Double Seven Festival Link up with the Cowpuncher and the Weaving Maid’s legend all the time. This is a very beautiful, eternal love story.
Long long ago, there is a talent and honest guy in the south village of China, parents die early, have to follow elder brother and sister-in-law subsist together, sister-in-law is vicious, often maltreat him, forces him to do much work. In autumn of one year, the sister-in-law forces him to graze cattle, give him nine oxen, but enable him to go home when there are ten oxen, the Cowpuncher is helpless and has to drive the ox and walk out the village.
The Cowpuncher has entered the mountain driving the ox alone, on the mountain of deep forest and dense grass, sad that he sits under the tree, wonder when can drive ten oxen and go home. At this moment, an old man of beard and hair all white appears in front of him, ask why he is sad, after learning his experience, smiling say to him: “Don’t be sad, there is an old ox that fell ill in Funiu Mountain, you go to feed it carefully, after the old ox recovered from illness, you can drive it and go home.
The Cowpuncher crossed over mountain after mountain, walk very far distance, found that sick old ox at last, he see old ox disease terrible, give the old ox one tie grass, feed it three day continuously, the old ox has had enough, just lift the head and tell him: Oneself is immortal ox in the Heaven originally, offend against rule of Heaven and was demoted, down from Heaven and come to man’s world, have broken the leg, it is unable to move. One’s own wound needs to wash for one month with the dew of all sorts of flowers, the Cowpuncher have taken care of the old ox for one month carefully, collections the dew of flower and cures the wound for old ox in the daytime, sleeps at the old ox’s side to nestle in the evening, after the old ox recovered from illness, the Cowpuncher is glad to go home driving ten oxen.
After going home, the sister-in-law is still not good to him, have plotted to murder him several times, is tried to rescue by the old ox, the sister-in-law flew into a rage to drive the Cowpuncher out of the family finally, the Cowpuncher only call for that old ox to accompany.
One day, the Weaving-Maid of the Heaven and other fairy maidens come to the mortal world play game, have a bath in the river. The Cowpuncher has known the Weaving-Maid with the help of the old ox. The two people Have had the sentiment, afterwards the Weaving-Maid comes to the human world again stealthily. The Weaving-Maid and the Cowpuncher get married. The Weaving-Maid become to the Cowpuncher’s wife. The Weaving-girl brought the silkworm of Heaven and give it to everybody, teaches everybody how to breed silkworms, reel off raw silk from cocoons, weave out the bright silks and satins of light.
After the Cowpuncher marries Weaving-Maid, the Cowpuncher plough and the Weaving-Maid weave, the couple are very harmonious, the Weaving-Maid have given birth to two children, one boy and one girl, whole family live a very happy life. But a good time never lasts long, the Celestial Ruler Supreme God knows this matter, the Queen Mother come to the mortal world soon, take the Weaving-Maid back to the Heaven by force, this affectionate couple is broken.
The Cowpuncher is a person in the mortal world, unable to fly to the sky, the old ox tells the Cowpuncher, after it died, can make its skin into the shoes, wearing can fly to the sky. Cowpuncher make shoes according to old ox, put on shoes, take one’s own children, speed across the sky to chase the Weaving-Maid.it is unexpected the Queen Mother Wields the gold hairpin, a Milky Way of a great wave appeared, the Cowpuncher and the Weaving-Maid are separated on two sides. They can only cry relatively and shed tears. Loyal and steadfast love of them move magpie, countless magpie fly to here, put up Magpie Bridge only, let the Cowpuncher and the Weaving Maid meet on Magpie Bridge, the Queen Mother is helpless too with this, have to allow two people to meet in Magpie Bridge in the annual Chinese calendar on July 7.
Later, the seventh day of every the seventh month of Chinese calendar, the day when the Cowpuncher and the Weaving Maid met in Magpie Bridge according to legend. In this day, The girls will come under the moonlight, look up at the starry sky, look for Altair and Vega in both sides of the Milky Way, hope to see their annual meeting, invoke God to let oneself can be clever and deft like Weaving-Maid, pray that there can be satisfactory and happy marriages oneself, therefore has formed the Double Seven Festival.
