Chinese myth · 声匠改编 · 4:04
Chang'e Flies to the Moon
Hou Yi brings home a single potion of immortality. When his greedy apprentice comes to steal it, Chang'e swallows it herself and floats up to the moon.
Narrator
Chang'e
Hou Yi
The Queen Mother of the West
Feng Meng
The Jade RabbitOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
Chang'e Flies to the Moon is the Chinese myth most closely tied to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Its earliest full telling is in the Huainanzi, compiled at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, in the 2nd century BC: Yi asks the Queen Mother of the West for the elixir of immortality, and Heng'e, Chang'e's older name, takes it and flies to the moon. In that old book she takes the elixir for herself; this version follows the popular later telling, in which she swallows it to keep it from the greedy apprentice Feng Meng.
What it teaches
Chang'e protects something precious from someone who would misuse it, even though it costs her dearly. Hou Yi's table under the moon and the neighbours' offerings turn missing someone into a reason to gather, which is what the Mid-Autumn Festival is all about.
Suits
Ages 5–10
Tips for telling it
- Tell it near the Mid-Autumn Festival, then step outside and look for the rabbit and the tree in the full moon.
- Play Feng Meng as a sneaky, slightly silly villain rather than a truly scary one.
- Older children may like to know that the oldest book says Chang'e took the elixir herself. Ask which version they prefer, and why.
Questions people ask
- What is the story of Chang'e?
- Chang'e is the wife of the archer Hou Yi, who received an elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West. In the popular version she swallows it to stop a thief, floats up to the moon and lives there with the Jade Rabbit, while Hou Yi sets out offerings to her under the full moon.
- Why is Chang'e linked to the Mid-Autumn Festival?
- The festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, when the moon is full and families admire it together over mooncakes, so the lady in the moon became part of the celebration. The festival itself grew out of older traditions of moon worship and the autumn harvest, not from this one story.
- Who is the rabbit on the moon in Chinese mythology?
- The Jade Rabbit, Yutu, who pounds the elixir of immortality with a pestle on the moon and keeps Chang'e company. China later named its lunar probes Chang'e and its moon rovers Yutu after them.
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