In legend, the weaver girl was the star vega – the brightest star in the sky. Her duty was weaving clouds. She fell in love with a lowly cowherd (the star altair) and they had children. Carried away by her romance, however, she neglected to weave clouds, and her father, the lord of the heavens, separated the couple, by creating the river of heaven (or milky way) across the middle of the sky, dividing the two stars. In popular belief, the lovers are reunited on one night of the year - the seventh night of the seventh lunar month – when magpies form a bridge across the milky way. — chester beatty library. Object Type: painting. Date: Dated 1503. Place of creation: China during the Ming dynasty. Dimensions: 29.8 × 49.3 cm. Medium: ink and colors on paper. Collection: Shanghai Museum.
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