Mid-Autumn Folklore: Chang'e Legends, Moon Rabbit, and Reunion Stories

BY NICOLE LAU

The folklore of the Mid-Autumn Festival is rich with tales of moon goddesses, jade rabbits, and the power of reunion. These stories, passed down for thousands of years, encode cultural values about love, sacrifice, longing, and the bonds that connect us across distance and time.

The Legend of Chang'e: The Moon Goddess

The most famous Mid-Autumn legend tells of Chang'e (嫖娥), the beautiful woman who became the moon goddess.

The Classic Version

Long ago, ten suns appeared in the sky, scorching the earth. The archer Hou Yi shot down nine suns, saving humanity. As a reward, he received an elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West.

Hou Yi didn't want to become immortal without his beloved wife Chang'e, so he gave her the elixir for safekeeping. But his apprentice Peng Meng tried to steal it. To prevent this, Chang'e swallowed the elixir herself.

She immediately began floating upward, ascending to the moon. Hou Yi, heartbroken, could only watch as his wife drifted away. Chang'e chose the moon because it was closest to earth, closest to her husband.

On the moon, she lives in the Palace of Widespread Cold (Guanghan Palace) with only the jade rabbit for company, forever separated from her beloved husband.

Alternative Versions

The Selfish Version: Some tellings portray Chang'e as selfish, taking the elixir for herself to become immortal, and her isolation on the moon as punishment.

The Sacrifice Version: Other versions emphasize her sacrifice—she took the elixir to prevent it from falling into evil hands, accepting eternal loneliness to protect others.

The Symbolism

Separation and Longing: Chang'e represents all who are separated from loved ones—the pain of distance, the ache of longing, the bittersweet nature of love that endures despite separation.

Sacrifice: Her story teaches that love sometimes requires sacrifice, that protecting what matters may mean giving up what we desire most.

The Moon as Witness: Chang'e on the moon watches over lovers and families on earth, understanding their longing because she shares it.

The Jade Rabbit (玉兔, Yù Tù)

The jade rabbit is Chang'e's companion on the moon, forever pounding medicine in a mortar.

The Rabbit's Origin Story

Three immortals, disguised as beggars, asked a fox, monkey, and rabbit for food. The fox caught fish, the monkey gathered fruit, but the rabbit had nothing to offer. So the rabbit threw itself into the fire, offering its own body as food.

Moved by this selfless sacrifice, the immortals sent the rabbit to the moon to live in the Palace of Widespread Cold, where it pounds the elixir of immortality with a mortar and pestle.

The Symbolism

Selfless Service: The rabbit represents ultimate selflessness and compassion.

Companionship: The rabbit keeps Chang'e company in her loneliness, teaching that even in isolation, we're not truly alone.

Eternal Work: The rabbit's endless pounding represents dedication, persistence, and finding purpose even in exile.

Wu Gang and the Cassia Tree

Another moon resident is Wu Gang, condemned to chop down a cassia (osmanthus) tree that magically heals itself.

The Story

Wu Gang, seeking immortality, neglected his family to study with the immortals. As punishment for his selfishness, he was sent to the moon to chop down the cassia tree. But each time he strikes, the tree heals, making his task eternal and futile.

The Meaning

The Cost of Ambition: Wu Gang's story warns against neglecting family for personal ambition.

Futility and Acceptance: His endless task teaches about accepting consequences and finding meaning even in seemingly pointless labor.

The Cassia Connection: Osmanthus flowers bloom during Mid-Autumn, their sweet fragrance associated with the moon and the festival.

The Mooncake Rebellion

A historical legend explains mooncakes' role in Chinese resistance.

The Tale

During the Yuan Dynasty (Mongol rule), the Chinese planned a rebellion. To coordinate the uprising without alerting Mongol authorities, they hid messages inside mooncakes distributed for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The message read: "Kill the Mongols on the 15th day of the eighth month." The rebellion succeeded, leading to the establishment of the Ming Dynasty.

The Significance

This story, whether historically accurate or not, shows mooncakes as symbols of Chinese identity, resistance, and unity. It explains why mooncakes are so central to the festival and why they're often given as gifts—they represent solidarity and shared purpose.

Reunion Stories and Folklore

The Cowherd and Weaver Girl Connection

While primarily associated with Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day), the Cowherd and Weaver Girl story connects to Mid-Autumn themes of separation and reunion.

The lovers, separated by the Milky Way, are allowed to meet once a year. Their story reinforces Mid-Autumn's emphasis on cherishing time together and the pain of separation.

The Carp Leaping the Dragon Gate

Some regions tell stories of carp leaping over the Dragon Gate during Mid-Autumn, transforming into dragons. This represents transformation, achievement, and the rewards of perseverance—themes aligned with harvest celebration.

Regional Folk Tales

The Moon Toad (Southern China)

In some southern regions, a three-legged toad lives on the moon instead of a rabbit. This toad is associated with wealth and good fortune, and seeing it during Mid-Autumn brings prosperity.

The Moon Hare's Medicine (Vietnam)

Vietnamese folklore emphasizes the rabbit pounding medicine to cure illness, making the Mid-Autumn moon a symbol of healing and health.

The Moon Princess (Korea)

Korean Chuseok folklore includes stories of moon princesses who descend to earth, fall in love with mortals, and must return to the moon, echoing themes of separation and longing.

Modern Urban Legends

The Brightest Moon: Contemporary folklore says wishes made under the Mid-Autumn full moon are especially powerful, as Chang'e listens most closely on this night.

The Reunion Miracle: Stories circulate of long-separated family members miraculously reuniting during Mid-Autumn, as if the moon's power brings people together.

The Mooncake Fortune: Modern tales tell of people finding lucky messages or objects in mooncakes, bringing unexpected good fortune.

Folklore Wisdom

These stories teach essential truths:

Love Transcends Distance: Chang'e and Hou Yi, though separated, remain connected through the moon they both see. Physical distance doesn't diminish love.

Sacrifice is Sacred: Both Chang'e and the jade rabbit made sacrifices. True love and compassion sometimes require giving up what we hold dear.

Loneliness is Universal: Even a goddess on the moon feels lonely. This validates our own feelings of isolation and longing.

Reunion is Precious: The emphasis on reunion in all these stories teaches that time together is sacred and should never be taken for granted.

The Moon Connects Us: Whether Chang'e watching from above or families gazing up from earth, the moon creates connection across separation.

These ancient stories continue to resonate because they speak to timeless human experiences: love and loss, separation and reunion, sacrifice and longing, the search for meaning, and the bonds that connect us across distance and time.