All the way to the Altair and the fable of cowherd and the weaving maiden

摘要

The fable of cowherd and the weaving maiden sprouted in the Pre-Qin period, and did not form a story with integrated plots until Han Dynasty. The poetry, "All the way to the Altair" ("Tiao Tiao Qian Niu Xing"), marks the most vivid description in the Han Dynasty. The evolvement of the fable of cowherd and the weaving maiden has undergone the processes of deification, humanization, and plebification. This poem, as one of the evidences of these processes, is influenced by folklore to reflect the objective reality with fables to show the poet's unique thinking on social life. Therefore, "All the way to the Altar" entails special value and charm. The fable of cowherd and the weaving maiden, a household story, as one of the Four Ancient Chinese Legends, has been around for more than 2000 years. Throughout the ages, men of letters sang about the painful and beautiful story in literary works, arousing the emotional consonance of myriads of people, who always look up to the sky trying to find the constellations while listening to the beautiful tale.