page_title: Ox in Chinese mythology
section_title: Ox-Herd and Weaver-Girl
hierarchical_section_title: Ox in Chinese mythology / Ox-Herd and Weaver-Girl
caption_attribution_description: English: 颐和园长廊彩绘：牛朗织女鹊桥会 This is a photo of a (or part of a) Major National Historical and Cultural Site in China identified by the ID CNBJ-010-125
context_page_description: Oxen, cows, beef cattle, buffalo and so on are an important motif in Chinese mythology. There are many myths about the oxen or ox-like beings, including both celestial and earthly varieties. The myths range from ones which include oxen or composite beings with ox characteristics as major actors to ones which focus on human or divine actors, in which the role of the oxen are more subsidiary. In some cases, Chinese myths focus on oxen-related subjects, such as plowing and agriculture or ox-powered carriage. Another important role for beef cattle is in the religious capacity of sacrificial offerings.
context_section_description: One of the myths involving the interaction of humans or divine beings and oxen is related to a popular holiday held on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. In Chinese mythology, there is a love story of Qi Xi (七夕 literally, "the Seventh Night"), in which Niu Lang (the Cow-Herd) (牛郎, Altair) and his two children (β and γ Aquilae) are separated from their mother Zhi Nü (the Weaver-Girl) (織女, lit. "Weaving Girl", Vega) who is on the far side of the river, the Milky Way. However, one day per year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, magpies make a bridge so that Niu Lang and Zhi Nü can be together again for a brief encounter. This is the explanatory myth behind one of the major Chinese holiday festivals, sometimes known as "Chinese Valentines Day".
caption: Oxherd (with children and ox), Weavergirl (opposite), and magpies flying to form the Magpie Bridge, as depicted in the Long Corridor, Summer Palace, Beijing.
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