Star-Crossed Lovers, Magpies & Summer Valentines

This Saturday, inspired by Qixi—“Chinese Valentine’s Day”—we’re taking a walk through the love stories of Old Shanghai in the former French Concession. But what is Chinese Valentine’s Day, exactly? Read on … and join us on Saturday! For details and to book, click here.

On the seventh night of the seventh moon, a pair of star-crossed lovers meet in the heavens: this is the festival of Qixi (“seventh evening”), inspired by a romantic legend that goes back thousands of years.

Like most legends, there are many versions of the story, but this one’s our favorite.

The daughter of the King and Queen of Heaven was a gifted celestial weaver, known as Zhinü. She wove the royal robes from clouds and spun blankets of stars and heavenly bodies. But she was also a pampered princess, and one day, boredom led her to take a journey to the tantalizing green land below, earth.

Here she met a handsome cowherd, Niulang, who was captivated by her cosmic beauty. They fell deeply in love, and lived happily in his farmhouse with their children, he farming and tending his ox, and she—of course—weaving. Of course, this joyous state could not last.

When the King and Queen discovered that Zhinü had absconded to earth and was living with a (shudder) mortal, they were incensed! Using his kingly powers, the monarch whisked Zhinü back to heaven, where she belonged. Niulang wasn’t about give up that easily. Fortunately, his beloved ox happened to be divine, and magicked a boat for the ride up to heaven.

When the enraged Queen saw Niulang approach, she took a celestial hairpin from her elaborate hairdo, and drew it across the heavens, separating the lovers and creating the Milky Way.

Seeing how heartbroken her daughter was, though, the Queen softened slightly. Once a year, she decreed, on the seventh night of the seventh moon, the pair could meet. The magpies, who had witnessed this love story on earth and in the heavens, gather on this day to form a bridge between heaven and earth so for one night, the lovers can be together.

If you look up in the sky on Saturday, you’ll see the bright stars Altair and Vega together: Altair is the cowherd, and Vega the celestial weaving maiden. And that’s also why, on Qixi, you won’t see any magpies on earth.

But you will see lots of people out celebrating old-fashioned love – including Historic Shanghai! To join us, click here.