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Qixi (Chinese Valentine’s Day)
Coloured threads and needlework under the stars, magpies in black and white, and today red roses.
The colours of Qixi (Chinese Valentine’s Day)
Qixi, the seventh night of the seventh month, shares its story with Japan's Tanabata: the weaver girl and the cowherd, parted by the Milky Way, meet once a year on a bridge of magpies. The weaver was said to weave the coloured clouds of the sky. For centuries it was a festival for girls, who showed their skill by threading needles with coloured silk by moonlight and prayed to the weaver for clever hands. Offerings of fruit and flowers were laid out, and in Guangdong whole displays of fine embroidery and paper craft. In modern China the day has become a second Valentine's Day, and its colours are now those of the florist: red roses, pink wrapping and red hearts.
#D7263DSilk redRed thread and red roses.#C9CED6Milky Way silverThe river of stars between the lovers.#1B2550Night blueThe summer night sky.#15151AMagpie blackThe birds that form the bridge.#F3B2C2Cloud pinkThe coloured clouds the weaver made.Values are fair approximations, not official shades.
Read about the colours
Also part of it, and being written: Silver (The Milky Way, called the Silver River in Chinese.).
Written by the EveryRang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Qixi Festival" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.