Qixi Festival (Qiqiao Festival)
The Qixi Qiqiao folk custom in Xihe County, Gansu Province has rich cultural connotations and significant regional characteristics. It is mainly spread in Xihe County in the southeast of Gansu Province and Yongxing and Yanguan in Li County. It appeared in the Han Dynasty, developed in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It has a history of more than a thousand years. Due to its unique geographical environment and profound historical and cultural accumulation, the Qiqiao folk custom has been passed down in Xihe for a long time. For a period of time after the founding of New China, this custom declined due to suppression, and was restored after the reform and opening up. The Qiqiao folk custom activities in Xihe are rich in content and diverse in form. It starts on the evening of the 30th day of the sixth lunar month (the 29th day of the short month) and ends on the evening of the 7th day of the seventh lunar month. It lasts for seven days and eight nights. The whole activity is divided into seven links: sitting, welcoming, offering, worshiping, entertaining, divination, and sending. The Qiqiao Festival custom in Xihe is a comprehensive folk activity integrating faith, poetry, music, singing and dancing, and arts and crafts, and has a high historical and cultural research value. The exploration and protection of the Xihe Qiqiao folk custom is of great significance to promoting the study of the social system, lifestyle, folk customs, aesthetic orientation, etc. in the era of agricultural civilization, tracing the origin of Chinese civilization, and exploring the characteristics of Xiqin culture. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)