Traditional Chinese legend, retold in simple Mandarin
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl
牛郎织女
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl (牛郎织女, Niúláng Zhīnǚ) is a Chinese legend, retold in simple Mandarin as a 3-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 3 (Intermediate).
China's oldest love story, retold in three chapters: a lonely cowherd, a girl who weaves the clouds, and a river of stars that keeps them apart — until the magpies come.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — Tells the story the way grandparents do on summer nights, under the stars.
- Niulang · 牛郎 — A poor young cowherd with no family and no money — only an old ox and a kind heart.
- Zhinü · 织女 — The youngest daughter of heaven. Every colored cloud in the sky was woven by her hands.
- The Old Ox · 老牛 — Niulang's only family. Much older — and much wiser — than he looks.
- The Queen Mother · 王母娘娘 — The stern Queen Mother of Heaven, who wants her weaver back at the loom.
3 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Girl by the River
河边的仙女
A lonely cowherd, an ox that suddenly talks, and a fairy by the river who is just as lonely as he is.
Free to read
Chapter 2: A River of Stars
天上的河
Heaven wants its weaver back. Niulang has two crying children, a dying friend, and one impossible way to follow her.
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Chapter 3: The Magpie Bridge
喜鹊搭的桥
A family on two sides of the sky, clouds woven in gray, and thousands of small birds who decide that love should not have to wait forever.
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Key words in The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl
Behind the story
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl (牛郎织女) is one of China's Four Great Folk Legends and one of its oldest love stories: poems about these two stars were written more than 2,000 years ago.
It is the story behind Qixi (七夕), the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, when the magpies build their bridge and the couple meet for one night. Today Qixi is celebrated as Chinese Valentine's Day.
Did you know?
- On a summer night the Weaver Girl is the bright star Vega (织女星), the Cowherd is Altair (牛郎星), and the Milky Way (银河) runs between them.
- The magpie bridge is 鹊桥 (quèqiáo). China named the relay satellite for its 2019 far-side moon landing Queqiao after it.
- Qixi is also called 乞巧节, “the festival of asking for skill,” because girls once prayed on this night to be good at needlework.