The fairy tale of the Cowherd and the Weaving Girl is a classic love story of ancient China. Long ago, there was a boy named Cowherd. He married the Weaving Girl, daughter of the Celestial Empress of Heaven. The Celestial Empress knew it one day, took out her hair spin, and drew a big river across the sky. The Empress forced the girl back across the river and allowed her to reunite with her husband only once a year. On the seventh day of each autumn, the Cowherd and the Weaver would meet on the river's east bank, and magpies would form a bridge for them.