Controversial Stone Statues Of Niulang And Zhinyu And The Legend Of The Heavenly Queen And Milky Way

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - An ancient, romantic legend tells about Niulang and Zhinyu, who are separated by the Heavenly Queen and allowed to meet once a year on the seventh night of the seventh month, on a bridge across the Milky Way formed by magpies.

This unique event is celebrated in the Qixi Festival, or the Seventh Night Festival, which can be traced back to the Han Dynasty in China.

Interestingly, there are two statues of Niulang and Zhinyu from the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 24) in Changjiazhuang village and a cotton mill in Doumen town in Xixian New Area of Shaanxi province. Both of these statues have caused some controversy.

According to a staff member from a local cultural relic bureau, the two statues happen to stand on the two sides of the Kunming pool ruin, just like Niulang and Zhinyu on the two sides of the Milky Way. Locals used to call the stone statues "stone grandpa" and "stone grandma," and they worship them during festivals to pray for safety and fortune, he said.

The stone statue of Niulang. Image credit: Beijing Youth Daily

The reason the stone statues have triggered controversy is that some are disappointed by their appearance.

Some people think they are good-looking, and others say they are ugly.

Mr Wei, a 55-year-old Doumen town resident, thinks the statues of Niulang and Zhinyu are good-looking.

"They are from the Western Han Dynasty, and have a long history of more than 2,000 years. How could they be not pretty? Pretty!” he said.

Why the statues caused such a great discussion is quite remarkable, Professor Yu Gengzhe, from the School of History and Culture at Shaanxi Normal University, thinks.

“The stone carvings from the Han Dynasty are just like that, and the stone statues are how Niulang and Zhinyu appeared in Han Dynasty people's minds. But it doesn't mean that their images in other dynasties were also like this," Professor Yu Gengzhe said.

Yu also added that the stone statues have never suffered from deliberate destruction, and their damage is within normal range.

"To restore a relic into its original appearance is not always good protection; instead we have to accept what it looks now, just like the Venus with the missing arms," he said, referring to the famous ancient Greek statue, Venus de Mil.

In a way, it’s quite odd that instead of appreciating these ancient statues and the beautiful legend behind them, the focus is placed on the appearance of how these individuals look.

Updated on February 14, 2024

Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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