Stories behind the Moon: How Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival (2)

Legend

An important part of the festival celebration is moon worship. Most Chinese people grow up with the story of Chang' e, China's moon goddess. Though the festival is a happy time for family, the story of the goddess isn't so joyful.

Living in a very distant past, Chang' e and her husband, a skilled archer named Yi, had a wonderful life together. However, one day, ten suns rose into the sky and scorched the earth, taking millions of lives. Yi shot down nine of them, leaving only one sun to serve the people, and thus he was rewarded by the gods with the elixir of immortality.

Reluctant to enjoy immortality without his wife, Yi decided to hide the elixir. However, one day, while Yi was out hunting, his apprentice broke into his house and forced Chang' e to give him the elixir. To prevent the thief from obtaining it, Chang' e drank the elixir instead, and flew up to the moon to begin her immortal life. Though devastated, each year, Yi displayed his wife's favorite fruits and cakes during the full moon, and that's how China's Moon Cake Festival came to be.

Though sad, Chang' e's story has inspired generations of Chinese, showing them the qualities that their ancestors worshiped the most: loyalty, generosity and sacrifice for the greater good.

Chang' e might be the sole human resident on the moon, but she does have a little companion, the famous Jade Rabbit. According to Chinese folklore, the rabbit used to live in a forest with other animals. One day, the Jade Emperor disguised himself as an old, starving man and begged the rabbit for food. Being weak and small, the rabbit couldn't help the old man, so instead jumped into the fire so that the man could eat its flesh.

Moved by the generous gesture, the Jade Emperor (the first god in Chinese mythology) sent the rabbit to the moon, and there he became the immortal Jade Rabbit. The Jade Rabbit was given the job of making the elixir of immortality, and the story goes that the rabbit can still be seen creating the elixir with a pestle and mortar on the moon.