The story depicts seven fairy weavers who served the Court of the Jade Emperor,  and one day descended to earth to bathe in a terrestrial spring. A young shepherd who was passing by happened to spy on them, and stole the clothes of the youngest. As a consequence she could not return to Heaven but stayed as the shepherd’s wife.

When the Jude Emperor learned of this he sent his guards down to Earth to drag the girl back to heaven. The shepherd followed her, but was spotted before he could catch up with his wife by the Queen Mother of Heaven., the latter drew a silver hairpin from her tresses and drew a line in the sky to separate the pair.The line became the Milky Way.

The Queen Mother permitted the shepherd and the weaving girl to see each other only once a year- on the seventh day of the seventh month at Midnight. But the two lovers were still separated by the Silver River.

Their plight stirred the compassion of the magpies on earth who flew up into the sky on the night and formed a bridge with their wings over the Silver River so that the couple could meet.

Building a bridge of Magpies now symbolises arranging a love match.