How the Japanese Celebrate Legends of the Milky Way During the Annual Star Festival

Each year on the seventh day of the seventh month, Japanese people all over the country gather together for what is called Tanabata, or the Star Festival. 

The Japanese festival originates from a traditional Chinese festival known as the Qixi Festival. It is purposed to celebrate the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi, who are represented by the stars Vega and Altair. The annual holiday is filled with traditions and rich cultural celebrations, beginning on July 7th. 

Today, people celebrate this day by writing goals and wishes on small pieces of paper and hanging them on decorated bamboo. The various decorations and bamboo sticks are then set afloat on a river or burned after the festivities have concluded. This traditional Japanese custom is similar to Obon traditions, where people place floating paper ships and candles in rivers. There is a range of customs celebrated in Japan today for the Star Festival, depending on the region. In addition to the bamboo sticks, common decorations that can be seen during the holiday are colorful streamers, casting nets called Toami, and Kinchaku bags. The streamers are said to symbolize the “weaving of threads”, the casting net is to bring good luck to farmers and fishermen, and the Kinchaku bag symbolizes wealth.

The festival’s origins can be traced back to the legend of the Cowherd Star (Altair) as well as the Weaver Star (or Vega). The stars were said to be separated by the milky way and only permitted to meet one a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month. Another legend behind the holiday is the tale of Kikkoden, which dates back over 2,000 years ago. The legend says that there was a weaver princess named Orihime and a cow herder prince named Hikoboshi. They fell so deeply in love and were so distracted by one another’s presence that they began neglecting their jobs. The king was so furious that he used the Milky Way to separate them, only allowing them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.  

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The Legend Behind the Chinese Double Seventh Festival

The Double Seventh Festival, also known as the Qixi or Qiqiao Festival, is a Chinese festival celebrated annually around the beginning to mid August. The name, literally meaning Night of Sevens, comes from the holiday celebrations falling on the seventh day of the seventh month each year.

As with most festivals, there are traditions and rituals surrounding the yearly celebration, specifically for girls and newly weds. Girls make their way to temple to pray  and burn paper in hopes for attracting a loving husband in their future. To pray for a long and happy marriage, newly wed women are encouraged to make offerings of fruit, flowers, tea, and face powder to Niulang and Zhinu, the mythical couple this festival was created for.

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This Chinese festival is always one of my favorites to write about because of the legend and mythology behind it. Behind the Qixi Festival is an ancient forbidden love story between Zhinu and Niulang. 

Niulang, a young cowherd, fell in love with the Goddess’ seventh daughter, Zhinu, who fell for instantly for him. They were then married in secret, without the knowledge of Zhinu’s mother. They were happy for many years and had two children. But their happiness was cut short when the Goddess of Heaven found out her daughter had married a mortal and ordered Zhinu to immediately return to Heaven. Niulang tried to follow his beloved wife but was stopped by the Goddess scratching a river in the sky with her hairpin to separate the lovers forever. The only time they were allowed to see each other was on the seventh night of the seventh moon when a bridge forms in the sky to unite them for a single night. This night has since become known as the Double Seventh Festival. 

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Chinese Newly-Weds Pray For a Good Marriage During the Double Seventh Festival

The Chinese are welcoming the arrival of August through the celebration of the annual Qixi Festival. The festival, also known as the Qiqiao Festival, is celebrated by the Chinese every summer on the seventh day of the seventh month, which falls somewhere during early to mid August. Other names for this exciting holiday include the Double Seventh Festival, representative of the holiday’s occurrence on both the seventh day and seventh month. Qixi literally means the Night of Sevens. 

As one can expect with most Chinese holidays and festivals, many traditions and rituals are associated with the Double Seventh Festival. It is celebrated by all Chinese, but particularly important to girls and newly-wed couples. On this day, young girls go to their local temple to pray for wisdom. As they burn paper items as offerings, they wish and pray to marry someone who will be a good and loving husband. 

Newly-weds are to worship and pray to Zhinu and Niulang, the mythological couple the holiday is associated with, for a long and happy marriage. Offerings can be made to the famous couple of fruit, flowers, tea, and face powder. Once the offerings have been completed, half the face powder is to be put on the new bride and the other half thrown on the roof. It is an interesting tradition, but said to bind the woman with the beauty of Zhinu. 

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For these couples, the holiday represents the symbol of a successful marriage and shows that the bride is treasured by her new family. 

The Qixi Festival is associated with many traditions but there are century-old legends behind those traditions and celebrations. To learn more about the legend behind the Qixi, or Double Seventh Festival, keep a look out for the second part of this blog! 

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