The Romance of the Milky Way | Page 4

Weaving-Lady, is a star in Lyra; and the
Herdsman, her beloved, a star in Aquila, on the opposite side of the
galaxy. But it were more correct to say that both are represented, to
Far-Eastern imagination, by groups of stars. An old Japanese book puts
the matter thus plainly: "Kengy[=u] (the Ox-Leader) is on the west side
of the Heavenly River, and is represented by three stars in a row, and
looks like a man leading an ox. Shokujo (the Weaving-Lady) is on the
east side of the Heavenly River: three stars so placed as to appear like
the figure of a woman seated at her loom.... The former presides over

all things relating to agriculture; the latter, over all that relates to
women's work."
* * * * *
In an old book called Zatsuwa-Shin, it is said that these deities were of
earthly origin. Once in this world they were man and wife, and lived in
China; and the husband was called Ishi, and the wife Hakuy[=o]. They
especially and most devoutly reverenced the Moon. Every clear
evening, after sundown, they waited with eagerness to see her rise. And
when she began to sink towards the horizon, they would climb to the
top of a hill near their house, so that they might be able to gaze upon
her face as long as possible. Then, when she at last disappeared from
view, they would mourn together. At the age of ninety and nine, the
wife died; and her spirit rode up to heaven on a magpie, and there
became a star. The husband, who was then one hundred and three years
old, sought consolation for his bereavement in looking at the Moon and
when he welcomed her rising and mourned her setting, it seemed to
him as if his wife were still beside him.
One summer night, Hakuy[=o]--now immortally beautiful and
young--descended from heaven upon her magpie, to visit her husband;
and he was made very happy by that visit. But from that time he could
think of nothing but the bliss of becoming a star, and joining Hakuy[=o]
beyond the River of Heaven. At last he also ascended to the sky, riding
upon a crow; and there he became a star-god. But he could not join
Hakuy[=o] at once, as he had hoped;--for between his allotted place
and hers flowed the River of Heaven; and it was not permitted for
either star to cross the stream, because the Master of Heaven (Ten-Tei)
daily bathed in its waters. Moreover, there was no bridge. But on one
day every year--the seventh day of the seventh month--they were
allowed to see each other. The Master of Heaven goes always on that
day to the Zenh[=o]do, to hear the preaching of the law of Buddha; and
then the magpies and the crows make, with their hovering bodies and
outspread wings, a bridge over the Celestial Stream; and Hakuy[=o]
crosses that bridge to meet her husband.
There can be little doubt that the Japanese festival called Tanabata was

originally identical with the festival of the Chinese Weaving-Goddess,
Tchi-Niu; the Japanese holiday seems to have been especially a
woman's holiday, from the earliest times; and the characters with which
the word Tanabata is written signify a weaving-girl. But as both of the
star-deities were worshiped on the seventh of the seventh month, some
Japanese scholars have not been satisfied with the common explanation
of the name, and have stated that it was originally composed with the
word tané (seed, or grain), and the word hata (loom). Those who accept
this etymology make the appellation, Tanabata-Sama, plural instead of
singular, and render it as "the deities of grain and of the loom,"--that is
to say, those presiding over agriculture and weaving. In old Japanese
pictures the star-gods are represented according to this conception of
their respective attributes;--Hikoboshi being figured as a peasant lad
leading an ox to drink of the Heavenly River, on the farther side of
which Orihimé (Tanabata) appears, weaving at her loom. The garb of
both is Chinese; and the first Japanese pictures of these divinities were
probably copied from some Chinese original.
In the oldest collection of Japanese poetry extant,--the Many[=o]sh[=u],
dating from 760 A.D.,--the male divinity is usually called Hikoboshi,
and the female Tanabata-tsumé; but in later times both have been called
Tanabata. In Izumo the male deity is popularly termed O-Tanabata
Sama, and the female Mé-Tanabata Sama. Both are still known by
many names. The male is called Kaiboshi as well as Hikoboshi and
Kengy[=u]; while the female is called Asagao-himé ("Morning Glory
Princess")[1], Ito-ori-himé ("Thread-Weaving Princess"),
Momoko-himé ("Peach-Child Princess"), Takimono-himé ("Incense
Princess"), and Sasagani-himé ("Spider Princess"). Some of these
names are difficult to explain,--especially the last, which reminds us of
the Greek legend of Arachne. Probably the Greek myth