Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy is a Chinese legend centered around a romance between an orphaned Han-dynasty man named Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy, the youngest daughter of the Jade Emperor.
Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy is a Chinese legend centered around a romance between an orphaned Han-dynasty man named Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy, the youngest daughter of the Jade Emperor.
The seven daughters of the Jade Emperor travel to the mortal world. The youngest of the seven fairy maidens was in search of her lost weaving equipment and her "coat of feathers," without which she was unable to fly. Another version of the story states that the seventh fairy's feather coat was actually stolen by a mortal named Dong Yong, advised by one of his cattle who happened to be an exiled fairy as well and disguised as a normal, aged bull. During the stay, the maiden falls in love with Dong Yong. He is a poor worker who had sold himself into servitude to pay for his father's funeral. With help of the other fairies, the seventh fairy managed to weave ten pieces of brocade for Dong Yong to pay off his debt, shortening his indenture to 100 days. Before the couple can begin their life together, the Jade Emperor orders his daughters to return home. However, he is kind enough to allow the couple to reunite once a year on the 七夕 (the 7th Evening) -- later known as the traditional Chinese Qixi Festival—by crossing the Milky Way. [1]
In memory of this story, ancient Chinese astrologers named two prominent stars that stand at a distance from each other 牛郎, "cowherd man," and 織女, "weaving girl." These are the stars Altair in the constellation Aquila and Vega in Lyra.
| Year | Production | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Mainland China | Fairy Couple (天仙配) |
| 1963 | Hong Kong | A Maid from Heaven (七仙女) |
| 1963 | Taiwan | Seven Fairies (七仙女) |
| 1964 | Taiwan | Seven Fairies (七仙女) and Seven Fairies, Chapter 2 (七仙女完結篇) |
| Year | Production | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Mainland China | New Fairy Couple (新天仙配) |
| 2005 | Chinese Entertainment Shanghai (Mainland China) | The Little Fairy (天外飛仙) |
| Beijing Advantages Competition International Culture and Arts & Jiangxi TV Co., Ltd. (Mainland China) | Huan Tian Xi Di Qi Xian Nu (歡天喜地七仙女) | |
| 2007 | Mainland China | Fairy Couple (天仙配) |
| 2010 | Mainland China | Tian Di Yin Yuan Qi Xian Nu (Tian Xian Pei II) (天地姻缘七仙女(七仙女2)) |
The tale has also been subject matter of literary adaptations and retellings:
Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi. According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The date of Tanabata varies by region of the country, but the first festivities begin on 7 July of the Gregorian calendar. The celebration is held at various days between July and August.
The Qixi Festival, also known as the Qiqiao Festival, is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of Zhinü and Niulang in Chinese mythology. The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunisolar month on the Chinese lunisolar calendar.
Mention of textiles in folklore is ancient, and its lost mythic lore probably accompanied the early spread of this art. Textiles have also been associated in several cultures with spiders in mythology.
The "swan maiden" story is a name in folkloristics used to refer to three kinds of stories: those where one of the characters is a bird-maiden, in which she can appear either as a bird or as a woman; those in which one of the elements of the narrative is the theft of the feather-robe belonging to a bird-maiden, though it is not the most important theme in the story; and finally the most commonly referred to motif, and also the most archaic in origin: those stories in which the main theme, among several mixed motifs, is that of a man who finds the bird-maiden bathing and steals her feathered robe, which leads to him becoming married to the bird-maiden. Later, the maiden recovers the robe and flies away, returning to the sky, and the man may seek her again. It is one of the most widely distributed motifs in the world, most probably being many millennia old, and the best known supernatural wife figure in narratives.
Chilseok is a Korean traditional festival which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Korean lunisolar calendar, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. Chilseok is a period where the heat starts to dwindle and the Wet season begins, and the rain that falls during this period is called Chilseok water. As pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons start to flourish during this period, people traditionally offered fried pumpkins to the Big Dipper.
Happily Ever After is a 20-episode Singaporean Chinese drama which is telecast on Singapore's free-to-air channel, MediaCorp TV Channel 8. It made its debut on 6 February 2007 and ended on 5 March 2007.
The Silver River (1997) is an American chamber opera in one act, with music composed by Bright Sheng, and a libretto by the playwright David Henry Hwang. It was first performed at the Santa Fe, New Mexico Chamber Music Festival in 1997. It also has been performed at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina; and in major cities such as New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and London.
"The Pretty Little Calf" is a Chinese fairy tale collected by Wolfram Eberhard in "Folktales of China". It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and to the tale type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children", of the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, in that a woman gives birth to children of wondrous aspect, but jealous relatives conspire to separate them. Similar stories are attested in East Asian literature, specially Mongolian and Korean, wherein the boy is murdered, but is later reborn in the shape of a calf.
Hagoromo is among the most-performed Japanese Noh plays. It is an example of the traditional swan maiden motif.
Niulang is a Chinese deity who is identified as the star Altair in the constellation Aquila. He was a legendary figure and main character in the popular Chinese folk tale The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The earliest record of this myth is traced to over 2600 years ago.
Zhinü is the goddess of weaving and the star Vega in Chinese mythology. She was the youngest of seven daughters of the Jade Emperor. It is believed that she weaved her father’s royal robes out of the clouds. She is identified as the star Vega in the constellation Lyra.
The Little Fairy is a 2006 Chinese television series based on the legend of the Fairy Couple during the Han dynasty. The series was produced by Mediacorp (Singapore), Chinese Entertainment Shanghai (China) and Taiwanese Film Studio (Taiwan) and premiered on 16 January 2006.
"The Three Feathers" is a story by the Brothers Grimm, in their Kinder- und Hausmärchen. It is KHM nr. 63. It is classified as Aarne–Thompson–Uther ATU 402, "The Animal Bride". It appeared in the first edition in 1812, and was slightly reworked for the second edition in 1819. A second variant of the tale also collected by the Brothers Grimm is "The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat", listed as KHM 106.
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are characters found in Chinese mythology and appear eponymously in a romantic Chinese folk tale. The story tells of the romance between Zhinü and Niulang. Despite their love for each other, their romance was forbidden, and thus they were banished to opposite sides of the heavenly river. Once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, a flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite the lovers for a single day. Though there are many variations of the story, the earliest-known reference to this famous myth dates back to a poem from the Classic of Poetry from over 2600 years ago:
Jintong is a Taoist deity in Chinese mythology and Chinese traditional religion who, along with his female counterpart Yunü, are favored servants of the Jade Emperor and Zhenwudadi.
Yunü is a Taoist deity or goddess in Chinese mythology and Chinese traditional religion who, along with her male counterpart Jintong, are favored servants of the Jade Emperor and Zhenwudadi.
Silver Hair and Golden Curls is an Armenian folktale originally collected by ethnologue and clergyman Karekin Servantsians in Hamov-Hotov (1884). It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".
The Youth and the Maiden with Stars on their Foreheads and Crescents on their Breasts is an Albanian folktale. It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".
In Chinese folklore, Dong Yong is one of the Twenty-four Filial Exemplars who sold himself into servitude to bury his dead father. Touched by his filial piety, a celestial maiden came to Earth, married him and changed his fortunes.
In Chinese folklore and mythology, the Seven Fairies are the seven daughters of Jade Emperor and Queen Mother of the West.
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