Friday October 2, 2009
Tales and legends
By MAJORIE CHIEW
THE Moon Goddess is said to have a pet rabbit. How did the rabbit get to the moon? Well, the story of the Jade Rabbit is one of the stories told during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Datuk David Hew, co-founder of Visiber Sdn Bhd, a company whose business revolves around the wonders of numbers, remembers some of the “moon tales” that he heard when he was a little child.
One legend tells of three sages who transformed themselves into pitiful old men. One day, they met a fox, a monkey and a rabbit and begged them for food. The fox and the monkey shared their food with the old men.
But the rabbit, with nothing to share, jumped into a blazing fire to offer his own flesh as a sacrifice. The sages were so touched by the rabbit’s kindness that they sent it to live in the Moon Palace, where it became the Jade Rabbit.
The legend of Chang’e Flying to the Moon is a beautiful fable of ancient China, says Hew. Chang’e was the wife of the legendary hero Houyi, a great archer who shot down nine extra suns. The hero was rewarded with an elixir of immortality for his deed but it was swallowed by his wife. Chang’e rose to the sky immediately and has lived on the moon ever since. The moon, also called Moon Palace by the Chinese, is the abode of Chang’e. It is said that she regretted her action after she flew to the moon.
Chang’e, who lived alone after arriving on the moon, met the Jade Rabbit and kept it for company. Over time, Chang’e and the Jade Rabbit became inseparable friends. When it heard the story of Chang’e and Houyi, it felt sympathetic and decided to concoct a special heavenly medicine to help Chang’e return to Earth.
Unfortunately, the Jade Rabbit was unsuccessful in creating this elixir even though he worked hard for thousands of years. Legend has it that if you observe the moon on the Mid-Autumn night, you can still see the Jade Rabbit still hard at work, pounding his elixir.
There was another man called Wu Kang who was fascinated with the magic of immortality. One day he went to live in the mountains to learn the secrets from an immortal. He was taught about herbs and chess and finally given books to study, Angry with his lack of progress due to his impatience, his angry master banished him to the Moon Palace, telling him to cut down a huge cassia tree before he could return to earth.
Though Wu Kang chopped day and night, the magical tree restored itself with each blow. Hence, he remains forever as a woodcutter on the moon, whose task is never complete. According to folklore, if you look carefully at the dark shadows on the full moon, you may see Heavenly Woodcutter Wu Kang chopping a cassia tree.
Romantics insist that true love and marriages are made in heaven, but the Chinese say that all marriages are decided on the moon by the Old Man of the Moon, Yueh Lao Yeh.
He is said to keep a book of records containing all the names of newborns. He decides who everyone’s future partner will be, and his decisions, once written in his book, are irreversible.
Hopeful singles are said to go to open spaces and mountaintops during the Mooncake Festival to see the moon, hoping to catch a glimpse of the old man and ask that he grant them their wishes about their future partners.
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