***<\/p>\n
The annual Meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden on a Bridge of Magpies has, from the twentieth century,\u00a0became one of China’s\u00a0Four Classical Folktales. They are:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Meng Jiangn\u00fc Topples\u00a0the Wall with Tears \u5b5f\u59dc\u5973\u54ed\u5012\u9577\u57ce;<\/li>\n
- The Cowherd\u00a0and the Weaving Maiden Meet on Magpie Bridge \u725b\u90ce\u7e54\u5973\u9d72\u6a4b\u6703;<\/li>\n
- The legend of Liang Shanbo \u6881\u5c71\u4f2f and Zhu Yingtai \u795d\u82f1\u53f0; and,<\/li>\n
- The story of the White Snake \u767d\u86c7\u50b3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
For more on these folktales, and their recasting in modern\u00a0times, see Wilt L. Idema, Old Tales for New Times: Some Comments on the Cultural Translation of China\u2019s Four Great Folktales in the Twentieth Century<\/a>, Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies<\/em> 9, 2012, no. 1 (Issue 17): 1-23.<\/p>\n
This is the latest in our series of\u00a0New Sinology Jottings \u5f8c\u6f22\u5b78\u5284\u8a18<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2014 Geremie R. Barm\u00e9, Editor, China Heritage
\n<\/i>Seventh Day of the Seventh Month of the
\nDingyou Year of the Rooster 2017
\n\u4e01\u9149\u96de\u5e74\u4e03\u6708\u4e03\u65e5\u4e03\u5915\u7bc0<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_3501.jpg\")
Seventh Eve, in the hand of Liu Gongquan \u67f3\u516c\u6b0a from a Tang-dynasty stele. Source: Stele of the Xuanmi Pagoda \u7384\u79d8\u5854\u7891 (the full name of which is: \u5510\u6545\u5de6\u8857\u50e7\u9304\u5167\u4f9b\u5949\u4e09\u6559\u8ac7\u8ad6\u5f15\u99d5\u5927\u5fb7\u5b89\u570b\u5bfa\u4e0a\u5ea7\u8cdc\u7d2b\u5927\u9054\u6cd5\u5e2b\u7384\u79d8\u5854\u7891\u9298\u4e26\u5e8f), from the 28th of August 2017, Palace Museum Calendar<\/em> \u6545\u5bae\u65e5\u66c6.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\nLaying Down of Needles \u4e1f\u91dd<\/strong><\/h2>\n
On the seventh day of the seventh month girls of Peking each take a bowl of water which they expose to the sun, and put in it a small needle so that it will float on the surface of the water. They then long watch the needle\u2019s shadow at the bottom of the water. Sometimes it is diffused as if in the shape of flowers, sometimes in movement like clouds, sometimes fine like a thread, or sometimes thick like a stick. [Thus a shadow thick like a stick would indicate that the girl is clumsy at needlework, whereas one fine like a thread would show the reverse.] By this means they can predict each girl\u2019s dexterity of clumsiness. This is commonly called the laying down of needles.<\/p>\n
Bridge Formed of Magpies \u9d72\u6a4b<\/strong><\/h2>\n
On the seventh day of the seventh month, if the moon is clear, the crows and magpies appear flying and calling a little later than usual, and it is commonly said that they have been away forming a bridge.<\/p>\n
Note<\/em>: This has reference to an old legend, according to which the celestial Spinning Damsel (identified with the constellation Lyra) was banished from Heaven for a certain period and sent to earth. There she met the Oxherd (identified with the constellation Aquila), whom she married. They lived happily together until the time when her banishment came to an end, when she was forced to return to Heaven. The Oxherd tried to pursue her, only to be stopped in his progress by the Heavenly River (Milky Way), and since that time the lovers have been permitted to see each other only once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month, when the magpies are supposed to form a bridge across the Milky Way over which the two may pass. But if on that day it rains, they are doomed to wait another year before meeting. A play representing this lovely legend is usually given on this day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According to the Rixia jiuwen kao<\/i>, during the Jin (1115-1234) and Yuan (1280-1367) dynasties the courtiers of the Palace would wear (embroidered) insignia of a magpie bridge. \u2026 But the present dynasty [the Qing], with its august frugality, has not revived such childish forms of amusement.<\/p>\n
\u2014 from Tun Li-ch’en,\u00a0<\/em>Annual Customs and Festivals in Peking
\nas recorded in the Yanjing suishiji \u71d5\u4eac\u6b72\u6642\u8a18,
\ntrans. and\u00a0annotated by Derk Bodde,
\nPeip’ing: Henri Vetch, 1936, p.59.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nRomanised words have\u00a0been converted to\u00a0<\/em>Hanyu pinyin.<\/i><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Weaving.StillfromTianxianpei.jpeg\")
A Weaving Maiden, still from the 1953 film of the Huangmei opera, ‘A Heavenly Marriage’.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\nPoem Ten\u00a0in the Nineteen Old Poems<\/em> \u53e4\u8a69\u5341\u4e5d\u9996<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Author Unknown, Second Century CE<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\nFar in the skies is the Cowherd Star:
\nBright on the Milky Way the Maid*
\nLightly her snowy fingers raises
\nJogging her shuttle through its mazes.
\nBut her stint of work is never-ending,
\nAnd her tears like sobbing showers descending.
\nThough clear and shallow the Milky Way,
\nNever they’ll meet for many a day.
\nNo word she says, but stares dismayed,
\nAlone by that surging River far.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\u8fe2\u8fe2\u727d\u725b\u661f\uff0c
\n\u768e\u768e\u6cb3\u6f22\u5973\u3002
\n\u7e96\u7e96\u64e2\u7d20\u624b\uff0c
\n\u672d\u672d\u5f04\u6a5f\u677c\u3002
\n\u7d42\u65e5\u4e0d\u6210\u7ae0\uff0c
\n\u6ce3\u6d95\u96f6\u5982\u96e8\u3002
\n\u6cb3\u6f22\u6e05\u4e14\u6dfa\uff0c
\n\u76f8\u53bb\u5fa9\u5e7e\u8a31\uff1f
\n\u76c8\u76c8\u4e00\u6c34\u9593\uff0c
\n\u8108\u8108\u4e0d\u5f97\u8a9e\u3002<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n* In the beginning of time, the Cowherd and the Weaving-maid loved each other so well that they neglected their work and were changed into stars by the Lord of Heaven, and stationed at either side of the Milky Way in Aquila and Lyra respectively. The lovers are permitted to meet once a year, when the wings of magpies provide a bridge for them to cross.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0translation and note by<\/em> Burton Watson<\/p>\n
\nPresented to Wei Ba, Gentleman in Retirement\u00a0\u300a\u8d08\u885b\u516b\u8655\u58eb\u300b<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Du Fu \u675c\u752b (712-770)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\nLife is not made for meetings;
\nlike stars at opposite ends of the sky we move.
\nWhat night is it, then, tonight,
\nwhen we can share the light of this lamp?
\nYouth \u2014 how long did it last?
\nThe two of us grayheaded now,
\nwe ask about old friends \u2014 half are ghosts;
\ncries of unbelief stab the heart.
\nWho would have thought?\u201a twenty years
\nand once again I enter your house.
\nYou weren’t married when I left you;
\nnow suddenly a whole row of boys and girls!
\nmerrily greeting their father’s friend,
\nasking me what places I’ve been.
\nBefore I finish answering,
\nyou send the boys to set out wine and a meal,
\nspring scallions cut in night rain,
\nnew cooked rice mixed with yellow millet.
\nMeetings are rare enough, you say;
\npour the wine till we’ve drowned ten cups!
\nBut ten cups do not make me drunk;
\nyour steadfast love is what moves me now.
\nTomorrow hills and ranges will part us,
\nthe wide world coming between us again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\u4eba\u751f\u4e0d\u76f8\u898b\uff0c
\n\u52d5\u5982\u53c3\u8207\u5546\u3002
\n\u4eca\u5915\u5fa9\u4f55\u5915\uff0c
\n\u5171\u6b64\u71c8\u71ed\u5149\u3002
\n\u5c11\u58ef\u80fd\u5e7e\u6642\uff0c
\n\u9b22\u9aee\u5404\u5df2\u84bc\u3002
\n\u8a2a\u820a\u534a\u70ba\u9b3c\uff0c
\n\u9a5a\u547c\u71b1\u4e2d\u8178\u3002
\n\u7109\u77e5\u4e8c\u5341\u8f09\uff0c
\n\u91cd\u4e0a\u541b\u5b50\u5802\u3002
\n\u6614\u5225\u541b\u672a\u5a5a\uff0c
\n\u5152\u5973\u5ffd\u6210\u884c\u3002
\n\u6021\u7136\u656c\u7236\u57f7\uff0c
\n\u554f\u6211\u4f86\u4f55\u65b9\u3002
\n\u554f\u7b54\u672a\u53ca\u5df2\uff0c
\n\u9a45\u5152\u7f85\u9152\u6f3f\u3002
\n\u591c\u96e8\u526a\u6625\u97ed\uff0c
\n\u65b0\u708a\u9593\u9ec3\u7cb1\u3002
\n\u4e3b\u7a31\u6703\u9762\u96e3\uff0c
\n\u4e00\u8209\u7d2f\u5341\u89f4\u3002
\n\u5341\u89f4\u4ea6\u4e0d\u9189\uff0c
\n\u611f\u5b50\u6545\u610f\u9577\u3002
\n\u660e\u65e5\u9694\u5c71\u5dbd\uff0c
\n\u4e16\u4e8b\u5169\u832b\u832b\u3002<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u00a0\u2014 translated by<\/em>\u00a0Burton Watson<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
For a rendition of Du Fu’s\u00a0poem by the contemporary balladeer Zhou Yunpeng \u5468\u96f2\u84ec<\/a>, recorded in Paris, see:<\/p>\n