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Tanabata - Qi Xi Jie 七夕节
The Chinese Star Festival of the 7th Night of the 7th Moon
Compiled by Gary Agranat
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In 2007, the 7th day of the 7th month of the Chinese lunar calendar is August 19th.
Contents
- Introduction, The Chinese Star Festival of the 7th Night of the 7th Moon (Month)
- Tanabata - Zhi Nü Stories and Background
- Some Festival Places
- Look for the stars Vega and Altair in the night sky
- Other Tanabata related websites:
The Chinese Star Festival
of the 7th Night of the 7th Moon (Month)
This ancient Chinese star festival
celebrates two lovers kept apart by the celestial river, The Milky Way.
The lovers are represented by the stars Vega and Altair toegther with their constellations. Vega
is the weaving goddess Zhi Nü, Altair is a young ox herdsman Niu Lang.
According to the legend, they fell in love, but then were forced to part because
they neglected their duties.
However, they were permitted to
meet once a year on "the 7th night of the 7th Moon".
The story originated in China several thousand years ago.
It later spread to surrounding cultures, such as in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
Several versions of the story developed.
In China, festivals follow the traditional lunar calendar. In 2006 the star
festival comes on July 31st of our Gregorian calendar.
However, in Japan
many celebrate the festival on July 7th.
There it is known as Tanabata.
Stargazers in the northern hemisphere may know the two stars, Vega and Altair,
as part of a set of three stars that make what's called
"The Summer Triangle." At northern temperate lattitudes, these
stars appear directly overhead during the summer. There are some links below
to help you find the stars Vega and Altair in the night sky.
Tanabata - Zhi Nü Stories and Background:
Versions of the story in Japan
- Astronomy in Japan: Orihime & Kengyu
- Exploring Lafcadio Hearn:
Romance of the Milky Way
Lafcadio Hearn lived during the second half of the 19th century. He was born in Greece to a Greek mother and Irish father. He moved to America where he worked as a journalist, and then moved to Japan where he remained until his death. As he put it, he felt like an inspired bee in search of literary honey. He wrote extensively about Japan and Japanese culture at the turn of the century. Many Americans were introduced to Japan by his literature. The Romance of the Milky Way was actually how I first learned about the Tanabata star festival. - Spotlight - Tanabata @ Culture & Society Spotlight, Embassy of Japan in Denmark.
- Tanabata Matsuri @ Welcome to Hiroshima by Jimmie Yorioka. Also see Matsuri.
- Tanabata Festival @ Festivals in Japan by KCC Japanese Culture Club, University of Hawaii.
- Tanabata @ KIDS WEB JAPAN
- Tanabata Festival @ Japan Atlas: Festivals
- Tokyo with Kids - The Tanabata Story
- Tanabata in Japan Ms Hos-McGrane's Class Web, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Tanabata (the Star Festival) J-Culture. In English and Japanese.
- Tanabata The Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur.
- Tanabata Festival New York Interfaith Center.
- Also see the International Shinto Foundation cultural events calendar.
- Tanabata Celebrating the love of the stars on July 7 U.S. Embassy in Japan.
- Tanabata Hitachi City.
- The Origins of the Tanabata Festival Setagaya City, Tokyo municipal newsletter July 2003.
-
When You Wish Upon a Star Awa Life (Tokushima Pref.), July 2001. By Fiona Lockett.
Includes cultural information and also some astronomy details. -
The Festival of Weaver Star (Tanabata) Rotary World Magazine. (Osaka)
This short article includes some historical details about Tanabata in Japan. Part of a set of five articles, The Five Sekku Festivals in Japan. - Tanabata - Festival of the Stars Ao Sara (South Africa)
- Star Festival a brief memoir by Asami Yamashita; part of HELLO, a newsletter series about Japan written by first year college students studying English at Tokuyama Women's College.
-
Tanabata Star Festival decorations in the entrance of Daiwa Department Store, Kanazawa
New York Japan Society - Journey Through Japan - Space Encyclopedia/Constellations - Summer (Mythologies) and The Constellations above Japan NASDA Online Space Encyclopedia (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).
Versions of the story from China
- The Chih Nu Festival from Islands Orbital, Hong Kong (August, 1997)
- Qi Qiao Jie Wikipedia.
- Jade Emperor Wikipedia.
- Saint Valentine's Day - The Legend of Magpie Bridge
- Qi Qiao Jie: Chinese Valentine's Day by Linda Campbell. July 9, 2003. Tsinoy/Suite 101.
- It's Chinese Valentine's Day Shanghai Star.
- Traditional Chinese Festivals- Tanabata China Internet Information Center.
- Chinese Valentine's Day（七巧节） China Daily. August 2003.
- Love for Chinese Valentine's Day Shanghai Daily, August 6, 2003.
- Drama explores marriage matters - "Celestial Human World" China Daily
- Chinese Valentines Day - Qi Qiao Jie - valentines day
- Double Seventh Festival chuguo.org.cn
- The Legend of Love
A modern TV version of the story in Hong Kong.
Some Festival Places:
- Tanabata Picture Lantern Festival @ Festivals in Akita
- Anjo Tanabata Festival Aichi Pref.
- Photographs of the 1997 Asagaya Tanabata Festival by Shari & Tito.
- '96 Asagaya Tanabata Festival -- although the website is in Japanese, you can view the many pictures.
- Gifu Prefecture:
- Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Pref.:
- Tanabata, Star Festival animates Hiratsuka City By Yuki Yanagi. June 2000. Torii Online.
- Tanabata Festival in Shonan Hiratsuka a personal website by Senri Miura.
- Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka: Story (48th festival, 1998)
- Shonan-Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival
- Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival postage stamps.
- Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka @ Travel With Mike & Judy
- Tanabata-Summer Festival in Hiratsuka, Japan by Kevin Sullivan
- Tananbata Festival by Shirley Hao
- Hashimoto Tanabata Festival
- Irumagawa Tanabata Festival on Aug. 6, 1997 This is in Japanese, but there are many photographs. By Matsunori Makino
- Kyoto City Travel Agent News vol.29 July Tourist Highlights -- Tanabata (7-7)
- Misawa City Tanabata Festival
Aomori Prefecture / Misawa Air Base.
Close to the holiday, other parts of the website may also carry more information and pictures. - Tanabata Festival Naval Air Facility Misawa.
- Summer festivals offer fun for kids of all ages by Deborah VanNierop 7/8/2002.
- Oita
- Tanabata Festival City of Oita.
- Sendai, Miyagi Pref.:
- Sendai Tanabata (in Japanese)
- Tanabata in Sendai 1998 [ 1998$BG/:G?7$N4j$$;v(B ]
- Tanabata Festival in Sendai 1997, 2000. Includes some history.
- Sendai Tanabata 1997 by Hiroko Ishikawa "Hirocat"
- Tanabata Today, 1996
- Tanabata Today, 1995
- IBM Hometown Homepage - Sendai Festivals: Tanabata
- PhotoGuide Japan-Sendai Tanabata Festival 仙台七夕祭り
- Tanabata by Azusa Ishikawa (5th grade student) @ Yumekids: Sendai Kids Journal
- Topic of The Month from Shizuoka: Tanabata (June 1996)
- Takaoka Tanabata Star Festival
- Tokyo
- Tanabata Festival in Yamaguchi.
- Tanabata Festival at Japan Guide.Com.
Look for the stars Vega and Altair in the night sky
- Stellar Scenes Home Page by Naoyuki Kurita, has some nice astrophotos of the stars Vega (in the constellation Lyra) and Altair (in the constellation Aquila), plus the Milky Way, the celestial river that separates the couple.
-
NTT Digital Museum:
Cosmic Gallery
Has some photographs of this region of the sky too. The two stars, Vega and Altair, together with a third make what's called "The Summer Triangle." See the Cosmic Sphere page to locate where the stars' constellations (Lyra and Aquilla) are in the sky above you. - Vega and Altair. Supplement to the article about Tanabata, "When You Wish Upon a Star", by Fiona Lockett in Awa Life.
-
Taro and the Persimmon Tree
The script (in English) of a children's summer planetarium show. Includes the telling the Tanabata legend, while pointing out the particular stars and the Milky Way. Yokohama Science Center. - Here are more websites to help you find the
constellations.
Other Tanabata related websites:
- Two animated scene pages about Tanabata.
- Zhinü Project In German and English.
- Chinese and Japanese Poetry Original poems and English translations.
Of Marriage, Labor, and the Small Peasant Family:
A Morphological and Feminist Study of Cowherd and Weaving Maid Folktales.
By Eric K.W. Yu (National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan).
Comparative Literature and Culture 3 (1998): 11-51.-
七夕-Star Festival Tierra Magazine English Club.
A bilingual (Japanese and English) dialogue about Tanabata. - Artist Minori Yamazaki's Internet Museum :
- "Altair" Hikoboshi by Minori Yamazaki
- The work process of "Altair - Hikoboshi" by Minori Yamazaki, and a next page.
- Engineering test satellite Orihime - Hikoboshi: The Japanese Aero Space Agency, JAXA (formerly NASDA), launched a pair of engineering robotic test satellites called Kiku-7 / Orihime & Hikoboshi, named after the Tanabata couple. Their mission was to rendezvous and link together, just as the couple meet in the star legend. Fittingly, the satellites successfully met on Tanabata, July 7th 1998.
- CNN article from the day before linking.
- Flug Review Weekly update: ETS July 12, 1998.
- Photo of cargo ship Tanabata Ship Photos.Co.UK. Looks like a RoRo ship for cars.
- Tanabata - The Star Festival An interactive website at MIT
Some school and teaching oriented pages about Tanabata:
- MGK Elementary School. Tokyo
- Holiday Customs and Traditions A collection of pages from one school each in Japan, Italy, and the U.S. The Japanese stories come from Shiamane Prefectural Iinan Senior High in Japan.
- Tanabata Festival as part of a Russian-Japanese student exchange project
- MIT Japanese culture-notes - Tanabata, July
- Tanabata Festival at Nihongo Memo, by Shunko Muroya.
- Magpies and the Milky Way One of several classroom astronomy projects, at the Univ. of Arizona.
-
Internet Version [Naruhodo no Mori] Vol. 46 - Orihime and Hikoboshi stars.
Home science for mothers of elementary school children. By Yumiko Mori.
Some Tanabata pages in Japanese Language
- Tanabata Links @ Yokohama Science Center.
- 七夕（たなばた）によせて 天文コラム「星空のかなたに」 [ 中沢 陽 ].
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