1. The Celestial Romance (仙凡之恋)
The story of the Cowherd (Niulang / 牛郎) and the Weaver Girl (Zhinü / 织女) is China’s most famous romantic tragedy, serving as the origin of the Qixi Festival.
Zhinü was the youngest daughter of the Goddess of Heaven, tasked with weaving the colorful clouds in the sky. Niulang was a kind but impoverished orphaned cowherd on Earth, whose only companion was an old magical ox. One day, Zhinü descended to Earth to bathe in a magical river. Guided by his ox, Niulang met her, and the two instantly fell in love. Zhinü abandoned her heavenly duties, married Niulang, and lived a blissful mortal life, giving birth to a son and a daughter.
2. The River of Stars (银河相隔)
When the Goddess of Heaven discovered her daughter’s transgression, she was furious. She dispatched celestial guards to drag Zhinü back to the heavenly court.
Desperate, Niulang put his two young children in baskets slung across a yoke and, wearing the magical hide of his recently deceased ox, flew into the sky to chase his wife. Just as he was about to catch her, the Goddess of Heaven drew her silver hairpin and slashed it across the sky, creating a massive, raging river of stars—the Milky Way (银河). Niulang and Zhinü were stranded on opposite banks, weeping bitterly for each other.
3. The Magpie Bridge (鹊桥相会)
Their unwavering love and sorrow moved the universe. Thousands of magpies from all over the world flew up to the heavens, forming a massive bridge over the Milky Way with their bodies (the Queqiao / 鹊桥).
Yielding slightly, the Goddess of Heaven allowed the lovers to reunite on this bridge for just one single night each year—the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. This story is actually a beautiful anthropomorphic explanation of the summer night sky: the star Altair (Niulang), flanked by two smaller stars (his children), is separated from the bright star Vega (Zhinü) by the hazy band of the Milky Way.