Taicang Qixi Festival Customs

Jiangsu
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Taicang is located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province, near the Yangtze River and the sea (Shanghai). Historically, it mainly planted rice and cotton, and its agriculture was relatively developed. Many local customs are related to farming culture, and Taicang Qixi Festival is one of them. In Taicang, a Qixi temple fair is held every year, and many people participate spontaneously and enthusiastically. Taicang Qixi Festival has three characteristics: First, there are historical legends. Gong Mingzhi of the Southern Song Dynasty recorded in "Zhongwu Jiwen" that in Huanggu Village, Taicang, it is said that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were born here, and the villagers built a temple for them, with two statues of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in the temple. Later, the Cowherd moved out and moved to Jiading, and the temple was dedicated to the Weaver Girl. The Taicang Prefecture Chronicle by Zhang Cai of the Ming Dynasty recorded the reasons for the change: "The Weaver Girl Temple is located on Huanggutang, seven miles south of the prefecture, where the two stars Altair and Vega descended. During the war, many scholars and officials avoided Donggang. A tourist passed by the temple and wrote on the wall: "From the place where Shangfeng arrived at the moon, I was graceful beside the Wuque Bridge. I heard that the good time was only one night, so why did I face this person day and night? The villagers then left Altair and worshipped the Weaver Girl alone." Second, there is "physical evidence". Although the Weaver Girl Temple has been destroyed several times, the masses have repeatedly raised funds to rebuild it, and it still exists today. Third, relying on the Weaver Girl Temple, the Qixi Temple Fair is held every Qixi Festival, and this folk custom has continued to this day, indicating that the masses are very enthusiastic. Historically, the activities of the Qixi Festival in Taicang mainly include the "Qiqiao Meeting", which mainly includes opening, fasting, sacrifice, chanting, and grain release. It will be opened once every three years, and there are also folk activities such as worshiping the two stars, observing the stars, watching the clouds, being clever, eating clever fruits and orchid beans, and dyeing red nails. Now, the main activities are temple fairs and folk customs, among which traditional customs such as dyeing nails red, eating qiaoguo and orchid beans are still preserved. The reason why Taicang Qixi Festival has been passed down for thousands of years and has a broad foundation among the masses is that it has positive social value and rich historical and cultural value. It attaches importance to women in a disadvantaged position, takes the beauty of women as the basic theme, advocates labor, and praises pure and selfless love. In the Qixi folk activities, many folk customs and folk beliefs are preserved and passed on, which is of great significance to the creation of a harmonious society.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

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