Qixi Tribute

Based on the mythology about The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd, a Qixi Tribute is a representation of their love meeting.

Young girls in China are accustomed to worship the Seventh Sister while praying for their true love.

Every year, not only young girls but also boys, the elderly and children are fond of taking part in the Qixi festival.

Then the family places a table in the front yard under the sky aiming to show their great respect to the goddess.

One of the famous customs is "the Seven Goddesses Worship", which dates back to the Five Dynasties period (AD.

This activity was once discontinued during the Cultural Revolution (1967–1977), and resumed in the early years of Chinese Economic Reform (December, 1978–).

They worked together with folk artists, assuring the forms of Qixi tribute with some crops grown locally, a river region in Dongguan.

For instance, they use waste like foamed plastic, bamboo sticks, woolen yarn, parget and so on.

Craftsmen creatively add plastic beads, plastic sheets, colorful paper, colorful cloth and so on as materials, aiming to make exquisite Qixi tributes to help people to show their great worship to the Seven Goddesses.

The following tools are used to make Qixi tributes: scissors, plane, drawknife, ruler, chisel, brush, mallet, nails, abrasive paper.

In order to produce a table of Qixi tribute, dozens of craftsmen have to spend several months working hard on it together.

[4] Craftsmen usually model dragon, phoenix, lion, qilin and other Chinese mascots in exquisite size.

The dances also play an important role in Chinese festival celebration and are helpful to create a joyous atmosphere.

Meanwhile, craftsmen display seven flowers, seven fruits, seven pairs of embroidered shoes, seven sets of desks and chairs and seven garments in hand for seven goddesses.

The fourth part is the annual meeting of the cowherd and the weaver girl (the Seventh Sister) across the Milky Way (鵲橋相會).

After setting the tributes, the girls burn incense and light up the oil lamp in the middle of the immortal plant, bowing down toward the sky.

Plenty of activities appeal to the thousands of local people and tourists who take part in the celebration.

[7] In Guozhou village (郭洲村), some women make flowers by hand with iron wire.

[8] In 2012, the tenth Chinese Folk Literature and Art Pediment Award was held in Haikou, Hainan Province.

The Qixi tribute “the destiny of mortal and immortal” made by Wangniudun's craftsmen got the Folk Craft Art Award.

The town also build websites and online games, and makes films about the Qixi Festival.