The Love Story of Niulang and Zhu Jie's

The Qixi Festival is one of the most romantic traditional festivals in China. Its origin is closely related to folk legends and the evolution of history and culture:

I. Folk Legend: The Love Story of Niulang and Zhu Jie

The most widely known origin of the Qixi Festival is based on the mythological legend of Niulang and Zhu Jie. This story had its rudimentary form in ancient texts such as "The Book of Songs" and "The Nineteen Ancient Poems", and was later continuously developed by the people to form a complete version:

According to the legend, Weichuang was the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor and was skilled at weaving. Every day, she wove beautiful clouds and rainbows for the sky.

Niulang was a poor orphan from the human world who lived with an old ox. Before his death, the old ox told Niulang that Zhu Jie would come down to bathe on earth. As long as he took her clothes away, Zhu Jie would stay with him and become his wife.

Niulang followed the instructions and they had a son and a daughter after marriage. Their life was happy. But when the Heavenly Emperor learned about this, he was furious and sent the Queen Mother of the Heavens to take Zhu Jie back to the heaven.

With the help of the old ox, Niulang carried his children and chased after her. In a moment of desperation, the Queen Mother of the Heavens pulled out her hairpin and drew it towards the sky, creating a turbulent river (the Milky Way) that separated the two.

Later, the Heavenly Emperor and the Queen Mother of the Heavens were moved by their deep love and allowed them to meet once a year on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month through a "Magpie Bridge" built by the magpies.

This legend endowed the Qixi Festival with the core connotation of "loyal love", making it the "Valentine's Day" of China.

II. Historical Evolution: Originating from Celestial Observation and Worship

The earliest origin of the Qixi Festival is related to the ancient people's observation and worship of celestial phenomena, predating the legend of Niu Lang and Zhu Jie:

In ancient Chinese astronomy and calendar, on the night of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the "Weaving Maid Star" (α star in the Lyra constellation) and the "Niu Lang Star" (α star in the Eridanus constellation) were opposite each other on either side of the Milky Way, with their positions being the closest, as if "meeting".

The ancient people regarded the Weaving Maid Star as a goddess in charge of weaving, calling her "Weaving Maid"; the Niu Lang Star was regarded as a symbol of a man from the human world. As early as in "The Book of Songs 《Xiao Ya · Da Dong》 ", there was a record of "They stand there like the Weaving Maid Star, spinning all day long... They stand there like the Niu Lang Star, not wearing a cloak", describing the positions and symbolic meanings of the two stars.

The early customs of the Qixi Festival, such as "Offering to the Weaving Maid" and "Wearing needles to seek skills", originated from the worship of the Weaving Maid Star, praying for women to be as skilled and talented as the Weaving Maid.

In ancient times, the Qixi Festival was more commonly called "Daughters' Festival", which was a festival exclusive to women, with the core being "Seeking Skills"; as the legend of Niu Lang and Zhu Jie became more widespread, the love element gradually became the mainstream, especially in modern times, the Qixi Festival has been given a new connotation of "Chinese Valentine's Day", becoming a festival for couples to express their love and celebrate romance.

Nowadays, Qixi Festival not only retains traditional customs such as "asking for skills" and "praying for blessings", but also incorporates modern elements like sending flowers and dating. It has become an important festival that connects traditional culture with contemporary life.

The story of Niu Lang and Zhu Jie is combined through the design of symbolic jewelry accessories, integrating elements from the story, such as the Bridge of Magpies, Zhu Jie's shuttle, Niu Lang's pole, magpies, and stars, to create jewelry with theimplied meaning of the story, to commemorate this beautiful love legend and the cultural customs of Qixi Festival.

Subsequent sharing of the Niu Lang and Zhu Jie series of jewelry accessories...