[AAA] Happy Qixi Valentines Day!

[Kristen Wu]

Hey AAAers,

Did you know that today is *Valentines Day* in several Asian countries?

*Qixi*,
also know as *Double Seventh Festival*, *Chinese Valentine's Day*, or
the *Magpie
Holiday*, celebrates the *annual meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl* in
Chinese mythology. Qixi falls on the *7th day of the 7th month* of the
Chinese lunar calendar. And today happens to be that day!

*Here's a short version of the myth**:*
Some time 2000+ years ago, a cowherder called Niu-lang ("cow-guy") and a
weaver called Zhi-nu ("weaver-girl") fell in love. Zhinu was a weaver of
clouds and the daughter of the Jade Emperor, the Daoist ruler of heaven,
and Wangmu, the queen of heaven. The two star-crossed lovers fell in love
and were married, but their relationship was met with disapproval by
Zhinu's parents. After all, they were all divine and Niulang was just a
lowly human cow herder. Wangmu separated the two with a swift move of her
hairpin, creating a river in the sky (what we know as the Milky Way!).
Niulang (the star Altair) and Zhinu (the star Vega) were devastated, and
eventually the queen took pity on them and gave them one night of the year
to spend together, which created the annual Qixi holiday. On Qixi, the
queen sends magpies to bridge the celestial gap between the lovers.

[image: Inline image 1]
*
*
*So what do Chinese people do on Qixi?*
In the modern day, people usually use this as a chance to buy gifts for
their sweethearts, or spend a nice date on with their lovers.

Anyways, happy Qixi and say something sweet to your loved ones today!

With love,

-- 
Kristen Wu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Class of 2016
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