This August 25 marks an important festival for Chinese people. The Qixi, also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day, falls on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar, and has been celebrated by Chinese people for more than 2,000 years.

Most people know Qixi from the famous legend about a pair of faithful lovers: a cowherd named Niulang and a young goddess weaver called Zhinv. This story does not only consist of people, but also animals. In fact, animals are important elements in the Qixi celebration. 

Magpie

In Chinese, magpie is called "the bird of joy," as people believe the bird can bring fortune and happiness. Magpie is one of the most famous animals in the mythology of Qixi Festival. In the story of Qixi, the weaver was taken by the Queen Mother of the Heaven, and when the cowherd tried to chase after her, the Queen Mother took off one of her hairpins and created the Milky Way to separate the couple. The loyalty of the couple's love touched the magpies, so they built a bridge using their own bodies for the two to meet. Thereafter, flocks of magpies will gather to build the bridge every year on the day of Qixi to reunite the couple.

Buffalo

As China has a long agriculture history, the buffalo is extremely important in Chinese culture. Ancient Chinese people believed that the buffalo represents hardworking and a kind heart. In the Qixi mythology, the old buffalo was the only friend of the introverted cowherd before he met the weaver. After knowing the weaver was taken by the Queen Mother to the heaven, the old buffalo decided to sacrifice itself as its skin can allow the cowherd to fly to chase the weaver. To mark this legendary buffalo, some areas in China have the custom of asking children to hang flower wreathes on buffaloes' horns on the day of Qixi.

Spider

Needlework was one of the most important skills of ancient Chinese girls. Since the weaver in the Qixi mythology was a goddess that can do perfect needlework, ancient Chinese women considered Qixi an opportune time to pray for sewing skills. As spiders are known to be talented weavers among animals, young Chinese girls will catch a spider, put it into a box and pray in the evening before Qixi. And the next morning they open the box – if the spider makes a web, it means the goddess weaver heard their prayers and would bless them in their needle work.

(All images via VCG)

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