#cowherd and weaver girl

[dorothygale123]

In honor of the death anniversary of Saint Valentine, where we celebrate his decapitation by giving the same fate to flowers and forgetful boyfriends, we shall be looking at one of the most famous love stories in Chinese mythology. Today, we look at the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

Now, as with all stories that have already been covered by Red from OSP, I recommend watching her video because she's funny and her chibis are adorable. However there will be new information in this post, so feel free to enjoy both.

The version Red covers begins with the 7 daughters of the Jade Emperor and Xiwangmu sneaking down to the mortal realm for some sisterly skinny dipping, only for Zhinu to have her clothes stolen by a passing herdsman, Niulang. She thinks he's super cute and this theft of her clothes is very endearing, so she decides to stay and marry him while her sisters go back home. This displays a very common myth structure where a man finds a magical lady bathing, takes her clothes, and then marries her. Western myths often have this is often an animal bride, but in Asia the bride is likely to be a celestial maiden who is physically unable to return to heaven without the aid of her special raiment.

This is not the only version of the myth, though. One of my sources claims that Zhinu's father decided she'd been doing such a good job that she deserved a break and actually picked some random cowherd, in this story called Chen Li, to be her husband. His expectation was that she would have a short time of wedded bliss and then come back up to heaven to do her job again. Unfortunately Zhinu was unwilling to just abandon her loving husband and 2 children just to do more work, what a surprise.

In both versions, Zhinu's refusal to return pisses off her parents, who just drag her back up te heaven anyway. Naturally, her husband has some objections about it. However, since he's a mortal he can't really, you know, do anything about it, but he ends up getting help from a very unlikely place. Those who've watch Red's video may remember Niulang's "super intelligent ox he's had this whole time, don't even worry about it." Well, this magic ox has a bit of a backstory. It's actually a divine spirit, the Ox Star, that was being punished for some crime by laboring for humanity and was currently under the care of Niulang/Chen Li. In some tellings the ox was even the one who directed his master to the pool where the divine maidens were bathing and told him to steal their clothes, so you could say he's more than a little invested in their relationship. The ox's punishment was conveniently almost over, so he told Chen Li to wait until he died and take his skin and wear it as a cloak, and then he would be able to see his wife again. Chen Li did so and, taking his 2 kids with him, flies up to heaven to go get their mom back.

Unsurprisingly Zhinu's parents didn't take too kindly to this breech of their daughter's forever grounding, so they cut in between the lovers. Some versions say that Xiwangmu cleaved the sky with her hairpin, while others say the Jade Emperor threw a silver scarf down. Either way, the Milky Way was formed to keep the couple separated. This made Zhinu so sad that she would cry, causing soft rains. Eventually, her parents felt kinda bad for, you know, ripping apart this loving family and forever denying their daughter her husband and children, so they decided to let them meet for a whole day every year! On that day, magpies would fly up and make a bridge over the Milky Way so that the family could be together again.

Then they'd be separated again til next year.

Thanks mom and dad.

Sh*tpost Masterlist

#mythology sh*tposting #chinese mythology #cowherd and weaver girl #tanabata #xiji festival #valentines day #xiwangmu #queen mother of the west #jade emperor #lmk

[bakedbeanchan]

Sokka and Yue reuniting in the spirit world

#baked bean originals #sokka #yue #yukka #you could say that they were two lovers forbidden by one another #and a war divided their people... #the magpies and the poem are references to the cowherd and the weaver girl #who meet upon a bridge of magpies once a year to reunite. #i should make a searchable tag for my comics bc i've been making more of those recently #atla #avatar the last airbender

[py-dreamer]

....

I'm going to be honest y'all

I am just so tired rn

the reason these stickers look half-assed

is because they kinda are half assed.

I have my bloomin finals tomorrow and have barely studied cause I've been 1) preocupied by this for a project and 2) I've been sick and absent for the past week.

So nothing to say about these guys umm...

God, my body just feels so drained I partially couldn't give a flying f*ck about my results but I am also vibrating with anxiety.

You get me?

Um so myths here are:

peaches of immortality

the weaver girl and the cowherd

the jade rabbit on the moon

iron fan (pre marriage)

jttw pilgrims sans wukong cause I drew him before

Pangu (creator of the universe I think)

Dbk (sans the pupils cause Idk where to put them and sh!t)

Wait, quick rant:

There's the myth of Pangu and how he spent like 50 000 years holding the heavens and earth apart and his body parts became the earth

MORE SPECIFICALLY, his left eye became the sun.

Easy to keep track of right?

Well in the myth of Chang'E and Hou'Yi, Hou'Yi is sent to shoot the 10 suns, all of whom are the literal sons of the Jade Emperor who all decided to show up at the same time.

SO IS THE SUN A BLOODY EYE OR A CELESTIAL MAN WHO WAS SHOT DOWN

DID PANGU HAVE 10 EYES?

WHERE DID PANGU'S EYE GO THEN?

I've just been bit frazzled by this...

(click photo for less sh!tty quality)

#lmk #lego monkie kid #py's_art #lmk dbk #lmk pif #lmk princess iron fan #lmk demon bull king #jttw #jttw pilgrims #lmk tang sanzang #lmk zhu bajie #lmk sha wujing #lmk peaches #peaches of immortality #the weaver girl and the cowherd #chinese mythology #pangu #jade rabbit

[pharawee]

1 year has passed.

#chains of heart #chains of heart the series #haii sarunsathorn #chainsofheartedit #thai drama #thai bl #bl series #bl drama #my edits. #i'm okay with this ending tbh #either ken moves on #or the weaver girl and cowherd allegory finally comes true

[stiltonbasket]

nie zhuyan makes soaps on the regular after moving to Gusu to marry a-yu? A lot of them go towards various people or groups in Gusu (family members/friends, the baoshi, etc.) though he sells some of the special ones.

I forgot that Nie Zhuyan actually learned how to make soap at some point, so when I came back to this ask, I thought he was making...soaps.

#as in...soap operas #the lan theatre enjoyers are used to terribly romantic tales of hardship and star-crossed love #now here comes nie zhuyan writing soap operas for the caiyi playhouse #random lan disciple 445 used to go to caiyi to watch the butterfly lovers and now the playhouse performs nothing but NZY's latest soaps #babies are getting switched at birth #character x had VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION to share but now they have amnesia #homme and femme fatales are everywhere you turn #everyone's unproblematic fave just committed murder but it was REALLY their secret twin! #random lan shixiong is in tears #he just wanted to watch the cowherd and the weaver girl for the 6457th time was that too much to ask?? #nie zhuyan banging out yet another thrilling soap: yes. yes it is. #asks #nie zhuyan

[satoruhour]

i love chinese folklore sm

#like butterfly lovers SLAPPED and u tell me theres a whole violin / erhu concerto based off of it?? 😭 #it's so beautiful #and what if i write geto as the cowherd and the weaver girl one day #UUUGGHH ok i need to be patient and grt thru requests first #satoruhour's rambles

[thelastofthebookworms]

#polls #fairy tales #folktales #the green ribbon #robin hood #nessie #the man who never lied #the cowherd and the weaver girl #the she bear #the red shoes #the three feathers #trilby

[wyllzel]

human x more-than-human relationships are SO FASCINATING!!!

#chelle.txt #RAAAHHHHH #the cowherd and the weaver girl #cupid and psyche #the white snake and her lover #fox fairies #dionysus and ariadne #gale and mystra. #AAAAA #eek! #blade runner 2049 🙄 (i have beef w this movie) #(but That Scene + the rain kiss one are quite chefs kiss) #kirk and spock #wyll and lae'zel #túrin and beleg #aragorn and arwen (sort of... aragorn is a special human haha) #etc etc etc

[arcxnumvitae]

Of course move in day would fall on the day of the Q.ixi Festivial

#:outofcash #mobile #the story of the cowherd and the weaver girl! #Valentine’s Day! #best believe that my dragons will make comment on it or say something about it at some point #whoever I can manage the time

[lotus-soup-pot]

The cowherd and the weaver girl

The Chinese festival Palm mentioned in episode 4 Qi Xi Jie, also known as Chinese Valentine's Day, is also celebrated in Japan as Tanabata matsuri 七夕祭り on the 7th of July.

The Japanese version differs a bit from the story Palm has told:

The weaver girl 織姫 (symbolizing the star Vega) is the daughter of the Heaven Emperor 天帝 and was known for her beautiful weaving and her diligence. Since the cowherd 彦星 (symbolizing the star Altair) was also known for his hardworking nature, the Emperor allowed their marriage. Happily enjoying their married life the weaver girl and the cowherd started to neglect their respective work. Enraged after hearing complains from every one the emperor drew a river through the sky 天の川 (symbolizing the milky way) and separated them. After seeing his daughter grieving every day, the emperor allowed them to meet once a year, on the 7th of July. A bridge of magpies makes it possible to cross the river. However, if it rains on the day, the water level rises and the weaver girl can't cross the river and meet the cowherd. The rain 催涙雨 symbolises the tears the weaver girl and the cowherd shed.

On the 7th of July, you write your wish on a piece of paper and hang it on a small bamboo branch and eat cold noodles called そうめん Somen.

With how often Never let me go is referring to the legend of the weaver girl and the cowherd, e.g. the beach scene, I highly suspect that there is some kind of separation between Palm and Nueng, probably because Nueng drives Palm away to protect him, and then once a year they will meet at the beach, their safe zone, where they are just Palm and Nueng.

#never let me go #the cowherd and the weaver girl #tanabata #i'm late to the party #as always #thai bl #possible ending of nlmg #japanese culture

[burningthegallows]

tell us about the lltg fic! very curious and interested we need more fic in this fandom

seriously! im so parched for fic! it’s been so long since I’ve seen a het couple I care about. coming out the other side to see 17 fics on ao3… smh. I’m not the best writer and I don’t love doing it—but sometimes you just gotta write the fic if you wanna read it.

anyway, i love the persuasion trope of lovers parted and then reunited and stronger for it. the bitterness is very bitter until suddenly it’s all sweet. but between autumn ballad (which i had a very mixed reaction to) and lltg, i realized why the chinese form of this trope always irks me so much: all the healing happens off screen.

I would love to watch 5 years of pining. two lovers separated but trying to find a way back to one another?? Healing and hurting and forgiving and the relapsing on your forgiveness and hating yourself for willing to take him back. Yeah, I love a breakup/makeup story.

Especially when, at the end, it feels like there’s something to be salvaged from the wreckage of the hurt.

Genuinely, I think forgiveness is one of the more complicated and arduous mental odysseys, but I also think that just means we need more stories that explore the concept.

#plus I want ling buyi walk across the gobi #lltg #love like the galaxy #anon♥️ #there’s also a part of me that’s fine with the healing happening in the last five minutes #but that’s a lot of emotional whiplash #and so some catharthis is necessary #in the west #we do that with the long embrace #and fanfiction #i really would love to know the source for this trope #oh fuck i asked the question but it's just the cowherd and the weaver girl #the show is lit called lltgalaxy #the most famous story about the milky way.... #I’d love a bit more context #also I first opened your ask and wrote 1200 words on my reasoning #that was a bit ridiculous but a shorter history post is on the way #man guys do you think I might have some baggage oof

[dragdramanetheatre]

Happy Tanabata!!!!

#Dragdramaneart #tanabata #star festival #dicey dungeons #the weaver girl and the cowherd

[megatownac]

Even though I spent a fair amount of time living in Japan, I don’t really know much about this story that you can’t easily learn by reading the Wikipedia page.

I think it’s neat that holidays like this are in the game, but I also wish that they were, like, actual holidays, and not just brief periods of time when  you can mail order certain clothes. That part is strange to me.

#acnh cowherd & weaver girl day

[a-plethora-of-midnight-roses]

Me: *reading a poem for class*

Poem: *References The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl*

Me: *ready to go apeshit because HOLY FUCK THERES MYTHOLOGY HERE I KNOW THIS*

Poem: haha lol ur not gonna say shit about those last three lines

Me: D:

#GOD DAMNIT THIS IS FRESHMAN YEAR HISTORY ALL OVER AGAIN #ykw fuck it im dumping here #So. There are these daughters of a goddess right. their job in heaven is to weave clouds and rainbows and shit #and they all decide to sneak out of heaven and go skinny dipping in a mountain pond #And a nearby cowherd hears the commotion and decides to steal all the girls clothes #when the daughters decide its time to go home they all panic because holy shit their clothes are gone #so one of them decides to get out and look for their clothes #the cowherd then reveals himself to her and states that he found their clothes and returns them #when they go back the girl is like ‘hey this guy found our clothes so y’all can leave but he say me naked so now we have to get married’ #and they do that but after awhile their mother realizes she’s gone and basically drags her up to heaven and grounds her #with no regard for her husband and kids #dick move i know #they try to meet up via the river in the sky (because mythology) but the mother finds out and separates them with a wide-ass wall of stars #so they are eternally separated (except on a certain Chinese holiday where magpies bridge the gap for them to cross) #also did i mention that weaver girl’s name translates almost directly to weaver girl and the cowherd’s name is almost directly cow herd #n e ways watch overly sarcastic productions they’ve got tons of this shit #midnight speaks #midnight swears

[pharawee]

"I like stargazing, but you have to go to the mountains for it. There are no stars in this city. Have you ever been stargazing in Thailand?"

—CHAINS OF HEART, Episode 1

#chains of heart #chains of heart the series #haii sarunsathorn #boom raweewit #tanawat sukfuengfoo #chainsofheartedit #thai bl #thai drama #thaidrama #bl series #bl drama #my edits. #this is the psychological action thriller bl i deserve #even if it turns out that the mysterious stranger (tm) is din after plastic surgery or sth #also #one more for the cowherd & weaver girl allegory counter #ken wins this because he got it tattooed #and i like how he toughened up after what happened to him #still pls ken bestie seek therapy

[ozfi]

i got that injured animal swag

#.txt #the cowherd and the weaver girl . IN CASE you hadnt heard !