Editing Tanabata (section)

==Story==
[[File:Tanabata Festival in Edo (Hiroshige, 1852).jpg|thumb|[[Woodblock printing in Japan|Japanese woodblock print]] of Tanabata festivities in Edo (Tokyo), 1852, by [[Hiroshige]]]]
[[File:Making a Wish to Meet a Good Mate during the Tanabata Festival LACMA M.80.219.59.jpg|thumb|[[Yashima Gakutei]]]]
[[File:Japanese Edo Tanabata 02.jpg|thumb|Display of Edo Tanabata at Fukagawa Edo Museum]]
Like Qixi and [[Chilseok]], Tanabata was inspired by the famous [[Chinese folklore]] story, "[[The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl]]". Some versions were included in the ''[[Man'yōshū]]''.<ref name="Hearn1905"/>{{rp|25}}

The most popular version is as follows:<ref name="Hearn1905"/>{{rp|1}}<ref name="James">{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/stream/greenwillowother00jame#page/65/mode/1up |page= 65 |title= Green Willow and other Japanese Fairy Tales |first= Grace |last= James |publisher= Macmillan & Co. |year= 1910 }}</ref><ref name="Kaneko">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGrmbaaJcT0C&pg=PA24|page=24|script-title=ja:きょうのおはなし なつ|trans-title=Today's story: Summer |first= Sōshū |last=Kaneko |publisher= Suzuki Publishing |year= 1984 |isbn=4-7902-4005-3|language=ja}}</ref><ref name="Rupp">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHkyUp-EH2MC&q=orihime+hikoboshi&pg=PA140 |page=140|title=Gift-giving in Japan: cash, connections, cosmologies |first= Katherine |last=Rupp |publisher= Stanford University Press|year= 2003 |isbn= 0-8047-4704-0}}</ref>

{{Nihongo|Orihime|織姫|extra="Weaving Princess"}}, daughter of the {{Nihongo|[[Jade Emperor|Tentei]]|天帝||extra="Sky King", or the universe itself}}, wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the {{Nihongo|Amanogawa|天の川|extra="Milky Way", literally "heavenly river"}}. Her father loved the cloth that she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet {{Nihongo|Hikoboshi|彦星|extra="[[Cowman (profession)|Cowman]]"/"[[Cowboy|Cowherd]] Star", or literally "[[Boy]] Star"}}(also referred to as {{Nihongo|Kengyū|牽牛}}) who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter. However, once married, Orihime would no longer weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter's tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if she worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of [[magpie]]s came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come because of the rise of the river and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet. The rain of this day is called "The tears of Orihime and Hikoboshi".

===Names===
====Characters====
''Orihime'' and ''Hikoboshi'' are called various names in the different versions of the story.<ref name="Hearn1905"/>{{rp|10}}
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!'' ''
!''Orihime 織姫''
!''Hikoboshi 彦星''
|-
|Birth name
|棚機津女 or 棚機つ女 ''- Tanabata-tsume''
|牽牛 – ''Kengyū'' ("Cowherd")
|-
|Title
|女七夕 – ''Me-Tanabata ("''Female ''Tanabata")''
|男七夕 – ''O-Tanabata'' ("Male ''Tanabata''")
|-
|Various names and epithets
|秋去姫 – ''Akisari-hime'' ("Going to Autumn Princess")
朝顔姫 – ''Asagao-hime'' ("Morning Glory Princess")<br />糸織り姫 or 糸織姫 – ''Ito-ori-hime'' ("Thread-Weaving Princess")

百子姫 – ''Momoko-hime'' ("Peach-Child Princess")<br />薫物姫 – ''Takimono-hime'' ("Incense Princess")<br />蜘蛛姫 – ''Sasagani-hime'' ("Spider Princess")

梶葉姫 – ''Kajinoba-hime'' ("[[Paper mulberry|Paper Mulberry]] Princess"), the ''[[washi]]'' paper made from the paper mulberry

琴寄姫 – ''Kotoyori-hime'' ("String Musical Instrument Gathering Princess")

灯姫 – ''Tomoshibi-hime'' ("Luminous Bright Light Princess")

妻星 – ''Tsuma-boshi'' ("Wife Constellation/ Star")

機織姫 – ''Hata'ori-hime'' ("Weaving Princess")

星の妻 – ''Hoshi-no-tsuma'' ("Constellation/ Star Wife", i.e.: wife of ''Kengyū'')
|''飼星 – Kai-boshi'' ("Herder/ Shepherdman Star")<br />犬飼星 – ''Inukai-boshi'' ("Dog [[Herder]]/ [[Shepherd]]man Star")
牛引星 – ''Ushihiki-boshi'' ("Cow-tender Star")
|-
|Constellation title
|女星 – ''Me-boshi'' ("Female Constellation/ Star")
|男星 – ''O-boshi'' ("Male Constellation/ Star")
|}

====Festival====
The Festival of ''Tanabata'' is also known by various names:
{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Transliteration !! Meaning 
|-
| 秋七日 || ''Aki-nanoka'' || "Seventh day of Autumn"
|-
| 芋の葉の露 || ''Imo-no-ha-no-tsuyu''  || "[[Dew]] from the leaves of the [[Yam (vegetable)|Yams]] or [[Potato]]es" 
|-
| 七夕雨 || ''Tanabata-ame'' || "Rain of the ''Tanabata''" 
|-
|七夕送り || ''Tanabata-okuri'' || "Embarking ''Tanabata''" 
|-
|七夕紙 || ''Tanabata-gami'' || "Paper of the ''Tanabata''", i.e. paper which carries the wishes 
|-
|七夕色紙 || ''Tanabata-shikishi'' || "Colored paper of the ''Tanabata''" 
|-
|七夕竹 || ''Tanabata-take'' || "Bamboo of the ''Tanabata''", i.e. the bamboo that carries the decorations or wishes 
|-
|七夕竹売 || ''Tanabata-take'uri'' || "Bamboo of the ''Tanabata'' which offers and carries" 
|-
|七夕棚 || ''Tanabata-dana'' || "Rack of the ''Tanabata''" 
|-
|短冊竹 || ''Tanzaku-dake'' || "Bamboo of the ''Tanzaku''" 
|-
|星今宵 || ''Hoshi-koyoi'' || "Evening of the Star" 
|-
|星宮祭 || ''Hoshi-no-miya-matsuri'' || "Festival/ Celebration of the Star Palace" – i.e. the twin star Altair and Vega
|-
|星祭 || ''Hoshi-matsuri'' || "Star Festival"
|}

===Other stories===
====Human male and Heavenly female====
Japanese scholars pointed out that some tales of the ''Tanabata'' cross over with the character of the ''[[Swan maiden#The celestial maiden or heavenly bride|Celestial Maiden]]'' (otherwise known in Japan as ''Tennin Nyoobo'' or ''Hagoromo'').<ref>Takagi Masafumi. "[http://id.nii.ac.jp/1109/00003021/ &#91;シリーズ/比較民話&#93;(二)天人女房/白鳥処女]" [Series: Comparative Studies of the Folktale (2) Tennin Nyoobo/The Swan Maiden]. In: ''The Seijo Bungei: the Seijo University arts and literature quarterly'' 223 (2013-06). pp. 35–55. (In Japanese)</ref><ref>Yanagita, Kunio; Translated by Fanny Hagin Meyer (1986). ''Yanagita Kunio Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale''. Indiana University Press. pp. 25–27. {{ISBN|0-253-36812-X}}.</ref>

Comparative scholarship on the Japanese variants points that at the beginning of the story, the human male goes near a lake for a variety of reasons (a prayer to the gods for a wife; a vision sent in a dream; a grateful animal points him the way). Over the course of the story, the human partner reaches the celestial realm where his wife and her family live. Once there, he is forced to perform tasks before they reunite. At the end of the narrative, the husband breaks a taboo (he should not eat a certain melon/gourd, but he does and is washed away) and he and his celestial wife are separated, only to reunite again during the night of 7 July.<ref>노영근. "설화의 유형 분류와 비교 연구 試論 -<선녀와 나무꾼> 유형을 중심으로-" [A Trial Research for Classification and Comparative Study of Folktales -Focused on Swan-Maiden Type-]. In: 온지논총 no.24(2010): 83–85. UCI: G704-001782.2010..24.010</ref>

[[James Danandjaja]] relates the Japanese tale of ''Amafuri Otome'' ("The Woman who came from the Sky"), as a similar tale of the unmarried mortal man, named Mikeran, who withholds the [[kimono]] from a bathing lady so she cannot fly home to the sky. Years after they marry, she finds her kimono and flies home with their children. Mikeran fashions a thousand straw sandals to reach the sky world and find his wife. When he meets his parents-in-law, the father-in-law forces him to perform some tasks, and tricks the human with cutting a thousand [[watermelon]]s in one day. The human's sky wife knows it is a trap, but he does it anyway and is washed away by a flood created from the watermelons. Thus, they can only meet on the night of the ''Tanabata'' festival.<ref>Danandjaja, James. "[https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/56561/1/KJ00000131880.pdf A Comparative Study of Japanese and Indonesian Folklores]". In: ''Southeast Asian Studies'', Vol. 33, No.3, December 1995. pp. 210–211.</ref>

====Human female and Heavenly male====
Professors Masako Satō and [[Noriko T. Reider]] provided a narrative analysis of an ancient tale involving a human female and her future consort, Prince [[Ame-no-wakahiko|Ame-waka-hiko]]. In this tale of the ''[[Otogi-zōshi]]'' genre, the Prince takes the form of a serpent and marries a human woman. He later reveals he is a heavenly deity named Dragon Prince. After some time, he disappears and his human bride must seek him out (akin to the Graeco-Roman myth of [[Cupid and Psyche]]), even reaching the heavenly realm, where his father, an ''[[oni]]'', lives. At the end of this tale, the lovers are forcibly separated by the oni father and can only reunite during the ''Tanabata''.<ref>Satō, Masako. "Transforming an Ancient Myth into a Popular Medieval Tale". In: ''Japan on the Silk Road''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2017. pp. 339–345. {{doi|10.1163/9789004274310_018}}.</ref><ref>Reider, Noriko T. "A Demon in the Sky: The Tale of Amewakahiko, a Japanese Medieval Story". In: ''Marvels & Tales'' 29, no. 2 (2015): 265–82. Accessed June 28, 2021. {{doi|10.13110/marvelstales.29.2.0265}}.</ref><ref>Reider, Noriko T. "Tale of Amewakahiko (Amewakahiko Sōshi): A Demon in the Sky, a Maiden in Search of Her Husband". In: ''Seven Demon Stories from Medieval Japan''. Boulder, Colorado: University Press of Colorado, 2016. Accessed June 28, 2021. pp. 135–155. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1g04zg4.9.</ref>

Noriko T. Reider draws attention to a second story of this combination: the "Qian Luwei Tale". In this version, the human wife's father is identified as Qian Luwei, and the male deity is Hikoboshi, the son of "Bontennō", [[Brahma]].<ref>Reider, Noriko T. "A Demon in the Sky: The Tale of Amewakahiko, a Japanese Medieval Story". In: ''Marvels & Tales'' 29, no. 2 (2015): 272–274. Accessed June 28, 2021. {{doi|10.13110/marvelstales.29.2.0265}}.</ref>