迎中秋 话玉兔
When it comes to the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese people will certainly mention a certain mystical animal: the Jade Rabbit. It is a character from Chinese folklore, who lives on the moon with Chang’e. There are many interesting legends about the Jade Rabbit.
1. How was the Jade Rabbit selected?
In ancient China, Wu Gang, an immortal (神仙) tasked with creating special pills which all immortals have to take every thousand years to live forever, gave some to humans. Furious, the Jade Emperor punished him and sought a new immortal medicine maker among animals. Pretending to be weak, he asked for food in a forest. A monkey and fox helped, but a rabbit, finding nothing, jumped into the fire, offering itself as food instead. Moved by what the rabbit did, the Jade Emperor made him the next immortal medicine maker.
2. How did the Jade Rabbit become the Moon Goddess’s companion?
One day, the Queen Mother of the West came and asked for a few extra pills. The Jade Rabbit told the Queen Mother that each immortal can only receive one pill every thousand years and that the Jade Emperor forbade any additional pills to be given. The Queen Mother was very upset and insisted on having another pill. The Jade Rabbit didn’t dare to refuse any more and gave her the extra pill. Later, the Jade Emperor heard about this and asked the rabbit to determine a punishment for itself. The Jade Rabbit told the Jade Emperor that he would go and live in the Moon Palace with Chang’e and be lonely forever.
3. Why is the Moon Rabbit called the Jade Rabbit?
The rabbit worked very hard to learn how to create immortal medicine and soon mastered the skills, making the Jade Emperor so happy that he decided to make the rabbit snow white. The rabbit’s fur was as white and smooth as jade, and so it was called the Jade Rabbit.
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