The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is the Tanabata Festival, as one of the origins of the legend of the cowherd weaver girl, Suzhou, in this traditional romantic festival, what are some customs? The Yangtze Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter visited and learned that the customs of Suzhou Qixi are rich and colorful, eating qiao fruits, dyeing nails, begging for dexterity, praying for seeds, sending healthy ropes, etc. On August 12th, in the Baibu Street Community of Shuangta Street, Gusu District, Suzhou, let's experience the Qixi customs of old Suzhou.
Homemade "Qiaoguo" is sweet to the heart, and the hydrangea dyes the nails
During the Tanabata Festival, tasting the seasonal delicacy "Qiaoguo" was a major custom of Suzhou people in the past. Qiao guo is actually not a fruit, but a dim sum made of flour or rice flour, which is called "ramie knot" by the folk. Eating qiaoguo is a good wish to make the eater's heart skillful.
Resident Shangguan Xingxing fried wonton skin into small snacks at home and sprinkled with sesame seeds, while Suzhou people like to eat sweet, and then put a little sugar, eat a bite of crisp, "On the day of Tanabata, let you be sweet to the heart." In Suzhou, there is also the custom of eating orchid beans (old broad beans) on the Tanabata Festival, and every household must eat broad beans, which is called "biting the head of the ghost" to express the meaning of exorcism.
Tanabata is also known as "Daughter's Day", and women will use it to show off their beauty, so there is a custom of dyeing red nails. According to legend, if the dyed red nails can be kept until the Spring Festival and do not fade, let the elderly see, can make their eyes not flower. Hydrangea is an extremely easy flower to grow, available in red and white. From early summer to late autumn, the second opening is complete. This small herb flower is not very conspicuous, but it has been loved by young women throughout the dynasties. Using it to dye your nails can make you look more feminine and beautiful.
"In ancient times, the paint used to dye nails was not nail polish, but was made of hydrangea flowers, then added alum and water, painted on the nails to dry, and the red nails made were particularly bright in color and could be kept for several months without fading," said Resident Shangguan Ge Bin, who was applying mashed flowers to the nails.
Throw a clever needle and see what the shadow really looks like?
Legend has it that on the day of Tanabata, women have to do needlework, and whoever wears more needles and leads means who is smarter. The floating needle is more interesting, the night before the Tanabata Festival, with a cup of boiling water and cold water mixed with water, placed in the atrium, wait for the day to come out, in the sun to dry, until the water surface slowly generates a film, pinch a small needle on the water surface. At this time, the reflection will take on various shapes such as animals or flowers and plants, indicating that people will become smarter. If the shadow is straight, like a stick, it indicates that people will become stupid. "Let me throw a clever needle today and let me see what this shadow really looks like?" Resident Wu Qing said with a smile.
Residents diligently use red silk rope to tie the planted mung bean seedlings into a bunch, called "seed life", also known as "five life pots" or "raw flower pots". "Planting and seeking children" is an old custom in the Tanabata Festival, and it is actually one of the beliefs of fertility.
"Come, I'm going to throw a colorful rope and let the magpies build a bridge for the cowherd weaver girl." In Jiangnan, there is a custom of "July 7, sending a healthy rope". Legend has it that magpies are in urgent need of a large amount of rope because they built a bridge to let the cowherd weaver girl meet, and the old scalper who was the matchmaker for the lovers at the beginning remembered that the folk tied a colorful rope to the child's wrist in the Dragon Boat Festival for health, and named it "Jian Rope", so he mobilized people to offer rope. So everyone met on the night before the seventh day of July, untied the rope on the child's wrist and threw it on the roof or window sill, so that the magpie could go to build the bridge.
Yangzi Evening News/Purple Cow News Reporter Zhou Xiaoqing Correspondent Chen Jiayao
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Source: Purple Cow News