![]() And so Chang’e drank the elixir and was granted immortality. She was tired of living on Earth, tired of mortality and the simple life she was forced to live. So Houyi hid the elixir from his wife and tried to make a happier life on Earth for them both.īut one day, Chang’e discovered the vial containing the elixir while her husband was away hunting. Houyi was very grateful to the Queen, but he knew that he could not give the elixir to Chang’e because he could not bear to be parted from her side. But there is only enough for one person,’ she warned, as she handed over the silver vial. ‘Whoever drinks this elixir,’ said the Queen Mother of the West, ‘will be granted eternal life. The Queen Mother felt very sad for Houyi so she gave to him an elixir of immortality. ‘It is my fault that Chang’e is now a mortal.’ ‘What am I to do?’ He asked of the Queen. One day, Houyi went to see the Queen Mother of the West. Houyi felt guilty because he was the one who had used his bow and arrows to cast the Jade Emperor’s sons from the sky, and so he thought that it was his fault that Chang’e had been banished from the heavens. This restlessness soon turned to sadness, which then turned to anger at her banishment from the heavens. She did not like living on Earth and missed the heavens and immortality. It was not very long before Chang’e grew restless with her new life. The Jade Emperor was very angry with Chang’e and Houyi and banished them from the heavens for killing nine of his sons, even though he knew that they had done wrong.Īnd so Chang’e and Houyi had to begin a new life as mortals living on Earth. But Houyi left one sun to circle the Earth for evermore so that there would be both night and day. And so the brave warrior aimed up into the burning sky, and with his bow and arrow he shot down nine of the suns from the sky. Houyi was a very skilled archer who never missed his target. Soon the earth dried up, the rivers turned to dust, crops turned to ash, and the lands became barren. Ten burning suns in the sky meant that it was never night-time, and the Earth never had a chance to cool. One day, the Queen Mother of the West summoned Chang’e and Houyi to Earth because the Jade Emperor’s ten sons had turned themselves into orange balls of fire and were sitting in the sky above the Earth. The couple were both immortals who lived in the heavens, and both were well known for their brave acts of courage against many dangerous enemies. ![]() Rabbits are therefore associated with long life.Once upon a time, there was a beautiful warrior called Chang’e who was married to a brave and strong archer named Houyi. The Buddha was so touched by this gesture that he bestowed upon the rabbit the gift of eternal life on the moon. The rabbit was consumed by guilt and going to the Buddha admitted his folly and offered that the Buddha could eat him instead. ![]() The rabbit intended to bring fresh green grass and leaves, but when he found them, he ate them himself. All the animals came to him bringing the foods that they usually gathered for themselves. The Buddha arrived in a forest, exhausted and hungry after many days of traveling. The elixir was believed to have been stolen from the archer Yi by Lady Chang-E, who fed with it to the moon.Ī Buddhist story provides another explanation of how the rabbit came to live on the moon. It is also the forth animal in the Chinese calendar.Īccording to Daoist legend, a jade-white hare or rabbit lives on the moon, grinding the elixir of immortality with a pestle and mortar. It is believed to grind the ingredients of the elixir of longevity on the moon. Hare or Rabbit is a symbol of longevity and East. Source: Hobson's 1962 book "The wares of the Ming dynasty". Late Ming dynasty porcelain 'Hare' marks.
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