Explainer: Story of Qixi, AKA Chinese Valentine's Day

August 28, 2017

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=u13230c4h6l&width=500&height=375&auto=0

The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is known as Qi Xi, a traditional holiday that has been recently called China's Valentine's Day.

There are several versions of the myth that inspired the festival – the oldest written incarnation* is from a 2,600-year-old poem – but the basic tale is of the forbidden romance between a weaver girl, Zhinü (织女), and a cowherd, Niulang (牛郎).

*incarnation：a particular physical form or condition of something or someone that is changing or developing特殊体现，特殊状态

This film is the latest incarnation of a fairy tale that dates back to the Middle Ages.

这部影片是对中世纪一则神话故事的最新演绎。

The beautiful seventh daughter of the Goddess of Heaven, Zhinü abandons her duties of weaving clouds and rainbows for a day to frolic* on earth. Spying Zhinü – in risqué* variations of the story, she is bathing in a lake – Niulang falls for the celestial* maiden and proposes*. Zhinü agrees. They have two children and almost live happily ever after.

*frolic：to play and behave in a happy way嬉戏，玩闹

A group of suntanned children were frolicking on the beach.

一群晒得黝黑的孩子在海滩上嬉戏。

*risqué ['rɪskeɪ]

(of jokes or stories) slightly rude or shocking, especially because of being about sex（笑话或故事）粗俗的；（尤指）有伤风化的

*celestial：of or from the sky or outside this world 天的，天空的；天外的

The moon is a celestial body.

月亮是天体中的一员。

*propose（熟词僻意）to ask someone to marry you求婚

I remember the night your father proposed to me.

我记得你父亲向我求婚的那个晚上。

Unfortunately, Zhinü’s mother does not consider the lowly cowherd a suitable match and conspires to break them apart. She summons* Zhinü back to heaven (and her monotonous* weaving tasks), leaving a distraught* Niulang as a single father in the mortal realm.

*summon：to order someone to come to or be present at a particular place, or to officially arrange a meeting of people命令…到（某地）；传唤；召唤；召集

*monotonous：not changing and therefore boring单调乏味的；毫无变化的

a monotonous job 

单调的工作

*distraught：extremely worried, nervous, or upset极其不安的，非常焦虑的，心烦意乱的

The missing child's distraught parents made an emotional appeal for information on TV.

失踪儿童的父母极为焦虑，在电视上恳请大家提供相关消息。

Hoping to make everything better, Niulang’s magical talking ox offers to sacrifice himself so that Niulang can don its hide, thereby transporting him and their children to heaven. When the Goddess gets wind*, she banishes Zhinü to the eastern star Vega and Niulang to the western star Altair, and creates the Milky Way to separate them for eternity.

*get wind of sth：to hear a piece of information that someone else was trying to keep secret听到…的风声；得知…秘密消息

I don't want my colleagues to get wind of the fact that I'm leaving.

我不想让我的同事们知道我要离开的消息。

But every year on the seventh night of the seventh moon, all the magpies of the world flock to the heavens and form a bridge so that the couple can spend the night together.