The Qixi Festival (Double Seven Festival), also known as the Qiqiao Festival (Festival for Praying for Skill) and the Maiden’s Festival, is a traditional Chinese folk festival celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. The phrase “the seventh day of the seventh month” first appeared in existing ancient books. Scholars hold different views on its exact origin. Some believe Qixi existed before the Han Dynasty, though not necessarily fixed on the seventh day of the seventh month—it might have been observed on the first day of the seventh lunar month. However, there is a general consensus among scholars that Qixi fully took shape and officially became a festival during the Han Dynasty.
According to legend, the festival was originally held to honor the Weaving Maiden, known locally as the “Seventh Sister”. Regarded as the goddess of weaving and admired by young women, she was prayed to on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month for wisdom and needlework skills.
In Records of the Western Capital by Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it is written: “Palace maids in the Han Dynasty often threaded seven‑hole needles at the Open‑Front Chamber on the seventh day of the seventh month, and this practice was widely followed.” This is the earliest written record of Qiqiao (praying for skill) in ancient Chinese literature.
On Qixi, people eat festival foods such as qiao guo (skill pastries) and qiao ya mian (sprout noodles), and take part in various customs: threading needles to test skill, observing spiders to foretell cleverness, staying up at night to make wishes, exposing books to the sun, and drying clothes.
Qixi originated from ancient star worship, with a history of at least three to four thousand years. Its beginnings are closely tied to celestial phenomena and seasonal changes. It first emerged from people’s reverence for natural celestial bodies and the measurement of time. As early as the era of The Book of Songs, people already recognized the constellations of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden. The naming of stars was rooted in real production and daily life. In ancient times, celestial phenomena guided the calendar, marking seasonal shifts and agricultural schedules. The names of the Cowherd and Weaving Maiden stars came from the agrarian lifestyle of men farming and women weaving.
When observing the sky, the people of the Zhou Dynasty noticed three stars north of the Silver River (ancient name: Tianhan) that shifted position seven times from dawn to night, with a movement resembling a weaving shuttle. They thus vividly named these stars the Weaving Maiden. The Cowherd Star stands opposite the Weaving Maiden across the Silver River. In early times, the date of Qixi was determined by changes in the position of the Weaving Maiden star.
Later, the romantic love story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden evolved, turning Qixi into a night when young women worshipped the star gods and prayed to be clever and dexterous.
The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden had spread among the people since the Pre‑Qin period. It is said that the two lovers reunite on a bridge of magpies on Qixi. Personified descriptions appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty: “On Qixi, the Weaving Maiden crosses the river, with magpies forming a bridge.”
In the Western Han Dynasty, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden transformed from celestial bodies into mythical figures representing farming and weaving, and their story became integrated into the festival. In Huainanzi and Fengsu Tongyi, legends appeared of “crows filling the river to form a bridge for the Weaving Maiden” and “magpies making a bridge for her to cross on Qixi”. Accordingly, people began to go outdoors at night to watch the meeting of the two stars, while the court practiced customs such as “threading seven‑hole needles” and performing the Yühe Dance.
During the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, Qixi became more popular among the upper class than in the Han Dynasty and also spread among common people in both the Southern and Northern Dynasties. This is most evident in literary works of the period. While Qixi and the legend only appeared occasionally in Han poetry and rhapsodies, they became frequent themes in poems by literati in the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties.
The Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties were crucial in the evolution of Qixi. The festival flourished in the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, reached unprecedented prosperity in the Song Dynasty, and gained stable inheritance in the Yuan Dynasty, showing distinct characteristics in each phase. In the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, Qixi officially became a grand imperial festival. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty developed skill‑related customs to their peak, with Qiqiao becoming the dominant activity.
The term “Qixi Festival” first appeared in written records in the Northern Song Dynasty; before that, the day was mostly called “the seventh day of the seventh month”, “Qiqiao Festival” or simply “Qixi”. The Song Dynasty designated Qixi as an official national holiday, with strong entertainment and commercial elements, making the festive atmosphere reach its height. It broke away from the 单一 focus on praying for skill and worshipping stars, evolving into a multi‑functional festival. Among the people, Qixi became highly popular, with ordinary citizens, especially urban residents, as the main participants.
In the Yuan Dynasty, records related to Qixi can be found in historical books, local gazetteers, literature and operas, especially Yuan zaju operas, which frequently 引用 the Cowherd‑Weaving Maiden legend, reflecting real social life through fictional stories. Before the Yuan Dynasty, new themes and customs emerged in almost every dynasty; this rarely happened in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Starting from the Yuan, the main themes and customs of Qixi no longer underwent major changes, shifting from dynamic development before the Yuan to stable continuity in the Ming and Qing.
In its early days, Qixi was a courtyard‑style festival centered on praying for skill. During the Tang and Song dynasties, it developed into a social festival. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it returned to a family‑based courtyard celebration. In modern times, Qixi has expanded again from a family festival to a social festival. Through ceremonial activities, it strengthens local social bonds and enriches people’s lives. With social development, Qixi has also come to be known as “China’s Valentine’s Day”.
Qixi embodies the simple Chinese values of loyalty, fidelity and fulfillment in love and marriage. The custom of praying for skill represents the pursuit of excellence, creativity and wisdom in labor.
Qixi has left a profound cultural legacy, including concepts of love, labor, enterprise, morality and responsibility, making it a typical example of the revival of traditional Chinese festivals in the era of globalization.
On May 20, 2006, Qixi Festival was included in the first batch of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
In 2008, the Qiqiao customs of Xihe, Gansu were added to the second batch.
In 2011, Qixi customs in Tianhe (Guangdong) and Wenling (Zhejiang) entered the third batch.
In 2014, Qixi customs in Yunxi (Hubei) were listed in the fourth batch.Qixi has also influenced neighboring Asian countries, including Japan, Vietnam, and the Korean Peninsula.
The Qixi Festival in 2025 falls on August 29, making it the latest Qixi Festival in the 100 years of the 21st century.