Chinese festivals have a unique flavor of their own. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the prominent festivals in Chinese culture. There are some interesting stories and legends behind the Mid-Autumn Festival. Among the stories, the most popular one is that of Chang’e – the legendary story of the Chinese Moon goddess.
The legend changes according to social reality and is also a reflection of people’s wishes. This article will present three famous stories often told to children during the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.
The legend of the Jade Rabbit
One day, the Jade Emperor thought of testing the virtue of animals, and for that purpose, he sent three immortals to Earth from Heaven. The three immortals went to Earth as poor older men. For eating, they begged food from various animals. Though all animals strived to get food for these men, the rabbit was an exception.
The rabbit thought she was too small to find food for the men. Therefore, she jumped into the fire so the poor men could eat the meat. This touched the immortals tremendously, so they brought the rabbit to Heaven to keep company with Chang’e on the Moon.
With Chang’e, the rabbit mashes various herbs to make different tinctures of life. So when you see a rabbit on the Moon, it is the Jade Rabbit.
The legend of Hou Yi and Chang’e
Chang’e is a beautiful woman with a kind heart. Hou Yi is Chang’e’s husband and an archer. During their time, there were 10 suns in the sky.
The 10 suns produced immense heat, which dried the crops, and people starved to death. With his bow, Hou Yi shot down nine suns, leaving only one sun in the sky. As a reward, the Queen of Heaven gave a tincture to Hou Yi, which when he took he would become immortal and go to Heaven.
But Hou did not want to leave his wife and didn’t drink the tincture. Instead, he handed it over to Chang’e. The lady put the elixir in a case on her dressing table. However, the treacherous Peng Meng, one of the disciples of Hou Yi, saw this.
One day, Hou Yi and his disciples went hunting. Peng Meng pretended to be unwell and refused to go with them. After a while, Peng Meng broke into Hou Yi’s house and compelled Chang’e to give him the bottle of the elixir of life.
Chang’e felt she would be unable to protect herself and the tincture, so she swallowed it. Immediately, she floated in the air lightly and became immortal. Then, she flew to the Moon, as this was the nearest place to her husband. Hou Yi was heartbroken when he heard this after coming back.
Hou Yi noticed that the Moon was very bright, and there was a swaying figure like Chang’e. So he made mooncakes for Chang’e and placed them on a table under the Moon with candles lit all around. It was a memorable ceremony for convening Chang’e.
Local people often offer fresh fruits and mooncakes to the Moon to worship Chang’e, the Moon goddess. Eating mooncakes and worshipping the Moon are important traditions in the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The legend of Wu Gang
The story of the legendary Wu Gang is related to the Moon. The black shadow on the Moon is Wu Gang trying to chop down an osmanthus tree.
Wu Gang, an ordinary woodcutter, wanted to become immortal. For this, he found an eternal teacher and sought instructions from him. But Wu was impatient and restless. Finally, the immortal became angry with him and made him stay on the Moon.
He told Wu he could become immortal if he cut down the Moon’s osmanthus tree. But whenever Wu tried to cut the tree with an axe, it regrew into its former shape. As a result, Wu never managed to fell the tree.
