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Chinese Bridges
With the aid of the immortal, Niulang won the heart of Zhinu, Goddess of
Weaving or simply Weaving Maid. She escaped from heaven to earth and became
Niulang¡¯s wife. The two lived a happy and diligent life, he farming and she
weaving, and soon had a son and daughter.
The Jade Emperor dispatched the Queen Mother of the West to bring Zhinu back. Distressed
at the heartrending sorrow parting caused the couple, the ox broke off one of
its horns and made it into a boat in which Niulang, along with his son and
daughter in baskets at either end of a shoulder pole, could pursue Zhinu. When
he eventually caught up with Zhinu, the Queen Mother of the West took a golden
hairpin and drew a line between them, which became a torrential river ¡¡ the
Milky Way ¡¡ that separated the two lovers. Their plight was resolved by a
soft-hearted magpie. Having witnessed how truly in love they were, it called
upon its friends to converge and, head to tail, form a feathery bridge across
the river upon which Niulang and Zhinu could meet. This act of compassion forced
the Queen Mother of the West into a compromise; she allowed Niulang and Zhinu to
meet on the bridge just once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh moon
This fairy tale has been told in China for more than 2,000 years. It was
during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) that the story of Niulang and Zhinu was
adapted to folk opera and became the theme of various paintings and literary
works. This bridge of magpies now symbolizes the power of true love, and Qixi,
the seventh night of the seventh moon, is regarded as China¡¯s Valentine¡¯s Day.
But the festival also celebrates China¡¯s essentially agricultural society,
wherein men and women together sustained a self-sufficient life by means of
their respective farming and weaving labors.
 Blue Bridge
The Blue Bridge is another ancient Chinese symbol of love, one that features
in historical literature. There are two versions, one a tragedy and the other a
comedy. The latter's origins are in a Tang Dynasty (618-907) legend entitled Pei Hang, the name of a
young scholar who met and fell in love with a young woman named Yunying on the
Blue Bridge. After many trials and tribulations the loving pair were eventually
able to live in peace as two.
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