Chinese Language Forums - Chinese Etymology Institute

I was told that Chinese people also have a kind of festival to celebrate eternal love or devoted relationship, just like the valentine's day in US. But what exactly does this day fall on around the year, and, how comes this festival? Any beautiful legend or special meaning?

carolgreen702 wrote:I was told that Chinese people also have a kind of festival to celebrate eternal love ...

The Chinese valentine's day (七夕, http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%83%E5%A4%95) started about 2,500 years ago. You can use the Google translator to get an idea about that story with the Wikipedia link above. This is a true eternal love.

In China we have a day dedicated for lovers, just like westerns do. This day has many names and a colorful history. In Chinese it's called Qi Xi Jie (七夕节qīxī jié), The Seventh Eve. It is also known as Chinese Valentine's Day(中国情人节zhōngguó qíngrén jié) and The Daughter's Day (女儿节nǚér jié) and just like the official name hints, it occurs on the seventh day of the seventh month, in Chinese lunar calendar. It fell on 23rd, August this year.

A love story for this day is about the 7th daughter of Emperor of Heaven and an orphaned cowherd. The Emperor separated them. The 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the cowherd moved to the star Altair. They are allowed to meet only once a year on the day of 7th day of 7th lunar month.