Celebrating Daughter's Day in China

The Star Lovers

by Warwick Goble, 1910

In China, August 23 is known as Daughter's Day and also the celebration of Chinese Valentine’s Day, or the Double SeventhFestival, celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The holiday evolved from the ancient Chinese love story, The Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden, also known as the story of Altair and Vega.

The raging river, formed in one version by the Empress as she attempts to keep the lovers apart, also explains how the Milky Way was formed. In some versions the bridge is formed by sparrows, in other versions, the magpie.

• The Daughter’s Day Festival is an important day for girls. In the evening, they prepare melons and fruits prior to engaging in worship and praying that their wishes for a good marriage will come true.
• Young girls display needlework, make paper flowers, burn incense and make fruit offerings to the night sky.
• It is the one day of the year when young girls may request for any wish to the Weaving Maid. (Vega star)
• When the star is high in the sky, the girls do a test, which involves placing a needle on the water surface. If the needle does not sink in the water, the girl is already smart enough and she is eligible for a married life.
• Since is it is also considered a holiday of friendship others cook horse beans and share with their neighbors.
• Girls throw five-color ropes, made by the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, on top of the roof for magpies. It is believed that magpies will use the ropes to build the bridge.

Sources for the above information:

http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/August/chinesevalentine.htm
http://www.celebrating-valentinesday.com/celebrating/chinese-valentines-day.shtml
http://www.ehow.com/how_2093105_celebrate-chinese-valentines-day.html#ixzz21Ss67RS9
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/from-china-to-japan-the-story-of-altair-and-vega-1026751.html

STORIES

Some tales to help you celebrate the daughter's in your life.

The Legend of the Magpie Bridge

http://www.novareinna.com/festive/valmagpie.html

The Bamboo Cutter’s Daughter – Japan 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/jft2/jft208.htm

The Blind Man’s Daughter – Korea 

http://www.sejongsociety.org/korean_theme/korean_folk_tales/shim_chong.html

The Boat that Went on Land and Water – France 

http://www.mordent.com/folktales/french/boat/
Daughter and Step Daughter – Russia 

http://russian-crafts.com/russian-folk-tales/daughter-and-ste-daughter.html

The Daughter of the Rose – Romania 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/rft/rft06.htm

The Daughter of the Skies - West Highlands 
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/pt1/pt116.htm
The Daughter of the Sun – Cherokee/Native American 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/cher/motc/motc005.htm

Earl Mar’s Daughter – England
http://www.authorama.com/english-fairy-tales-32.html

Leelinau, the Lost Daughter – Native American
http://worldoftales.com/Native_American_folktales/Native_American_Folktale_29.html

The Marsh King’s Daughter – Denmark
http://hca.gilead.org.il/marsh_ki.html

The Padishah’s Daughter and the Young Slave – Tajik/Iran
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Anthropology/Tajiks/TajikFolk.htm

The Sea King’s Daughter – Russia
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/032.html
The Star Lovers – Japan (Found on page 65 in _Green Willow and Other Japanese Fairy Tales_, downloadable at the link.)http://archive.org/details/greenwillowother00jame

The Twelve Dancing Princesses – Germany
http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-9.html
The Three Daughter’s and the Lost Cow – Tibet
http://www.crosby-lundin.com/tibet/culture/folktales/cow.html

The Tortoise with a Pretty Daughter - Nigeria
http://worldoftales.com/African_folktales/Nigerian_folktale_1.html

The Widow and Her Daughters – Scotland
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/pt2/pt233.htm

The Worthy Daughter - India
http://stories4u.50webs.com/Folktales/theworthydaughter.htm

CRAFTS

In preparation for the festival young Chinese girls make paper flowers for the celebration.

Tie Dye Flowers – This cute craft is made with coffee filers.
http://tinyurl.com/d6jbfp8

Tissue Paper Flowers
http://crafts.kaboose.com/flower2.html

Weave a Paper Lantern
http://www.freekidscrafts.com/woven_paper_lantern-e847.html 

CURRICULUM

Magpies in Nature and Myth

http://www.wisdomportal.com/Magpie.html

Galaxies Galore

http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/galaxies-galore/teacher/lessonplan.html#new


SOMETHING EXTRA

Looking for stories to celebrate the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival?  Click over to this link.
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/05/dragons-mythical-mystical-magical.html

Karen Chace 2012 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook