More than 50 Hanfu fans in Yancheng gathered in Yandu Park on Monday evening for an incense lighting and libation ceremony, which was the custom for Qixi festivals in ancient China.
Hanfu refers to Han-style clothing, that is, the clothing style dating prior to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
The Qixi festival, also called the Magpie Festival, the Double Seventh Festival, or the Girls' Festival, is a traditional festival full of romance in Chinese circles, as well as countries in East Asia. It falls on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. On that day, women will dress in new clothes and pray for skillful hands through activities such as threading needles, growing bean sprouts, worshipping the Zhinv Star (Vega), sun dry books and clothes, and hanging wild flowers on a cow horn in celebration of the legendary birthday of cows.
“Today many are celebrating the Qixi festival as a Valentine’s Day, which is actually distorting its original romance,” said Chen Weirui, head of the Tianya Haijiao Hanfu Society of Yancheng. She said that the Qixi festival intends to encourage young girls to become clever in mind and skillful in hand.
“We Hanfu fans dress in the same style of traditional costumes to demonstrate the traditional customs, and let more people know how colorful our traditional festivals are,” Chen added.
Hanfu fans in Yancheng have been organizing and taking part in Hanfu-themed activities on Qixi festivals for many years.
