Crane Maidens: The Cowherd and the Weaving Girl

Hey guys!  I hope you all had a lovely week, and a fantastic Valentine's Day.  Keeping in theme with that holiday, today's story is one of the great love stories of China.

Within Chinese mythology there frequently appear stories of the Crane Maidens. These young women are sometimes referred to as “fairies”, but were considered to be the daughters of the gods. Crane Maidens come to earth in the form of a crane (hence the name), but shed their feathery coats and become beautiful young women to bathe.

Their coats they leave on the side of the lake. Any man who can seize one of their feathered coats can trap the maiden in human form and claim her for his wife. A similar story can be found in African mythology (and in stories from many other cultures all over the world).

Frequently, the Crane Maiden stays with her mortal husband long enough to have a child. Sometime after the birth of a baby, the Maiden finds her feathered coat, which her husband has kept hidden from her. She puts it on and returns to heaven, leaving her husband and child behind.
 

However, the story I wish to focus on today is that of The Cowherd and the Weaving Girl – in which the husband follows the Crane Maiden when she returns to heaven.
 

Shall we begin?
 

Once there was a young cowherd named Niulang. When his parents died the young man's brothers took the best part of the inheritance, leaving Niulang with nothing but a small set of land and an old ox. Niulang was a diligent worker, and he made the best of a tough situation. He frequently spoke to his ox, considering it to be a friend.
 

One day after work Niulang confessed to the ox that he was lonely. He had no one to share his work or his life with, save for the loyal ox. Much to his surprise, the ox spoke, presenting him with an answer! It told him of a nearby pool, and told Niulang to go there and wait for the Heavenly Maidens to descend. Once they had begun to bathe, Niulang was to steal one woman's feathery clothes. She would be unable to fly away, and would remain on earth to be his wife.
 

Niulang followed his ox's advice, and settled in near the pool to wait. True to the ox's words, a flock of cranes descended from the skies. One by one they shed their clothes, transforming into beautiful young maidens. They left their clothes by the side of the pool as they entered to bathe. Niulang waited until they were all in the water, then snuck over and seized one of the sets of clothes.
 

The women burst into a frenzy, running from the water for their coats. They pulled them on and transformed into birds before his eyes, quickly taking to the sky. Soon only one maiden was left, standing naked and alone. It was her clothes which Niulang held.
 

He spoke kindly to the girl, Zhinu, and asked her to be his wife. She agreed, and the husband and wife returned to work Niulang's farm together.

 

 

Zhinu turned out to be a talented weaver, and the income her wares brought made their life a comfortable one. In time, she gave birth to a son and a daughter.
 

Yet their happiness was to be shortlived. One day the old ox spoke to Niulang again. It told him that it would soon die, but that it wished to do him one more good turn in its life. The ox asked that after it had died, Niulang would take its hide. The animal promised that it would help him one day. Niulang agreed, and once the faithful old beast had passed away he skinned it and kept its hide.
 

Soon after, the cowherd had cause to use the hide. The day came when his wife told him that it was time for her to return to heaven. She had been gone for too long, and the Jade Emperor, chief among the gods, would be looking for her. Sure enough, emissaries from heaven soon arrived to return her home. Zhinu put on her coat of feathers and followed them back to heaven, leaving her husband and children behind.
 

But Niulang was unwilling to be parted from his beloved wife. Remembering the ox's words, he threw the hide over his shoulders. The cowherd slung a pole over his shoulders, attaching a basket to either end of it. In each basket he put one of his children. Thus prepared, he set out to follow his wife.

Niulang followed her almost all the way to heaven, but he found his path blocked by a massive river of stars – the Milky Way. There was no way for Niulang to cross the river, but his wife waited for him on the other side of it.

 

Seeing their distress, the gods eventually took pity on the couple. One day out of every year, they allow the cowherd and the weaver girl to cross the river and see one another. On this day, thousands of magpies take to the air and form a bridge across the Milky Way so that the couple can cross.

This day is celebrated in China as the Qixi Festival.

 

If you look at the sky, you can still see Niulang and Zhinu waiting for one another. Two bright stars sit on either side of the Milky Way – Altair and Vega. Two smaller stars near Altair represent Niulang's children, still waiting for their mother in the baskets their father carries.
 

I hope you guys enjoyed the story! I'll be back next week with another tale from Chinese mythology.