Today is Qixi Festival, known as Chinese Valentine's Day, which is also called "Qiqiao Festival (Begging for Skills Festival)" or "Daughters' Festival."

The historical record shows that the "Begging for Skills Festival" originated in the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), and a whole host of related customs have gradually taken shape since then. Let's take a look at how ancient people celebrated the Qixi Festival from some ancient Chinese paintings.

Begging for Skills under Tung Tree, from Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) [Photo/Weibo.com]

This painting depicts a custom during the Qixi Festival, in which women pray for good needlework skills.

On this day, girls would throw a sewing needle into a bowl full of water as a test of their embroidery skills. If the needle floats on top of the water instead of sinking, it proves the girl is a skilled embroiderer.