牛郎织女 — “Refers to a separated couple”

A long time ago, in Niu Family Village west of Nanyang City, there lived a clever and honest young man named Niulang. His parents died early, so he lived with his elder brother and sister-in-law. His sister-in-law, Ma Shi, was cruel and often mistreated him, forcing him to do much work. One autumn, she ordered him to herd nine cattle and not return until he had ten.

Helpless, Niulang drove the cattle out of the village. Alone in the mountains, thick with grass and trees, he sat under a tree, saddened, wondering when he could return home with ten cattle. Suddenly, an old man with white hair and beard appeared, asking why he was sad. Upon hearing his story, the old man smiled and said, “Don’t be sad. In Funiu Mountain, there’s a sick old ox. Go and care for it well, and when it recovers, you can drive it home.”

Niulang trekked over mountains and valleys for a long time and finally found the sick old ox. Seeing how ill it was, he gathered bundles of grass for it and fed it for three days. After eating its fill, the ox looked up and told him that it was originally the Grey Ox Immortal from heaven, banished for violating heavenly rules and had broken its leg, making it unable to move. Its injury needed to be washed with dew from a hundred flowers for a month to heal.

Niulang painstakingly cared for the old ox for a month, collecting flowers and dew for its injury during the day and sleeping beside it at night. When the ox recovered, Niulang happily drove ten cattle home. Back home, his sister-in-law remained unkind and tried to harm him several times, but the old ox always found ways to save him. Finally, infuriated, his sister-in-law drove Niulang out of the house. Niulang took only the old ox with him.

One day, the Weaver Girl and other fairies descended to earth to play and bathe in a river. With the old ox’s help, Niulang met the Weaver Girl. They fell in love, and later, the Weaver Girl secretly came down to earth and became Niulang’s wife. She also shared the celestial silkworms she brought from heaven with everyone and taught them how to raise silkworms, reel silk, and weave bright and shiny silk fabrics. After Niulang and the Weaver Girl married, they lived a life of farming and weaving, deeply in love. They had a son and a daughter and lived very happily as a family.

However, their good fortune did not last long. The Heavenly Emperor soon learned of their marriage, and the Queen Mother personally descended to earth, forcibly taking the Weaver Girl back to heaven, separating the loving couple.

Niulang had no way to ascend to heaven, but the old ox told him that after its death, he could use its hide to make shoes, and by wearing them, he could fly to heaven. Niulang followed the old ox’s instructions, put on the ox-hide shoes, and took his children with him. They rode the clouds and mist up to heaven to chase the Weaver Girl. Just as he was about to catch up, the Queen Mother pulled out her golden hairpin and waved it, and a turbulent Heavenly River appeared, separating Niulang and the Weaver Girl onto opposite banks, where they could only cry and weep for each other.

Their faithful love touched the magpies. Thousands of magpies flew in and formed a magpie bridge, allowing Niulang and the Weaver Girl to meet. The Queen Mother, left with no choice, permitted them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Later, every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, believed to be the day the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the magpie bridge, young women would go outside, look up at the starry sky, search for the Cowherd Star and the Weaver Girl Star on either side of the Milky Way, hoping to witness their annual reunion. They would pray to heaven to be as skillful as the Weaver Girl and to have a happy and fulfilling marriage, thus forming the Qixi Festival.