The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd

Zhinü and Niulang, by the Japanese painter Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.

The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd is a Chinese folk tale.

The general tale is about a love story between Zhinü (織女; the weaver girl, symbolizing Vega) and Niulang (牛郎; the cowherd, symbolizing Altair).^[1] Their love was not allowed, thus they were banished to opposite sides of the Silver River (symbolizing the Milky Way).^[1][2] Once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, a flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite the lovers for one day.^[1] There are many variations of the story.^[1] The earliest-known reference to this famous myth dates back to over 2600 years ago, which was told in a poem from the Classic of Poetry.^[3]

The tale of The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd has been celebrated in the Qixi Festival in China since the Han dynasty,^[4] in the Tanabata festival in Japan, and in the Chilseok festival in Korea. The story is now counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being the Legend of the White Snake (Baishezhuan), Lady Meng Jiang, and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. ^[5]

Literature

The reunion of the couple on the bridge of magpies. Artwork in the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace, Beijing.

The tale has been alluded to in many literary works. One of the most famous one was the poem by Qin Guan (1049-1100) during the Song dynasty:

“

鵲橋仙 纖雲弄巧，飛星傳恨，銀漢迢迢暗渡。 金風玉露一相逢，便勝卻人間無數。 柔情似水，佳期如夢，忍顧鵲橋歸路。 兩情若是久長時，又豈在朝朝暮暮。 Meeting across the Milky way Through the varying shapes of the delicate clouds, the sad message of the shooting stars, a silent journey across the Milky Way, one meeting of the Cowherd and Weaver amidst the golden autumn wind and jade-glistening dew, eclipses the countless meetings in the mundane world. The feelings soft as water, the ecstatic moment unreal as a dream, how can one have the heart to go back on the bridge made of magpies? If the two hearts are united forever, why do the two persons need to stay together—day after day, night after night? [6]

”

Cultural references

Zhinü as depicted on the ceiling of Muxuyuan Station, Nanjing.

Reference to the story is also made by Carl Sagan in his book Contact. The tale and the Tanabata festival are also the basis of the Sailor Moon side story entitled Chibiusa's Picture Diary- Beware the Tanabata!, where both Vega and Altair make an appearance. The Post-Hardcore band La Dispute named and partially based their first album, Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair, after the tale.

Notes and references

1. Brown & Brown 2006, 72.
2. Lai 1999, 191.
3. Schomp 2009, 89.
4. Schomp 2009, 70.
5. Idema (2012), p. 26.
6. Qiu 2003, 133.

Bibliography

• Brown, Ju; Brown, John (2006). China, Japan, Korea: Culture and customs. North Charleston: BookSurge. ISBN 1-4196-4893-4.
• Idema, Wilt L. (2012). "Old Tales for New Times: Some Comments on the Cultural Translation of China's Four Great Folktales in the Twentieth Century" (PDF). Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies 9 (1): 25–46.
• Lai, Sufen Sophia (1999). "Father in Heaven, Mother in Hell: Gender politics in the creation and transformation of Mulian's mother". Presence and presentation: Women in the Chinese literati tradition. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 031221054X.
• Qiu, Xiaolong (2003). Treasury of Chinese love poems. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 9780781809689.
• Schomp, Virginia (2009). The ancient Chinese. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. ISBN 0761442162.

Further reading

• Mao, Xian (2013). Cowherd and Weaver and other most popular love legends in China. eBook: Kindle Direct Publishing.