Begging for Qiao Festival is a folk custom with a long history. The word "begging for cleverness" means begging the gods for wisdom, dexterity and marriage. Begging for Qiao Festival begins on the eve of the first day of the seventh lunar month every year and lasts until the evening of the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The whole activity is divided into seven links: sitting Joe, welcoming Joe, offering Joe, worshiping Joe, entertaining Joe, making Joe and seeing Joe off.
During this period, young women will express their wishes to the local weaver girl known as Empress Joe through a series of singing and dancing performances and prayers. Therefore, Georgie's Day is also called "Daughter's Day" and "Queen's Day".
The most common way to seek wisdom is to thread a needle at the moon. If the line passes through the pinhole smoothly, it is called cleverness. It means that you have a pair of skillful hands, and it also means that Qiaoniang heard your wish.
It started in the pre-Qin Dynasty and was formally formed in the Han Dynasty. It is a comprehensive folk cultural activity integrating belief worship, poetry and songs, music and dance, arts and crafts and labor skills. There is a saying that the Begging Festival is related to the myth and legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, because the seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet once a year. On this day, girls express their love for their lovers in ingenious ways, hoping that they can be lovers for a long time.
People who have watched the TV series "butterfly lovers" may still have an impression. There is an episode in which Zhu Yingtai and his maid disguised as men and quietly passed a begging festival in the corner of the academy, which was almost discovered by others.