Stories and legends

Chang'e's flight to the moon

The myth of "Chang'e's flight to the moon" originated from the ancients' worship of the stars. The story of Chang'e's flight to the moon first appeared in "Gui Zang" 》. Later, the folk further developed the story and evolved it into multiple story versions. Chang'e ascended to the Moon Palace. According to "Huainanzi" of the Western Han Dynasty, it was because she secretly ate the elixir that her husband Yi asked for from the Queen Mother of the West, so she flew into the Moon Palace and turned into a toad that made medicine. ?

Wu Gang won the crown

Wu Gang climbed to the moon palace and won the crown. According to the Tang Dynasty novel "Youyang Zazu", it was because Wu Gang, a native of Xihe, made mistakes in cultivating immortals and was punished He went to cut down the laurel tree in the moonlight. This osmanthus tree grows as it is cut down, and it will never stop being cut down. Li Bai wrote in the poem "Gift to Cui Sihu Wenkunji": "If you want to cut the osmanthus in the moon, hold on to the salary of those who are cold."

The Jade Rabbit Pounds the Medicine

The Rabbit Climbs The method of pounding medicine in the upper moon palace was first seen in Qu Yuan's "Heavenly Questions" "What is the purpose of jueli, but Gu and Cu are in the abdomen?" This means that if Gu and Tu are in the moon's belly, what good will it do to the moon? So how did the rabbit get to the moon palace? Gu is the toad, and dodder is the white rabbit. Fu Xuan's "Xian Tianwen" of the Jin Dynasty also said: "What is there in the middle of the month? White rabbits pound medicine." According to Mr. Wen Yiduo's research, this "white rabbit pounding medicine" was changed from "toad pounding medicine".

There is a jade rabbit beside Chang'e. It is said that Chang'e's body became lighter and when she began to lift into the air, she panicked and picked up the white rabbit she had been feeding. The white rabbit followed her to the moon. The Jade Rabbit has a medicine pestle in the moon palace, and he uses it to pound the elixir of immortality at night. After this myth spread to Japan, it became a jade rabbit pounding rice cakes.

Overthrow the Yuan Dynasty?

According to legend, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the people of the Central Plains were unwilling to accept the brutal rule of the Yuan Dynasty. Patriots rose up to fight against the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Hongwu’s military advisor Liu Bowen asked his subordinates to pretend to be Taoist priests. They go to various counties to sell talismans and say: There will be disaster this year. Those who want to avoid disaster can hang the sun and moon flag on August 15th, and the flag will be hidden in the big moon cake. On this day, people from all over the country cut large moon cakes and hung up the flags hidden in them. The uprising gained momentum and the Yuan people were greatly surprised. Zhu Hongwu succeeded in one attack and ended the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.

Later, this sun and moon flag became the "Ming" flag. Another similar legend is that there is a piece of paper inside the moon cake, which says "Kill the Tatars on August 15th night". When everyone saw this piece of paper while cutting the moon cakes, they all rose up and killed the Tatars, and the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown. ?