Hearts do bloom in the month of August!

WHO says cupids can only shoot arrows of heart every February 14?

August 17, 2010 is just another ordinary school day for the students of the University of Santo Tomas.  After having a week of brain cracking preliminary examinations, they are back again to the usual classroom activities – discussions, recitations, quizzes, homeworks, etc. But for a group of Filipino Chinese students here, August 17 marked this year’s Chinese Valentine’s Day.

Thousands of red and white roses are in full bloom as UST Scarlet, the Filipino and Chinese Multi Cultural Socio-civic organization, brought the spirit of Chinese Heart’s Day to its units in eight colleges around the university that day as they celebrate, “Qixi: The Night of the Sevens.”

“Qixi, is a way of commemorating the long tradition of Chinese Valentine’s Day,” said Vince Camba, President of Scarlet Central. “Celebrating this special day by giving flowers to our members and even to non-members aims to establish good relationship among them.”

Qixi, also called as the “Magpie Festival,” falls every seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. A traditional celebration full of romance, it has been an important event not only for lovers but also for ancient Chinese women. In bygone days, it is also known as “Begging for Skills Festival” or “Daughter’s Day Festival.” Its origin is well known to every Chinese which rooted from the tale of a weaving maid and a cowherd.

The story of Zhinu and Niulang 

According to historical accounts, an orphan named Niulang was mistreated by his elder brother and sister-in-law who gave him an ox and chased him away. He worked so hard for a couple of years that he eventually acquired a small house and farm. He was so lonely, having only an old ox as his companion.

One day, the ox (who used to be a god punished of violating the rules of Heaven), told him to go to the Silver River and rob the clothes of the Weaving Goddess of Heaven, Zhinu as she takes a bathe together with her six sisters in order for him to marry her.

In some versions, it is said that the two fell in love immediately in their first meeting and get married afterwards bearing two children of their own. However, the Queen of Heaven was enraged of Zhinu being married to a mortal and sent her back to heaven.

Portrait of Zhinu and Niu Lang
image courtesy of whatsonxiamen.com

The ox, before dying of old age, advised Niulang to keep its hide for him to follow his wife in heaven together with their children. But before he could reach his wife, the Queen used her hairpin to draw a silver line between them which later came to be known as the Milky Way.

Due to Zhinu’s deep sadness the Queen allowed the couple to unite once a year during the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

It is said that the magpies, moved by the couple’s true love, formed a bridge in the evening of Qixi which gave them the chance to see each other.

Many ancient Chinese women associate Qixi as a day where they desire to mastery the skills such as knitting, cooking, and home making. The ability have dexterous hands is the basis of Chinese’s fair lady during the Han dynasty.

But in the present, this long and valued tradition is starting to die out because many Chinese now favor the Western way of celebrating Valentine’s Day.

To keep this tradition alive, Scarlet gave 2,064 roses to its members (including other students and professors). Like cupids, they are able to send out once again the warm feeling of love that we strongly feel every February in this chilling month of August.

***This was a collab article with my friend and classmate, Bea Hermano, and was originally submitted as a requirement for our Features Writing subject dated August 25, 2010