China Valentine's Day, also known as Qiaoqi Festival, Qiaoqi Festival or Chinese Valentine's Day, originated in China and is a traditional festival in China and some East Asian countries influenced by Chinese culture. It is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. From the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. The following are the stories I collected about Valentine's Day on Qixi. Let's have a look!
The Origin of Valentine's Day on Tanabata 1 The Origin of Tanabata
Qixi Qiqiao originated in the Han Dynasty. Ge Hong's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty records that "women in the Han Dynasty often wear seven-hole needles on July 7 in the building, and everyone wears them", which is the earliest record of begging for cleverness in ancient literature we have seen. In later Tang and Song poems, women's begging for cleverness was repeatedly mentioned. In the Tang Dynasty, Wang Jian wrote a poem "The stars are bright and the pearls are bright, and Gong E is busy begging for cleverness". According to "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao", every time Emperor Taizong and his concubines held a banquet in the Qing Palace on Tanabata, the ladies-in-waiting begged with their own ingenuity.
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, with the improvement of the love story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, Tanabata became a common festival, and the custom rescue activities became more and more colorful, and "begging for cleverness" became the most common custom rescue activity. The book Chronicle of Jingchu describes this proverb: "July 7th is the night when the cowherd and the weaver girl get together in the morning. That night, the woman was wearing a colorful building, wearing a seven-hole needle, or using gold and silver as a needle, and Chen Guaguo was clever in court. " More interestingly, due to the prosperity of Wei and Jin culture, hanging clothes upstairs at this time was changed to hanging books upstairs.
The Sui and Tang Dynasties witnessed the great development of Valentine's Day in China. Although its customs are basically the same as those in Wei and Jin Dynasties, its scale and grand occasion are far ahead of the dynasty. For example, during the Qixi Festival, colorful flowers were used to build a hall. In literary works such as The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties, we can see the scene of "concubines threading needles, moving the songs of Qing merchants, and feasting to achieve their goals". In particular, poems chanting Tanabata abound, with only a thousand poems throughout the Tang Dynasty. For example, Cui Hao said in a poem, "The moon in Chang 'an City is practicing, and every family is holding a needle and thread this night. Yu Pei is free, and there is no meeting between heaven and earth. Zuyong's poem on the same topic also said: "It is more important for a daughter to ask for a heavenly daughter." The jade court held a powder banquet, and Luo sleeve held a gold plate. It is easy to thread a needle on the moon, but difficult to thread a needle in the breeze. I don't know who is smart, but I'll try tomorrow. "
During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Qiaqiao was quite grand, and there was also a market in Beijing that monopolized Qiaqiao goods, which was called Qiaqiao City by the world. Song He's series "Talking about Drunken Weng" said: "Tanabata, the property is a gimmick. From July 1 ST, horses and chariots were swallowed, and three days before Chinese Valentine's Day, horses and chariots were not allowed to pass, and they stopped driving again and again until the night. "
Here, we can infer the lively scene of the Jocci Festival from the grand occasion of buying Qiao Qi goods from Qiao Qi. People have been putting up flattering articles since the first day of July, and people are coming and going in the flattering market. By the time of Tanabata, the market of Qiqiao was already crowded with people, as if it were the biggest festival-Spring Festival, which showed that Qiqiao Festival was one of the favorite festivals of the ancients.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Tanabata, as one of the most important folk festivals, was colorful. According to records, in Chinese Valentine's Day in the Ming Dynasty, people "threw a small needle on the surface of the moon with a bowl of water, hoping that the moon would shadow on the bottom of the water, or spread like a flower, moving like a cloud, as thin as a line and as thick as a vertebra, so they were clever at predicting women." In the Qing Dynasty, the main activities of Tanabata were eating fruits and other foods, and burning incense in court to worship cowherd and weaver girl.
Today, Tanabata is still a romantic traditional festival. However, many customary activities have weakened or disappeared. Only the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Maid, which symbolizes faithful love, is circulated among the people, so some people call China's Valentine's Day "China's Valentine's Day".
Another name summary
Double seven: The sun, the moon and the sun are all seven, so it is called seven.
Cowherd and Weaver Girl (engraved paper)
Cowherd and Weaver Girl (engraved paper)
Xiangri: According to legend, the cowherd and the weaver girl meet on Tanabata, and the weaver girl should dress up, paint and even smell the fragrance all over the sky, hence the name.
Week: Cowherd and Weaver Girl have special status, and they can only meet once a year, so this day is called week.
Qiaoxi: It is called Qiaoxi because there is a custom of pleasing on Qixi.
Women's Day: Valentine's Day in China is called Women's Day, also called Girls' Day and Girls' Day, because girls worship immortals and strive for cleverness.
Blue Night: The seventh month of the lunar calendar was called "blue moon" in ancient times, so Tanabata is also called "blue night".
Children's Day: It's called because the customs such as being clever and begging for books are mostly done by girls and boys.
Needle-piercing Festival: It is named after the custom of needle-piercing on this day.
The origin of Valentine's Day on Qixi 2 "Qixi" comes from people's worship of nature. According to historical documents, at least three or four thousand years ago, with people's understanding of astronomy and the emergence of textile technology, there was a record of Altair Vega. People worship the stars far more than Altair and Vega. They think that there are seven stars representing directions in the east, west, north and south, which are collectively called 28 nights, among which the Big Dipper is the brightest and can be used to tell directions at night. The first star of the Big Dipper is called Kuixing, also known as the champion. Later, with the imperial examination system, the top scholar in the middle school was called "Dakui Scholar in the World", and the scholars called Tanabata "Kuixing Festival" or "Book-drying Festival", which preserved the trace that the earliest Tanabata originated from worshipping stars.
Qixi also comes from the ancient people's worship of time. "Seven" and "period" are homophonic, and both the month and the day are "seven", giving people a sense of time. In ancient China, the sun and moon, together with the five planets of water, fire, wood, gold and earth, were called "Seven Obsidian". Seven figures are staged in time among the people, and the calculation of time often ends with "July 7th". In old Beijing, when doing Dojo for the dead, it was often done by "July 7th". Using "seven obsidians" to calculate the current "week" is still reserved in Japanese. "Seven" and "Auspicious" are homophonic, and "July 7th" has a double auspicious meaning, which is an auspicious day. In Taiwan Province Province, July is called "Joy brings good luck" month. Because the happy character in cursive script looks like "seventy-seven", 77 years old is also called "Happy Birthday".
Tanabata is also a phenomenon of digital worship. In ancient times, people listed the seventh day of the first month, the third day of March, the fifth day of May, the seventh day of July and the ninth day of September as auspicious days, plus the even number of February 2 and the multiple of June 6. "Seven" is the number of beads in each column of the abacus, which is romantic and rigorous, giving people a mysterious aesthetic feeling. "Seven" and "wife" are homophonic, so Qixi has largely become a festival related to women.
Tanabata, formerly known as Qiaoqi Festival. The Qixi Begging for Qiao Qi originated in the Han Dynasty. Ge Hong's Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty recorded that "women in the Han Dynasty often opened the front building on July 7 with seven-hole needles on Han stone reliefs, which was the earliest begging record in ancient documents we have seen."
On the evening of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, commonly known as "Chinese Valentine's Day", it is said that the cowherd and weaver girl in the sky meet once a year in Tianhe. The love story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl began in Han Dynasty. Therefore, the formation of Valentine's Day in China was also in the Han Dynasty, when there were customs of "piercing a seven-hole needle", "offering sacrifices to cows and weaving melons and fruits" and "going upstairs to expose clothes". After Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl separated from falling in love to getting married, and only met once a year. The legend is gradually complete, and it is widely circulated throughout the country because of its touching plot, but the plots circulated in different places are slightly different.
The following is a story circulating in Taiwan Province Province: In ancient times, the seventh princess who ruled the Jade Emperor in heaven was called the Weaver Girl. She is beautiful and clever, and she weaves brocade for the Heavenly Palace every day. There is a beautiful male god named Cowherd. Because he is diligent in herding cattle and farming, the Jade Emperor betrothed the Weaver Maid to him. However, I didn't expect them to give up their jobs gradually because of their romantic love. The Jade Emperor was very worried and ordered the magpies (now a symbol of good luck) to tell them that they were allowed to get together once every seven days and work the rest of the time. However, this magpie was careless and gave the wrong order, saying that it could get together once a day, so she still lived a loving life and finally gave up her daily work. The Jade Emperor was very angry when he heard the news. He ordered them to get together once a year on July 7, and drew a dividing line in the air with hairpins to separate them. This realm is the Milky Way in the sky. At the same time, in order to punish magpies for their dereliction of duty, magpies are ordered to gather their own kind on the evening of July 7 every year and build a long bridge on the Milky Way, so that the cowherd and the Weaver Girl can get together across the bridge. Whenever they get together, they talk to each other about their yearning for the past year and keep shedding sad tears. So on the evening of July 7th every year, it often rains in Mao Mao.
In addition, Tanabata is also the birthday of Empress Zhu Sheng and Seven Mothers. Chen Jinggu, also known as "Mrs. Linshui", is from Linshui, Putian County, Fujian Province. She is worshipped as the god of fertility because it is said that she has saved many parturients. It is said that there was a man named Xu Qingcuo in Pucheng in Song Dynasty. His daughter-in-law is pregnant 17 months and hasn't given birth yet. One day, a woman who claimed to be Chen Zhuan came to see him, ordered him to prepare a room, dug a hole in the floor of the room, moved the pregnant woman upstairs, and ordered the servant to guard downstairs with a stick. Soon, the pregnant woman gave birth to a big snake, and the servant killed it immediately after seeing it, so that the pregnant woman could be safe. Xu Qingcuo was happy to send jewelry to express her gratitude, but the woman surnamed Chen refused to accept it, just bought a handkerchief and left. Many years later, Xu Qingcuo was transferred to Fuzhou. He found this handkerchief in a temple of Mrs. Chen, so he called the court and gave it the title of God. It is said that there are thirty-six maids in Niangniang Temple in Fuzhou, that is, thirty-six maids given by Lin Wang. The whole province worships Empress Zhu Sheng, but there are only twelve ladies-in-waiting, which is a slight calculation.
The origin of Valentine's Day on Qixi 3. The ancient record of the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was first seen in The Book of Songs: "You are a weaver girl, and you do seven things all day long, although you don't report seven things. Petunia, don't take the box. " The second is The Book of Songs Nan Zhou Hanguang: "There are trees in the south, so don't forget them. Han has a goddess and can't ask for more happiness. " These records are only the embryonic form of the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. These words describe that the weaver does not weave, and Petunia does not pull the cart. Obviously, Vega and Petunia depicted at this time mainly appear as two stars with symbols of farming civilization and cottage industry civilization, without the legendary main characters, relationships and related plots. At this time, Weaver Girl and Petunia had no relationship between men and women. Later, in Nineteen Ancient Poems, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl began to have the image of missing each other across the river. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was interpreted as the legend that the Weaver Girl crossed the Magpie Bridge on Qixi. Ying Shao's "Custom Pass" in the Eastern Han Dynasty records: "Weaver crossing the river on Qixi makes magpie a bridge. According to legend, on the seventh day of the bridge, the bridge head was upset for no reason, because Liang Yi crossed the Weaver Girl. " Song Chen's "Guang Ji at the Age of Years" quoted Huainanzi, "Wu Que fills the river into a bridge and crosses the weaver girl." It is also recorded in Historical Records: "Four stars are in danger, melon. Morning glory is a sacrifice. Its northern weaver girl, weaver girl, and heavenly daughter Sun Ye. Celestial official stars occupy the sun: the pheasant in the melon is in the east of Hegu. Petunia is a heavenly drum, and it is not harmonious to work with Weaver Girl. " It was not until Cao Zhi's Luo Shen Fu that the relationship between the cowherd and the weaver girl was determined. As husband and wife, the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl meeting at Queqiao was formed in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. At that time, the Chronicle of Jingchu recorded: "To the east of Tianhe, there was a weaver girl, the son of the Emperor of Heaven. Weave the war every year and weave it into a brocade skirt. God pitied him for being alone and promised to marry a cowherd in Hexi. After I got married, I gave up knitting and moved on. The Emperor of Heaven was furious and ordered to return to Hedong. Only on the night of July 7 every year, cross the river for a while. "
It can be seen that the songs of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl have been circulating for hundreds of years since the weekend, after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and then from the early Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, the Wei, Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, before anyone mentioned that they met on July 7. At that time, July 7 was already a large-scale New Year's holiday.
Tanabata originated very early, initially as a festival. According to historical documents, Valentine's Day in China originated at least three or four thousand years ago, and its origin is closely related to astrology and phenology.
It is said that Chinese Valentine's Day may have existed during the Warring States Period. According to Luo Qi's "Source of Things" in the Ming Dynasty, "Chu Huaiwang first set up Tanabata." However, because the author is too far away from the time involved, I am afraid it is not credible. The earliest record of the custom of begging for cleverness on Tanabata is Gehong's Miscellanies of Xijing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The article records: "The son of Mrs. Qi, Jia Houchu, is a Confucian wife of Fufeng people. She said that when she was in the palace, she came to Baizichi to enjoy herself on July 7th. After the music is over, call it' love' with five colors. " It also said: "Women in China often wear seven-hole needles on July 7." Both of these records can explain that July 7th was celebrated in the palace at the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, but there is no story about the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in these customs and activities in the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that Tanabata is not a new year's festival derived from the legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl.
The origin of Valentine's Day in China can be explored from the custom of Qixi.
Qixi originated from people's worship of the stars, that is, nature. Volume 31 of "Peaceful Magnolia" quoted the story of Zhou Feng in the Eastern Jin Dynasty: "On the seventh day of July, a few seats were set in the courtyard at night, and the banquet was sprinkled with wine powder to pray for the river to weave a woman, saying that two gods would come." The river drum and Vega here refer to Altair and Vega. The Altair is regarded as the Valley God, and the Weaver Girl is said to be the silkworm god, the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven. Both the God of Grain and the God of Silkworm were highly valued by our ancestors. At that time, people thought that there were seven stars representing the direction in the east, west, north and south, which were collectively called 28 stars. As for the worship of Petunia and Weaver Girl on Tanabata, it is because these two stars run most prominently in July.
Qixi also comes from the ancient people's worship of time. According to Taiping Yu Lan, "Millet ripens in July and Yang counts on the seventh day, so elk is precious." July 7th is a good day, so we regard it as an auspicious day to celebrate the autumn harvest. During the Han and Wei Dynasties, this day was regarded as a day of gathering and entertainment. This day is also the day when the immortals in the Heavenly Palace get together. "The Story of Continuation" records: "The weaver girl crosses the river and the fairy returns to the palace." Seven figures are staged in time among the people, and the calculation of time often ends with "July 7th". Therefore, in the custom of Tanabata, there are customs such as asking for blessings, praying for blessings and affection, all of which stem from the fact that July 7 is a good day, in order to pray for a bumper harvest. The worship of time also extends to the worship of life. In Qixi custom, there are customs of begging for children and offering sacrifices to ancestors. When studying the origin of Valentine's Day in China, Lynn Yang made a detailed analysis of the origin of Valentine's Day in China by combining the relevant principles of folklore, books, literati's notes, local chronicles, etc.: The cause of Valentine's Day in China is that "seven is a number with reproductive magic in ancient culture, and the ancients regarded July 7 as a festival, which is the result of worshipping the mysterious number of seven, and its essence is the expectation and worship of reproduction." Therefore, in ancient times, in order to improve their status in social life, many women often engaged in begging activities on Tanabata.
It was not until the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties that China's Valentine's Day was combined with the myth and legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl.
Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was a turbulent period in the history of China. The people have been in war for a long time, and it is difficult to realize their desire to pursue a happy and stable life in reality, so they beg from legendary figures. At this time, the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was further improved and merged with Tanabata, which became a common festival. In addition to the custom of begging for cleverness, Valentine's Day in China also has the custom of seeking wealth, longevity and children, and the loyal love of Cowherd and Weaver Girl has become people's emotional sustenance. Because of their low social status, women were usually regarded as tools for reproduction in feudal society. Giving birth to boys has become one of the ways for women to improve their social status, and seeking children has become an important part of the folk activities of Qixi.
By exploring the myths and legends of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in China, we can see that the origin of Valentine's Day in China mainly comes from the ancient people's worship of stars, nature and time, and its origin has nothing to do with the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. However, with the development and evolution of the fairy tales of Cowherd and Weaver Girl and the human feelings conveyed in the stories, it was not until the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties that they gradually merged and converged.
The origin of Valentine's Day on Tanabata (4) Solve the problem of Tanabata.
Tanabata should be called China Daughter's Day.
According to legend, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Queqiao Bridge, and Chinese Valentine's Day has become a traditional festival in China. So many people regard Tanabata as "China Valentine's Day". On August 22nd, 20 16, Qi Shoucheng, a well-known folklorist and expert, said in an interview with Wu Shuang, a reporter from Liaoning Evening News that it was a misunderstanding to regard Valentine's Day in China as "Valentine's Day in China".
Qi Shoucheng introduced that Chinese Valentine's Day, also known as Qiaoqi Festival, originated in the Han Dynasty. The holiday custom is to bask in the classics and clothes, to make a wish with two stars, and to be skillful with needles. If you really want to give China a popular name for Valentine's Day, it should be "China Daughter's Day". Qi Shoucheng explained that on the Chinese Valentine's Day in history, girls who didn't go out should tie colored lines and pray for the future to be as ingenious as the weaver girl in the sky. So "Qixi" is the most important festival for ancient girls. The traditional activity of Tanabata is that girls put on embroidered needles with colored threads to see who is doing a good job in needlework, and at the same time put melons and fruits as tributes to beg for originality.
Valentine's Day in China is mistaken for Valentine's Day.
The reason why today's society misreads China Valentine's Day as "Valentine's Day" may be because of the romantic and sad love story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl.
In fact, Valentine's Day does exist in China, but it is not Qixi, but the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month, which is Shangyuan Festival. According to the folk tradition in China, on the first full moon night of the year, people light lanterns, go out to enjoy the moon and set off fireworks. "In ancient times, influenced by feudal ideas, women were often unable to leave their homes. It is impolite to appear in public. Only on the fifteenth day of the first month can they go out for the Lantern Festival, and boys and girls can meet and talk about their love. Therefore, the fifteenth day of the first month is the real Valentine's Day in China. "
Many merchants regard Tanabata as Valentine's Day in commercial speculation, and many young people regard Tanabata as Valentine's Day. This is not only detrimental to the protection of traditional festivals, but also distorts the cultural connotation of traditional festivals. "Including the media should publicize the cultural connotation of traditional festivals and have a correct guidance on how to live traditional festivals well. Tanabata can be listed as a national intangible cultural heritage, because it is a festival with China characteristics. We should cherish it and never lose our things. "
The origin of valentine's day on the fifth day of Qixi. The beautiful legend beyond time and space "Cowherd and Weaver Girl"
The story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has spread, developed and evolved for more than two thousand years, and there are various versions. The main plot is as follows:
Weaver, the granddaughter of the heavenly queen, weaves clouds in the sky, also known as brocade clothes; Cowherd is a cowboy in the world. My parents died early and were abused by my brother and sister-in-law. He lives with an old cow every day, and life is very difficult.
One day, the old cow told him that the Weaver Girl in the sky was going to take a bath with her sister in the Milky Way and told him to "steal" the Weaver Girl's down jacket. Without the down jacket, the Weaver Girl could not fly back to the sky and be his wife.
On that day, the beautiful fairies did bathe in the Milky Way and play in the water. Then the cowherd, hiding in the reeds, suddenly ran out and took the clothes of the Weaver Girl. The panicked fairies hurried ashore, dressed and flew away, leaving only the weaver girl. At Cowherd's request, Weaver Girl agreed to be his wife.
After marriage, the cowherd and the weaver girl loved each other and lived a very happy life. Weaver gave birth to a son and a daughter to Cowherd.
Later, the old cow was dying. He told the cowherd to keep its skin, and when it was in trouble, he would get help. After the old cow died, the couple reluctantly peeled off the cowhide and buried the cow on the hillside.
Then one day, the Queen Mother heard that the Weaver Girl had "eloped" from the mortal world. She was very angry and sent heavenly soldiers to catch Weaver Girl. When the Cowherd was away, the gods took the Weaver Girl.
Cowherd didn't go home to see Weaver Girl. Thinking that the old cow told him that he would get help if he was in trouble, he quickly put on his cowhide and chased him out with his two children. Cowherd also flew into the sky. Just at the critical moment when the Cowherd wanted to catch up with the Weaver Girl, the Queen Mother took off her hairpin and scratched behind the Weaver Girl, making it a choppy Tianhe. Cowherd can't get through any more.
From then on, they can only face each other across the river and cry day and night. Now, the two little stars next to Altair are called shoulder poles. People say they are a pair of children of Altair and Weaver Girl. Finally, the true feelings of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl touched the magpies in the sky. On July 7th every year, they pluck their beautiful feathers and build a rainbow bridge, so that lovers who have been in love for one year can meet each other on this night.
In addition, in the dead of night on Tanabata, people can also hear the love story of cowherd and weaver girl in the sky under the grape trellis or other fruit trellis.
China Valentine's Day-Single Women's Day
Tanabata is the Valentine's Day in China, and it is also a festival to promote blind date between men and women.
Folklorists put forward their own views: Qixi is first and foremost a festival for single women.
Zhao Kuifu, a professor at the Institute of Ancient Books of Northwest Normal University, believes that in ancient China, Tanabata should be the happiest day for single women. Even during the Spring Festival, many women may not be able to wear new clothes to visit their homes. Men are usually called to visit relatives and friends at home. Only on Valentine's Day in China, single women in ancient times could dress up and go out to party and play with their sisters.
China Valentine's Day was first implemented in the court of the Western Han Dynasty, and later spread to the people. Zhao Kuifu said that in the court of the Western Han Dynasty, ladies-in-waiting could not be encouraged to fall in love at will, so the earliest connotation of Tanabata was mainly begging for cleverness and praising women's cleverness, and women showed their unique skills in embroidery and needlework on this day.
Zhao Kuifu told reporters that after Tanabata spread to the people, he was added with wishes such as love and family happiness, and even added the connotation of advocating reading and writing articles. For example, in Liu Yiqing's Shi Shuo Xin Yu, it is mentioned that everyone prints books on July 7th. Although the customs of Valentine's Day in China are different from place to place, the constant since ancient times is "begging for women's skills".
From this perspective, Zhao Kuifu believes that Valentine's Day in China is very different from Valentine's Day in the West. "In ancient China, it was absolutely forbidden for women to have sex with lovers other than their husbands. This is part of Confucianism and cannot be put on the table. " Zhao Kuifu said, that's why Tanabata should only be a festival for unmarried women, and I hope that lovers will get married.
Chu Dongai, an associate professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of South China University of Technology and a doctor of folklore, also believes that Qixi should be more accurately described as a "festival for unmarried women". There are indeed a number of "single women" in the Pearl River Delta region in modern times, and they are also the main body of the Begging Festival. However, these single women have two natures. One is dissatisfied with the arranged marriage, returning to parents' house and never leaving her husband's house. The other is the so-called "self-grooming girls", who are generally dissatisfied with the feudal arranged marriage when they are 15 or 16 years old, but they declare that they will never get married and then move into the "menstruation family" life. These women are a unique group in the modern Pearl River Delta. They used their own actions to resist feudal marriage and pursue independent marriage.
;