The osmanthus leaf held by the largest figure, at the right, identifies her as the Moon Goddess Chang’e, who inhabits her celestial palace along with a white rabbit. Panel with the Moon Goddess and her attendants. Before long, she felt her limbs grow weightless, and she began to float into the sky against her will. Her eagerness to become immortal tempted her into drinking the entire potion. Yet while her husband was resting from his journey, she could not resist peeking at the elixir he brought back. When Houyi reunited with Chang’e, she was thrilled over his success. The entire elixir, however, will make one ascend to heaven as a full-fledged immortal.” “Drinking half the elixir will grant everlasting life. One was the elixir - the other was a warning: Learning of their plight, the merciful Queen Mother gave Houyi two things. The hopeful archer left on an arduous journey to seek her aid.Īfter countless difficulties, he finally reached her palace on sacred Mount Kunlun. She, at least, did not deserve to suffer.įortunately, Houyi recalled that the immortal Queen Mother of the West, who lived on Earth, had a rare supply of the elixir of immortality. Though a hero to mankind, Houyi had a single wish: to avoid the death that awaited all mortals and return to heaven with his beloved wife. The pair found human life hard and miserable. They were now forced to live on Earth as ordinary mortals. He banished Houyi and Chang’e, his beautiful wife, from Heaven, stripping them of their immortality. Upon hearing the news, the Jade Emperor was furious. (Ziyou Huang/Epoch Times) Houyi and Chang’e banished from Heaven Houyi left only one sun alive to give the Earth light and warmth. In the end, nine of the Jade Emperor’s sons were dead. The first one fell out of the sky, then another. Plucking an arrow from his satchel, he took aim at the suns. Filled with righteous indignation, he decided to take action. Everything was charred and lifeless, and the people were in agony. Houyi descended to Earth and saw its suffering with his own eyes. The emperor commanded the immortal to teach his sons a lesson. Unable to stop their mischief, the Jade Emperor summoned Houyi, an archer renowned for his marksmanship. One day, they transformed themselves into 10 suns, heartlessly scorching the Earth from high up in the heavens. The Jade Emperor, the ruler of Heaven, had 10 unruly sons. This Chinese legend of Houyi and Chang’e is no exception, and many different versions have been passed down. There are also many different versions of each story, but the common theme in all of them is the focus on the moon.Legends are like the shifting sands of a desert - forever changing and hard to grasp. Today, this love story is one of many that help explain the mythical origins of Mid-Autumn Festival. "This is the significance of the moon and the romanticism associated with it." "Could you imagine if you love somebody and you only get to meet once a year?" said Chen. He’d prepare a table with incense and his wife’s favorite foods, in hopes that she would see them from her perch on the moon and one day return home. In an attempt to see his wife once again, Hou Yi began an annual tradition when the moon was at its brightest. While becoming immortal saved her from an evil man, it ended her life with her beloved husband, who was left alone and heartbroken. Hou Yi was devastated when he learned about what happened to Chang’e. The full moon is seen during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2015 in Zaozhuang, Shandong Province of China. At that moment, her body began to float and ascend high into the heavens until she landed on the moon. To prevent the elixir from falling into the wrong hands, Chang’e decided to drink it. On one fateful day, when Chang’e was alone at home, a man wielding a sword came by and tried to force her to hand him the elixir. Word spread about the elixir of immortality, and it attracted some evil attention. So rather than drink the elixir, he gave it to Chang’e to treasure and keep safe. But by relinquishing his mortality, Hou Yi would also have to leave his beloved wife, Chang’e. In fact, the goddess of heaven gifted Hou Yi an elixir that would make him immortal and allow him to join the gods, should he choose to drink it. This heroic feat brought Hou Yi into the good graces of the gods. Hou Yi shot nine out of the sky, leaving the one sun we know today. One of the gods asked Hou Yi, an archer, to save the planet by shooting down some of the suns. The many suns scorched the Earth's surface, bringing drought to the land, destroying crop yields and causing death and poverty. The planet looked different, with the gods reigning supreme and the sky burning with the fury of ten suns. The moon rises over a tower during Mid-Autumn Festival on Septemin Tai'an, Shandong Province of China.
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