Chang’e the Moon Goddess

The Origins

Chang’e is the goddess of the Moon, and wife of Hou Yi, the great archer.

Chang’e was originally given the name Heng’e but was renamed to avoid the taboo of sharing the same name of the emperor of the Han dynasty Liu Heng. *

* Liu Heng is the personal name of the fifth emperor of the Han dynasty, Emperor Wen of Han. He served as emperor from 180 until his death in 202 BC.

Chang'e first appeared in Guicang. *

*The Guicang  ("Return to the Hidden") is a divination text dating back to the dynasty. It was rediscovered in a rural bog in 1993 after being lost for over two thousand years.  

The famous late Tang Dynasty (618–907) poet, Li Shangyin, wrote the poem "Chang'e" based on the story of Chang'e stealing the immortal elixir *. Like this goddess, the poet discovers a connection in the solitude of moonlight, sensing their shared loneliness while gazing at the night sky. Among the hundreds of poems around Chang'e and the Moon, she gradually evolved into a symbol of nostalgia and solitude for numerous poets beyond Li.

A translation by Witter Bynner, in his book The Jade Mountain:

“To the Moon Goddess”

Now that a candle-shadow stands on the screen of carven marble

And the River of Heaven slants and the morning stars are low,

Are you sorry for having stolen the potion that has set you

Over purple seas and blue skies, to brood through the long nights?”

*In ancient China it was believed that ingesting long-lasting minerals such as jade, cinnabar, or hematite would help extending the longevity of the life of the person who consumed them. Gold was seen as being particularly potent, as it was a non-tarnishing precious metal.

Chang’e and the Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest festival that occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month in the Chinese calendar, falling anywhere between the 7th of September to the 8th of October in the Gregorian calendar. It is believed that on this day the moon is at its fullest and brightest, coinciding with the mid-August harvest season.

There is an ancient fable shared by the Zhuang people that says the Sun and the Moon are a couple, and the stars are their children. When the Moon is pregnant it becomes round, and once she has given birth she once again turns into a crescent. This made it popular amongst women to make offerings and worship the moon on this evening.

Offerings are also made to Chang’e. The myths surrounding her offer up an explanation as to why moon worship is done on this specific evening. Lihui Yang shared a version of the story in “Handbook of Chinese Mythology”:

In the ancient past, there was a hero named Hou Yi who was excellent at archery. His wife was Chang'e. One year, the ten suns rose in the sky together, causing great disaster to the people. Yi shot down nine of the suns and left only one to provide light. An immortal admired Yi and sent him the elixir of immortality. Yi did not want to leave Chang'e and be immortal without her, so he let Chang'e keep the elixir. However, Peng Meng, one of his apprentices, knew this secret. So, on the fifteenth of August in the Chinese lunisolar calendar, when Yi went hunting, Peng Meng broke into Yi's house and forced Chang'e to give the elixir to him. Chang'e refused to do so. Instead, she swallowed it and flew into the sky. Since she loved her husband and hoped to live nearby, she chose the moon for her residence. When Yi came back and learned what had happened, he felt so sad that he displayed the fruits and cakes Chang'e liked in the yard and gave sacrifices to his wife. People soon learned about these activities, and sympathetic to Chang'e, they also participated in these sacrifices with Yi.

An alternative version of the myth was also shared in the same handbook:

After the hero Houyi shot down nine of the ten suns, he was pronounced king by the thankful people. However, he soon became a conceited and tyrannical ruler. In order to live long without death, he asked for the elixir from Xiwangmu. But his wife, Chang'e, stole it on the fifteenth of August because she did not want the cruel king to live long and hurt more people. She took the magic potion to prevent her husband from becoming immortal. Houyi was so angry when discovered that Chang'e took the elixir, he shot at his wife as she flew toward the moon, though he missed. Chang'e fled to the moon and became the spirit of the moon. Houyi died soon because he was overcome with great anger. Thereafter, people offer a sacrifice to Chang'e on every fifteenth day of eighth month to commemorate Chang'e's action.

Chang’e and her companions

Wu Gang

A mortal who had a great desire for immortal, but no drive to earn it. Wu Gang found himself a master who was willing to teach him the sacred arts but was not willing to put in the work himself. He would abandon the lessons whenever he found them to be difficult, and yet still expected to be given the gift of being immortal.

His laziness, and unwillingness to rightfully earn this gift angered the Gods to the point where they banished him to the Moon. This is where he came upon the enormous osmanthus tree.

He was told that if he was able to cut down the tree than he may return home. What he was not told was that it was an impossible task.

Wu Gang picked up his axe, hitting the trunk. Yet before he could raise the axe once more, the trunk healed. No matter how many times Wu Gang struck the tree, it would always restore itself to its original form.

The Jade Rabbit

A traveller approached a group of animals and asked them for some food, although the rabbit did not have any food to offer the traveller, he did have his life that he could offer up so that the divine traveller, disguised as a starving old man, would not go hungry.

Touched by the selfishness of the rabbit, the traveller rescued the rabbit and carried it up to the moon. This is where the rabbit would reside, alongside its mortar and pestle, preparing the elixir of immortality, night after night.