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Hi everyone and welcome back to Happy Hour.欢迎你回到酒馆.It's going to be our own 七夕 festival or double 7th festival this weekend.转眼又到七夕，in all of these lover related holidays in the past Chinese or western we have already done a few episodes, for example，we have done romantic love stories，romantic love quotes，we have done，tragic love stories even anti-love stories.

So when you guys were busy thinking about gift ideas，I've been trying to come up with a relevant topic; and then it dawned on me, although you see 七夕 related advertising everywhere, few people would actually dig deeper into the legend of love. I'm sure most of you would recognize Cupid，but if I ask you who are the gods and goddesses of love in our own legend and folklore，I'm sure many of you would be shaking your heads. 比起西方神话里家喻户晓的丘比特，如果问到中国爱神，想起很多人就有点儿摸不着头脑了。

And for those of you who got to know me throughout the years, you know that one of my biggest interests is folklore and mythology. So in today's special 七夕 episode，let me introduce you to some of our own gods and goddesses of love.今天的七夕特辑里，璐璐就带你认识一下我们自己的那些爱神，and interesting yet sometimes bizarre stories relating to them.

First of all，let's start with the story of 七夕 itself. I'm sure most of you know the story behind 七夕，there are two main characters，牛郎and织女. In English, they are often called the cowherd and the weaver girl.

如果你听到牛郎，首先脑子里面想到的是hostel，那就建议你和璐璐一样去面壁思过一下，go back to the topic, cowherd and a weaver girl. Cowherd was a poor farmer boy，and the weaver girl was from the heaven. And they fell madly in love and got together like any other star-crossed lovers，and of course the emperor of heaven or the Jade Emperor玉皇大帝found out about this, and was furious.

So he got the weaver girl back to heaven when the heart broken cowherd decided to chase after her, the Queen Mother of The West西王母 drew a silver river in the sky and blocked his way. But then because their love was so great，the magpies decided to form a bridge over the silver river for them to meet. In the end, even a jade emperor was moved. So he allowed this couple to meet on the magpie bridge once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month according to the Chinese calendar.

And this was the origin of the 七夕 festival. And since thousands of years ago in the Han Dynasty，the tale of the cowherd and the weaver girl had already been celebrated.

And on this day，girls would go to local temples to pray to the weaver girl for wisdom，especially skills in needle work，which symbolize the traditional talents of a good wife.古代的七夕少女们会向织女祈求至巧，特别是做针线活这种心灵手巧的手艺，以求能靠手艺符合如意郎君。So七夕was also called“乞巧festival”，which literally means praying for wisdom and dexterity. On that day，girls would also dress up and make wishes for marrying someone who would be a good and loving husband.

So in a way, the cowherd and the weaver girl were kind of seen as characters relating to love and marriage, but apart from the tale of the cowherd and the weaver girl，what are some of the other gods and goddesses relating to love and marriage.

Well, the first one might come as a surprise. She is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology，这就是中国神话谱系里的母神-女娲。According to Chinese mythology，she is credited with creating humanity and repairing the pillar of heaven.大部分人对于女娲的了解多半是女娲补天捏土造人这些传说.And few people realize that she was also one of the very first goddess of love and marriage.

So the legend has it女娲was born three months after her brother伏羲and later on she took 伏羲 as her husband. Before you think it's weird, this type of arrangement seems quite common in many of the ancient mythologies around the world. And because of this marriage to 伏羲，女娲 is credited with inventing the idea of marriage.因为女娲和伏羲之间的结合，她也被视为是中国第一位爱神，因为她创建了婚姻制度，which allows men and women to get together and procreate.

The second widely celebrated goddess of love is also Chinese goddess of the moon.中国传说里第二位传统的爱神也是月神，又叫月光娘娘、太阴星主、月姑、月光菩萨，depending on your own local preferences.

And before you ask，yes, usually嫦娥is seen as the goddess of the moon. There are many versions of her legends，but they all include some of the key elements: 后羿，the archer; and elixir of life; and the moon. 嫦娥奔月有很多不同的版本，but in the most popular versions，she took her husband's elixir of life, 她吃了丈夫后羿的仙丹, and then flew to the moon，becoming the goddess of the moon. It sounds like a pretty tragic story of separation.

But for some reason，I guess it's the romantic notion of the moonlight, the goddess of the moon is often connected to the idea of romantic love. Ever since ancient times，Chinese couples have been exchanging sweet nothings and making commitment in the moonlight.

月神其实是一种非常常见的民间信仰，中国的古代男女热恋时也会时常在月下盟誓定情拜祷月神.Lovers that are apart from each other also would pray to the goddess of moon for their reunion，可谓但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

If you don't like the moon goddess，how about an old man under the moon？如果你不喜欢月光娘娘，我们还有月下老人。He is a god or to be more precise, he is an immortal representing marriage and love in Chinese mythology.月下老人严格意义上来说不是god，而是immortal神仙.He appears at night and ties all predestined couples with a red sulking thread.他会把上天注定要在一起的恋人，用一根凡人看不到的红丝线绑在一起，after which nothing can prevent their union.

One of the earliest written laws about 月老 was in the Tang Dynasty. So this is the story: There was a young man named 韦固, once he was passing the city of 宋城 where he saw an old man leaning on his pack，reading a book in the moonlight. Amazed,韦固 walked up to him and asked what he was doing?

The old man answered: I'm reading a book of marriage listing for who is going to marry whom. In my pack, I have read threads for tying the feet of husband and wife. 韦固 was intrigued.

So he asked out of curiosity，who am I going to marry？Am I going to marry a girl from a rich family from influential background？

The old man took 韦固 to a marketplace where they saw a blind old beggar woman carrying a 3 year old little girl in her arms.

So the old man said to 韦固, in 14 years，this little girl will grow up to be your wife.韦固 was furious. He shouted how can I possibly marry this lowly beggar girl？But the old man said since you are predestined you can't fight fate. Although 韦固 didn’t fully believe this old man, just to be on the safe side，he sent his servant to stab the little girl with a knife. His logic was if I killed this little girl，then there will be no chance of her growing up to be my wife.

However his servant missed and only managed to leave a scar on the girl's forehead.14 years later，a local official gave 韦固 his daughter in marriage, and after they got married,韦固 found out although this girl was beautiful，she had a very visible scar on her forehead and it turned out that was the little beggar girl who was later adopted by the official. And it turns out he can't fight fate after all.

听到这个故事的全貌，璐璐真的忍不住吐槽 how on earth is this a romantic story, so this man wanted to marry someone rich，decided to kill his predestined wife when she was only a 3-year-old child. Later on this baby killer ended up marrying her anyway and they lived happily ever after, are you being serious？I wish I understand the logic in that.

But whether you like the story or not，the whole idea of predestined match was kind of a rebellion against the traditional idea of matching family backgrounds.虽然故事是充满槽点，但月老传说里这种前世注定今世缘的认知态度，可以说是对一味讲究门当户对的观念，算是一种反叛和进步。

你也听说过那副有名的月老庙堂前的对联，愿天下有情人都成了眷属，使前生注定事莫错过姻缘. In a way，月老，what's the original matchmaker.这也是为什么今天我们也会把为情侣牵线搭桥的人叫做月老。

Another immortal dual that are believed to bless couples’ union are the Immortals of Harmony and Union, sometimes called Two Gods of Harmony and Union.

另一对保佑美满姻缘的神仙就是“合和二仙”,they are usually depicted as two little boys, one holding a lotus flower，举一荷花的荷，the other holding a box，举一盒子的盒。They were originally two monks living a secluded life.据说这两位本来是肉身凡胎的僧侣，一位叫寒山，一位叫拾得.

As immortals, they are usually associated with harmony and happiness，both in marriage and in friendship.

So far all of these gods goddesses immortal that we've talked about are to bless the union between a man and a woman.

But do you know that in Chinese folklore，there was actually a folk god blessing the union between two men.之前我们提到的都是保佑男女姻缘夫妇和美的神和仙，但可能很少有人知道在中国的传说里有一个小众的民间神，他所保佑的却是另一种姻缘.

This is 兔儿神，sometimes called the Leveret Spirit, the Leveret is a baby bunny. I need to remind you here 兔儿神 is completely different from 兔爷, so don't get those confused. Well, the Leveret Spirit or the Leveret of God is a folk god that manages love and relationship between homosexual people，especially gay men. The original folklore was documented in a book called What the Master Would Not Discuss.他的故事在清朝袁枚的《子不语》里就有记载.

So back in 17th century福建，a man named胡天保 was in love with a young official, and he followed him around and try to spy on him to see him naked. And when he was caught，he confessed his love to this official. The official was furious and had 胡天保 tortured and killed. But then he returned from death in a form of a baby bunny. In the dream of a village elder，he demands local men build a temple to him where they can pray and burn incense in the interests of affairs between men.传说中因为自己不一样的取向而死去的胡天保，此后变成了兔儿神专司同志恋情。

Now this folklore was mainly in southern China in areas around 福建.

Nowadays in pop culture，you might see them in certain stories or games. So that ends today's stories about some of the interesting gods, goddesses, immortals, and spirits relating to love relationship and marriage in Chinese folklore.

Have you heard of any other stories? Leave your comments in the comment section，we would love to know more stories from you. Happy 七夕 everyone. See you next time.