Today I saw an intriguing picture for an odd Chinese ritual for the Cixi festival, where a large group of city girls desiring to marry were dressed in wedding gowns and engaged in some sort of race as a way of trying to get some sort of blessing or fortune in the competitive hunt for husbands. Being at least moderately curious about the cultures of other nations, I was a bit intrigued as to how a bit of Western behavior (women in wedding dresses advertising their desire for matrimony) was related to a supposed local tradition. Having read a little about the festival [1] I was very intrigued by the story of the weaver and the cowherd that led to the festival in the first place.

About 2600 years ago, around the time that the people of Judah were going into their well-earned captivity, during the Spring and Autumn Period of the Chou dynasty of China, as the imperial family grew weaker and warlords in charge of independent states proliferated, a myth came about where a cowherd engaged in a forbidden relationship with a maiden who was the daughter of the supposed “Goddess of Heaven” (a common heathen goddess in many ancient societies) whose anger at the illicit romance of her daughter with an inappropriate fellow led her to supposedly create the Milky Way as a way of separating the two lovers, who apparently are only able to see each other one day per year.

There are a lot of lessons that can be learned from this sort of festival, even if it is a heathen festival that is not fit for Christians to practice. One of them is that even heathen societies where there are whore goddesses in charge of a religious pantheon that said goddesses are often not very fond of having their daughters simply choose unsuitable partners without parental support. It should be noted that Chinese culture is traditionally very much intertwined with filial piety, and the support and permission of parents is a matter of major importance even in contemporary Chinese society. While parents can occasionally be unreasonable in their behavior, most parents do want what is best for their children in the face of great social pressures of disrespect and dishonor.

One of the more praiseworthy aspects of this festival, and ironic in light of the behavior of this festival, is that it is a strong discouragement to elopement in a culture where that would be particularly offensive to cultural sensibilities. Even in the supposed “good old days” of early modern Europe and colonial North America about a third or so of all newly married women were with child, suggesting shotgun marriages were more common than we may often recognize [2]. One of the more common (if not exactly very godly) ways for young people to counteract the disapproval of parents is to force a situation that would pressure parents to support the wishes of their offspring. This particular festival demonstrates a strong desire on the parent of parental authorities not to subject themselves to that sort of blackmail, by showing the powerful and unpleasant consequences of sneaking around behind their back without permission, a lesson that is not always easy for some people to learn.

Ironically enough, though, the festival seems to indicate the desperation of single Chinese women in attracting the attention of single men. This is intriguing and ironic in light of the parental authority and family orientation of the original festival. Having a footrace of single women looking to gain male attention is not exactly the sort of festival that would indicate a desire to receive parental approval, showing a way in which a festival that was originally designed to reinforce parental authority (even in occasions where it might seem a bit cruel) as a way of warning people of the potential problems that would result from unacceptable and forbidden romances has become a festival that celebrates the autonomy of people in making those kinds of decisions and seeking their own happiness in a deeply competitive world. Perhaps the young adults of China are more alike us than we often recognize.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qixi_Festival

[2] http://articles.philly.com/1988-08-30/news/26256681_1_pregnancy-marriage-courtship