七夕節，中元節

This week our class was focused on learning about two Chinese festivals, The Magpie Festival (七夕節, pronounced Qi Xi Jie), and The Ghost festival (中元節, pronounced Zhong Yuan Jie). Both of these festivals occur in the 7th month of the lunar calendar, 七夕節 on the 7th day, and 中元節 on the 15th day.

七夕節- This festival is the Chinese counterpart to the American holiday of Valentines Day. It is based off of Chinese folklore, and the most popular version of the story is that of the cowherd and the weaver. Supposedly, there was a virtuous and good cowherd, and to reward him, his ox told him to go to the river, where he would meet his love. He goes to the river, and sees 7 fairies bathing, so decides to steal their clothes. The fairies send the youngest sister, the celestial weaver, to retrieve their clothes, which the cowherd agrees to return only if the youngest sister will marry him. She agrees, and they have a happy marriage, but this causes them to neglect their duties. In order to solve this problem, the Emperor of Heaven created the Milky Way in order to separate them. The two lovers are only allowed to see each other on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, which is why the holiday is called 七夕節 which means "the night of sevens." The holiday is celebrated by eating chocolate and other aphrodisiacs, such as mangoes, and by going to the temple to pray for a happy love-life. It is celebrated similarly in other countries surrounding China, including Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand.

中元節- This festival is similar to the American holiday of Halloween, and is believed to be the day that ghosts can come from the underworld to be among the living, and visit their loved ones. The day is celebrated generally for the benefit of the ghosts. Prodigious amounts of food are set out for the ghosts to eat, and people will often go to the theater. At the theater, the first row of chairs are left unoccupied, because they are reserved for the ghosts to use. People will also burn paper money or paper objects, in order for the ghosts to use in the afterlife. At the end of the celebration, lanterns are hung on doorways or sent down rivers to guide the ghosts back to hell.