{"id":436,"date":"2021-08-16T06:15:52","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T06:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/?p=436"},"modified":"2021-08-16T13:56:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T13:56:44","slug":"double-seventh-day-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/double-seventh-day-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Double Seventh Day Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Adrian RA on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

Looking at the lunar calendar, July 7th<\/sup> falls on Saturday, August 14th<\/sup> in the Gregorian calendar. In Vietnam, this date is called Th\u1ea5t T\u1ecbch<\/em>, which literally means evening of sevens. It is known as the \u201cAsian Valentine Day\u201d. The origin of L\u1ec5 Th\u1ea5t T\u1ecbch (Double Sevens Festival) is from China, the Qixi festival. Similarly, the Japanese have the Tanabata festival, and the Koreans have the Chilseok festival.<\/p>\n

L<\/em>\u1ec5 Th\u1ea5t T\u1ecbch<\/em> (Double Sevens Festival) is associated with the fairy tale of Ng\u01b0u Lang<\/em> (the cowherd) and Ch\u1ee9c<\/em> N\u1eef<\/em> (the weaver fairy) in mythology. Ch\u1ee9c<\/em> N\u1eef<\/em> was the 7th<\/sup> youngest daughter of Ng\u1ecdc<\/em> Ho\u00e0ng<\/em> (the Jade Emperor from heaven). She went down to earth with her siblings for a swim. Ng\u01b0u Lang<\/em>, the cowherd fell in love with her at first sight. His cow told him she would stay if he made her fail to return to heaven before the morning came. He did this by hiding her clothes. Unable to return to heaven with her siblings, and touched by the cowherd\u2019s love, she stayed with him and they had two children together. Ng\u1ecdc<\/em> Ho\u00e0ng<\/em> eventually found out and made her return to heaven. The cowherd chased after her and nearly caught up to her, but they were separated by s\u00f4ng<\/em> Ng\u00e2n H\u00e0<\/em> (the Silver river), made by V\u01b0\u01a1ng<\/em> M\u1eabu <\/em>(the Queen Mother).<\/p>\n

Moved by their love, the magpies built a bridge with their bodies over the river for them to meet, and V\u01b0\u01a1ng<\/em> M\u1eabu<\/em> allowed them to see each other once a year in the evening on the seventh of July (lunar calendar) on c\u1ea7u \u00d4 Th\u01b0\u1edbc<\/em> (the Magpie Bridge). S\u00f4ng Ng\u00e2n H\u00e0<\/em> is d\u1ea3i Ng\u00e2n H\u00e0<\/em> (the Milky Way).<\/p>\n

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The Milky Way – Photo by Ken Cheung from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

The Th\u1ea5t T\u1ecbch\u2019s <\/em>date is also known as the \u00f4ng Ng\u00e2u b\u00e0 Ng\u00e2u\u2019s day (Mr. Ng\u00e2u & Mrs Ng\u00e2u\u2019s day). In Vietnam, it\u2019s often raining at that time of year. When it rains for a long time but not hard, it\u2019s called m\u01b0a Ng\u00e2u (the rain of Ng\u00e2u). It was believed that the rain was the tears of the Ng\u00e2u couple falling because they yearned for each other.<\/p>\n

L<\/em>\u1ec5 Th\u1ea5t T\u1ecbch<\/em> is not a popular festival in Vietnam. It is observed more by the Chinese Vietnamese. Indeed, it\u2019s questionable whether it is considered a part of Vietnamese customs and traditions. L<\/em>\u1ec5 Th\u1ea5t T\u1ecbch<\/em> slowly disappeared in the second half of the 20th<\/sup> century, but has recently come back, and is becoming popular among the young Vietnamese, influenced by Chinese culture. On this day, many young people go to the temple to pray: the single person prays to find true love, lovers pray that their love endures, and married couples pray for a long, happy marriage. In recent times, the young Vietnamese have started the \u201ctradition\u201d of having red bean dessert on ng\u00e0y Th\u1ea5t T\u1ecbch<\/em> believing it brings luck in love.<\/p>\n

Although the Th\u1ea5t T\u1ecbch\u2019s <\/em>festival is not popular, the story of Ng\u01b0u Lang Ch\u1ee9c N\u1eef<\/em> is well known by the Vietnamese and has been an inspiration in art, literature and song lyrics, such as the song \u201cChuy\u1ec7n T\u00ecnh Ng\u01b0u Lang Ch\u1ee9c N\u1eef<\/em>\u201d (The Love Story of Ng\u01b0u Lang Ch\u1ee9c N\u1eef) written by M\u1ea1c Phong Linh and sung by T\u00e2m \u0110oan as seen in the below YouTube link.<\/p>\n