This piece was created and recorded yesterday to celebrate Qixi Festival. The Qixi Festival (七夕), is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of Zhinü and Niulang in Chinese mythology. The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunisolar month on the Lunar calendar. It is also known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day.
According to Wikipedia, the festival was derived from worship of natural astrology. It is called "Qixi Festival" because of the traditional worship of the seventh elder sister on the occasion of her birthday, held on the seventh night of the seventh lunar month. Gradually, people celebrated for the romantic legend of two lovers, Zhinü and Niulang, who were the weaver girl and the cowherd, respectively. The tale of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has been celebrated in the Qixi Festival since the Han dynasty. The earliest-known reference to this famous myth dates back to over 2600 years ago, which was told in a poem from the Classic of Poetry. The Qixi festival inspired the Tanabata festival in Japan, Chilseok festival in Korea, and Thất Tịch festival in Vietnam.
《鵲橋仙》– 秦觀（1049-1100, 宋朝）
纖雲弄巧，飛星傳恨，銀漢迢迢暗度。金風玉露一相逢，便勝卻人間無數。
柔情似水，佳期如夢，忍顧鵲橋歸路。兩情若是久長時，又豈在朝朝暮暮。
Poem “Immortals at the Magpie Bridge” by Qin Guan (1049-1100) from the Song Dynasty. English translation by 許淵沖 Xu Yuanchong (1921 - 2021).
Clouds float like works of art,
Stars shoot with grief at heart.
Across the Milky Way the Cowherd meets the Maid.
When Autumn’s Golden Wind embraces Dew of Jade,
All the love scenes on earth, however many, fade.
Their tender love flows like a stream;
Their happy date seems but a dream.
How can they bear a separate homeward way?
If love between both sides can last for aye,
Why need they stay together night and day?
Wu Fei 吴非
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Can you see the double rainbow? Auckland, New Zealand in July 2022.
