But this magical tree restored itself every time! In this eternal struggle of fate and denied atonement, Wu Kang is forever chopping down something that grows back straight away: the most devastating lesson of patience. The gods became angry with his impatience and sentenced him to a grueling task: he must chop down the cassia tree on the moon before he goes back to earth. When you look at the shadows on the moon, can you spot Wu Kang cutting down the cassia tree? As the myth goes, Wu Kang hungered for the elixir of immortality. When combining 月 and 兔 together, it becomes 月兔 Moon rabbit, also known as 玉兔 (yù tù), the Jade Rabbit. For example, 一月 (yī yuè) is January, the first month. Now crushing immortal medicine for those in heaven, the jade rabbit lives with Chang-E at the Moon Palace. The men were so startled by the rabbit’s selflessness that they sent it to the moon to become an immortal jade rabbit. The rabbit said to them, “You can eat me,” and jumped into the fire. The fox and monkey gave food to the beggars, but the rabbit didn’t have anything to give. So, the next time you look through your telescope, see if you can spot Chang-E sitting on the moon, gazing down on the quiet earth!Īs one legend goes, once upon a time, three immortals reincarnated as poor old men, begging for food from a fox, monkey and rabbit. To this day, there is an open-air altar where you can put your fruits and cakes, and pay homage to this tale. And so the begun the festival, with young Chinese girls praying to Chang-E. Missing his beloved one, Houyi collected Chang-E’s favourite fruits and cakes, as a sacrifice to her. Flying up to the summit of heaven on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, she decided to reside on the moon. However, Fengmeng (逢蒙), who was jealous of Houyi’s archery, broke into his house whilst he was away, demanding Chang-E for the magical potion. In reward, he was given the elixir of immortality, but he kept it at home, because he couldn’t bear living without his wife, Chang-E (嫦娥): the beautiful goddess of the Moon.
Houyi (后翌), a brave archer, took down nine of them. In Chinese mythology, one legend has it that ten suns used to circle over the earth, and one day, all ten appeared together, setting the earth ablaze with their heat.
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