The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl

This beloved Chinese folktale is one of the Four Great Folktales of China, and it’s celebrated during the Qixi Festival, also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day.

Long ago, in the heavens, lived Zhinu, the daughter of the Jade Emperor and a skilled weaver who wove the clouds and rainbows. Tired of her heavenly duties, she descended to Earth where she met Niulang, a kind-hearted cowherd living a humble life. The two fell deeply in love and married, living happily and raising two children.

However, their joy angered the Jade Emperor, who believed a heavenly being shouldn’t be with a mortal. He ordered Zhinu to return to the heavens, separating her from Niulang and their children.

Niulang, devastated, tried to follow her with the help of a magical flying ox. But as he approached, the Queen Mother of the West created a wide silver river (what we now know as the Milky Way) to keep them apart forever.

Touched by their love, the magpies of the world formed a bridge across the river once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, allowing the lovers to reunite for one night.