Chinanews.com, August 15th. August 14th ushered in the Qixi Festival on the seventh day of the Chinese lunar calendar. This day is also known as "Chinese Valentine's Day." Different, now with the blessing of traditional culture, Qixi Festival has gradually become one of the indispensable ways for Chinese lovers to express their love.
As we all know, February 14 is Western Valentine's Day.
According to legend, during the Roman Empire, Christian Valentine was arrested and imprisoned, and fell in love with the warden’s daughter, but was sentenced to death.
Later, in order to commemorate Valentine's sacrifice for justice and pure love, the day of his execution was designated Saint Valentine's Day, which is today's Valentine's Day.
On this day, Western couples often give gifts to each other, such as roses, chocolates, jewelry, etc., to show their love straightforwardly.
It can be said that this is a fairly straightforward and completely about love festival.
But the Chinese Valentine's Day, the Qixi Festival, has a richer connotation.
It used to be a comprehensive festival with women as the main body and the themes of blessing, begging for cleverness and love.
In ancient times, on the Qixi Festival, there were activities such as visiting close friends in the boudoir, praying for marriage, and discussing female celebrities.
The beautiful love legend of "The Cowherd and the Girl Weaver" has made it one of the most romantic traditional festivals in China, and it also has the cultural meaning of "Chinese Valentine's Day" in contemporary times.
Compared with the fierceness and directness of Westerners, the way Chinese couples express their love is quite restrained and subtle.
Even if they give gifts to each other, they are usually a piece of a piece of par, a picture of a picture, in which the friendship is long and far-reaching; and more lovesickness is placed in the verse of "If the two loves are long, how can they be in the morning and evening" .
At the moment, Chinese young people are celebrating the Qixi Festival, and it is more about the theme of love.
Similar to the Western Valentine's Day, dating and showing love are the main content.
According to data from the Meituan App, on the eve of this year’s holiday, the search volume of keywords such as "Chinese Valentine’s Day Meal" and “Chinese Valentine’s Day Dating Restaurant” increased by more than 10 times, while the search volume of keywords such as “romance” and “surprise” was more straightforward. Up by 115%; similarly, romantic travel is also very popular. In the past week, searches related to "Chinese Valentine's Day Travel" have increased by 60% on the Mafengwo travel platform.
The lovers earnestly spent the Qixi Festival and did not lose to the Western Valentine's Day.
However, there are still differences between the two festivals.
Due to the blessing of traditional culture, people spend more time thinking about the Qixi Festival.
For example, when couples give gifts to each other, Chinese domestic products are more popular during the Qixi Festival, especially "Rouge gouache" and Hanfu group fans, which can be said to be very suitable.
On a larger level, although the Qixi Festival is Valentine's Day, it is not just for lovers.
In recent days, many Chinese TV stations have launched the Qixi Festival, where the whole family can gather together to experience the folk customs of Qixi Festival.
Among them, Henan Satellite TV launched "A Wonderful Tour of Qixi Festival" on the 13th, which, like the previous "Tang Palace Night Banquet", which "out of the circle", once again attracted widespread attention to traditional culture.
Today, Qixi Festival has gradually become one of the indispensable ways for Chinese lovers to express their love, but a few years ago, this was not the case. Western Valentine's Day was once the mainstream.
In May 2006, the Qixi Festival was included in the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage List by the State Council of China; in January 2017, the Central Office and the Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on the Implementation of the Inheritance and Development Project of Chinese Excellent Traditional Culture"; With the continuous promotion of the media and businesses, people gradually realized the importance of the traditional festival and regained the romance of Qixi Festival.
The Qixi Festival has become popular among young people in China. It not only reflects the return of traditional festivals, but also shows the vigorous vitality of traditional culture. Young people favor domestic products, national trends, and related Chinese cultural elements while celebrating the festive season. It also shows the more and more charm of traditional culture in the continuous inheritance and innovation.
Traditional festivals are cultural symbols that carry rich and colorful cultural connotations and spiritual values; they are also like a link that connects Chinese people all over the world and inherits the common cultural genes of the Chinese nation.
In fact, it is not only the Qixi Festival, but also traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Dragon Boat Festival; not only the Chinese people, but also the overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese; not only the traditional way, but also the innovation.
Let the Chinese culture be passed on during the festive season, and let the traditional culture bloom with the vitality of the times.
(Li Shan)