"Roundabout morning glory star, Kyaukgyao River Han Girl; slim and delicate hands, Zaza machine zhuan." The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is the traditional festival of our country - the Tanabata Festival! Tanabata, also known as beggar festival, tangram festival or seven sisters' birthday. According to legend, on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar or the night of the sixth day of july, women begged vegas in the courtyard for wisdom and ingenuity, so it was called "begging". It originated from the worship of nature and was endowed with the legend of the cowherd weaver girl, making it a festival symbolizing love. What are the traditional customs about Tanabata? Have you ever eaten Tanabata Qiaoguo? How was Tanabata different in ancient times from today? Are you ready for your holiday gifts?
→ click on the blue character to watch the video and see what the little brothers and sisters of Sanlitun think of Tanabata! ←
1. Ancient and modern Tanabata customs
In ancient Chinese stories, the legend of the cowherd weaver girl originated from the constellations of cowherd and weaver girl in the sky, and later spread as a love story. Every Tanabata Festival, ancient women would pray to the weaver girl for a sacrificial offering, praying that they would be able to achieve a life of good marriage with their hearts and minds, which is the source of the name "beggar". Women would also tie up a colorful building, prepare a thin needle made of brass (seven-hole needle), and use a five-color thin thread to thread the needle against the wind of the moon, and wear it for a long time. Over time, Tanabata has also become "Daughter's Day". However, the ancients did not only beg for Tanabata, but could be begged in the first month and August and September, and only after the Song Dynasty did they have Tanabata begging. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the Qixi Beggars Festival became very grand, and there was a market specializing in selling beggar ornaments, called Beggars City.
The "Chronicle of the Jingchu Years" records that the ancient women's "secret play in the boudoir" on the night of Tanabata is "the seventh day of July, the night of the morning glory weaver girl's party." On the eve of the night, the women of the family gathered wisps, wore seven-hole needles, or aged a few feasts of wine and provocative fruits in the court to beg for skill. There are hi subnets on the melon. Then think that the symbol should be. The Tokyo Dream Record says: "A woman looks at the moon and wears a needle, or looks at it the next day with a small spider, and if the web is round, it is said to be a coincidence." "It describes the scene of folk fun during the Tanabata Festival.
In modern times, the Qixi Festival is also known as "Chinese Valentine's Day". Modern Tanabata traditions and customs have begun to add new content such as couples dating and gift giving. Tanabata festivals have also been discovered by merchants as a great opportunity for commercial promotions, and people's enthusiasm for Tanabata has begun to be comparable to that of "Valentine's Day" with Western imports.
In addition to buying flowers and sending flowers like Valentine's Day, the importance that domestic and foreign merchants attach to the traditional Chinese festival of Qixi has also been expressed through product marketing. Many big names have launched Tanabata limited and joint models, and they have also exhausted their minds in packaging and publicity.
Second, what is the "qiaoguo" of Tanabata?
The food customs of the Tanabata Festival vary from place to place, and are generally called eating smart food. A "qiao" character image tells the uniqueness of Tanabata food customs, and expresses people's good wishes for the pursuit of spiritual ingenuity, family well-being, and a happy life.
Qiao Guo is a seasonal food for Tanabata begging. Qiao guo is also called "beggar fruit", and there are many styles. "Beggar fruit" is a traditional offering and beauty point of the Tanabata Festival. On the evening of Tanabata, people bring "beggar fruit" to the courtyard, and the whole family sits around and tastes the craftsmanship of the people who make "qiaoguo".
Now this custom has ceased to circulate in many places, and the traditional food of "beggar fruit" has evolved into a variety of colorful pastries. During the Northern Song Dynasty, there were many varieties of qiaoguo, and the main raw materials were oil, noodles, sugar and honey. It is a wooden mold (also called a mallet) with various flower-shaped patterns such as scissors, pears, eggplant, melons, pomegranates, apples, chickens, piglets, lions, goldfish, frogs, crabs, shrimps, etc., and fry or burn the shaped cakes. Some of the fruits are also dyed in seven colors, some are dyed with red dots, strung with long threads, and the tail end is tied with sand fruits or flower cloth, hanging between the walls for decoration and snacks, and some are strung in a ring and hung between children's items for fun. Nowadays, the Jiaodong area mostly makes peony, lotus, plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and other cakes with flowers on Tanabata, called Qiao Cake, which is used to sacrifice weaver girls.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Guo Xiujuan intern reporter Zhang Han
Image source: CCTV literary and artistic video screenshot, Lancome official micro screenshot, Tmall product map, gourmet Jie