Qixi Festival

This article was written on August 13, 2013

Author: Lü Jianfeng

Today is Qixi, and in my memory, all kinds of Valentine's Days like Qixi have been spent alone. Today I'm still alone, bored, so let's talk about Qixi from some keywords.

1. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

Qixi comes from the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. Their happy life was destroyed by the Heavenly Court, and the Queen Mother of the West is resented by the world. But here I want to thank the Queen Mother. Without her, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl would just live happily, and could they have left behind such a poignant and beautiful love story? Could there be the Qixi Festival?

From the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, I want to share a few of my views:

a. It's good to have one son and one daughter. The ancients didn't make the legend about two daughters or two sons, nor did they make it about any other number of children. This shows that since ancient times, our Chinese heritage has favored one son and one daughter. In a sense, it also verifies that the character "好" (good) means a family with both a son and a daughter is happy.

b. Separation and reunion are inevitable. Even gods and legends tell you that love needs trials and separation. Even the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are separated for all but one day of the year. Separation and reunion are the true meaning of love.

c. Feelings require persistence. The Weaver Girl was bathing when the Cowherd took her clothes. She cried bitterly, and the Cowherd threatened to return her clothes only if she agreed to be his wife. She had no choice but to agree, and their love came later. You see, feelings require persistence. Fellow men, you must persist with the woman you like. As long as it's for love, persistence is commendable, even if you're a third party. "In love, there is no first come, first served; only the unloved is the third party." This saying is widely attributed to Shakespeare, but it's actually nonsense, not from him at all. Yet it spreads so widely, which verifies that feelings require persistence, even if you're a third party.

1. Flowers and moonlight.

The moon rises atop the willow tree, and people meet after dusk. This means that men and women should date at night. "Flowers and moonlight" means the best place for a date is somewhere with flowers. That's why lovers always like to go to parks, and why men who like a woman give her flowers. But today I'm not talking about that. I want to give new meanings to old words.

a. "Flowers and moonlight" means spending money to please her. A woman dresses up for the one who appreciates her. If a woman meets a man she likes and who likes her, like today on Qixi, she should dress beautifully and wait for him to invite her out.

b. "Flowers and moonlight" means spending money to invite her out. After the woman dresses up, the man invites her out. Where to? A park? Probably most women would run away. The man needs to spend money. What's hottest tonight? KTV needs to be booked in advance, bars are packed, and if you look for a hotel after midnight, you might have to search all over Kunming. Flowers like roses cost at least twenty yuan each in Kundo. All these require the man to spend money, so it's spending money to invite her out.

1. I love you.

I believe the most said phrase tonight will be "I love you." Liking someone is not enough; love must be spoken. And speaking it is not enough; it must have adjectives, like vows of eternal love. Today I'll analyze the "I love you" that is said and the one that isn't.

a. Emotional frauds. These people say "I love you" most easily. They say it so often that it rolls off their tongues. Like me, I've never said "I love you." When I can't avoid it, at most I'll say "I like you." Ladies, be careful of handsome men who say "I love you" right away.

b. True feelings. Love is blind. Even an ugly woman can be seen as a beauty, let alone saying "I love you."

c. Not saying "I love you" doesn't mean not loving. There's a widely spread expression: a man musters up courage and says to a woman, "Would you be willing to be buried in my family's ancestral grave after you die?" If a man is willing to grow old with you and let you enter his family's ancestral grave after death, isn't he very loving? Ladies, if you meet a man who likes you but is unwilling to say "I love you," don't easily throw a tantrum. Maybe he likes you more than all those who say "I love you."

Alright, that's enough. It's time for a movie. I love you, where are you?