Niulang

The Cowherd

Mortal cowherd separated from the Weaver Girl by the Milky Way, meeting her on Qixi.

The Cowherd began as the star Altair before folk narrative turned him into a mortal orphan who married the Weaver Girl of heaven. When the Queen Mother drew the Silver River between them, the lovers were allowed one meeting each year — on the seventh night of the seventh month, when magpies bridge the stars. His story makes the Milky Way itself a boundary of love.