The Dragon Guardian of the Fairy Bath

Today is the Qixi Festival!

(at the time this post comes out)

Known as Chinese Valentine's Day in the Occidental world, this Chinese traditional holiday commemorates the tale of the Cowherd and the Weaver Maiden.

The Cowherd represents the star Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila.

The Weaver Maiden represents Vega, the second-brightest star in the skies above the North of the World.

...after the Sun, of course!

As a refresher for anyone who has not checked out this website recently, here is how the story goes:

The Cowherd, a simple farmer with a talking ox, happens upon the Weaver Maiden (whose job it is to weave the clouds in the sky) whilst she is bathing in a stream.

On instruction from the ox, the Cowherd snatches the Weaver Maiden's clothing.

He's kind of a creep if you think about it.

They fall in love at first sight and get married...apparently because he saw her in all of her celestial glory.

Pretty awkward if you ask me!

The gods grow tired of their union, so they split the two apart on either side of the Silver River (a.k.a. the Milky Way).

The gods later take pity on the two and agree to let them get together again on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar across a bridge of magpies across the Silver River.

However, my imaginative soul has envisioned this parody of the legend:

You're safe now, fine sky maiden!

The story behind this picture, as I have creatively envisioned it, is that the dragon was sent by the heavenly court to protect the Weaver Maiden's sisters after that whole incident that kicked off the original folktale.

The dragon stands watch for intruders such that no mortal man will disturb the sky maidens' spa time ever again!

So...perhaps the gods were protecting the Weaver Maiden when they separated her from the Cowherd?

And before they were able to get together again, the Cowherd had some time to think about what he did...and that's why they get along so well after the gods set their limit.

On a side note, if it rains on the Qixi Festival, the Weaver Maiden is crying because the magpie bridge has failed to arrive.

According to some quick Googling I have done, the weather in China's capital Beijing today (August 19th, 2026) is partly cloudy...with no rain.

This bodes very well for the Cowherd and the Weaver Maiden this year!

Zai-jian, xie-xie, and have a legendary last week fo summer before school starts up again in the North of the World!