被隔在兩岸。 他們的忠貞愛情感動了大家，千萬只喜鵲飛來，搭成鵲橋，讓牛郎織女走上鵲橋相會，王母娘娘對此也無奈，只好允許兩人在每年七月七日於鵲橋相會。

The so-called river is actually the Milky Way，and the Weaving Girl and the Herd Boy are two stars.

所謂的天河就是銀河，而牛郎、織女就是天上的兩顆星。

It is said that on the Eve of Qiqiao Festival, if one stands under a wine trellis and tries really hard enough, one can hear the loving whisper of the Weaving Girl and the Herd Boy.

據說在這一天的晚上，如果靜靜地躲在葡萄架下，就能聽到牛郎、織女說的悄悄話。

Because the Weaving Girl was a symbol of beauty, kind-heartedness and ingenuity, on the eve of this festival, girls would gather in the gardens or yards to pray to the Weaving Girl to bestow upon them intelligence and ingenious skills.

因爲織女是一個美麗聰明、心靈手巧的仙女，所以凡間的女子便在這一天的晚上與女伴相約，在庭院或花園裏朝天河 (即銀河）中的牛、女二星焚香祭拜，默默祈禱自己的心願，向織女乞求智慧，好讓自己也變得心靈手巧。

There were also various activities on this day, such as eating qiaoguo, a kind of wheaten food in varying sizes and shapes and the competition of putting a thread as quickly as possible through the eye of a needle, etc.

過去，在這一天，人們要吃“巧果”（一種麪食），姑娘們還會穿針引線驗巧。

In some places in Shandong Province, the practice of eating qiaoguo is still popular. In recent years, some folk and official organizations have held a series of activities to revive the festival.

山東的一些地方，吃“巧果”的習慣仍然很普遍。