The Jade Rabbit - Chang-Er's Pet

Chinese Legend of The Jade Rabbit
Legend has it that there were three immortals that turned themselves into three poor old men asking a fox, monkey and rabbit for food. The fox and the monkey had food to give them, but the rabbit had none and didn't know what to do. Later, the rabbit said: "just eat me for food!" With that, the rabbit jumped into a blazing fire, making himself ready to be eaten. The immortals were deeply touched and sent the rabbit to the palace on the moon to keep Chang'e company and he was made a jade rabbit.

Jade Rabbit in Ancient Chinese Texts
An early mention that there is a rabbit on the moon appears in the Chu Ci(楚辞) - (also known as Verses of Chu, Songs of Chu or Songs of the South) , a Western Han anthology of Chinese poems from the Warring States period, which notes that along with a toad, there is a rabbit on the moon who constantly pounds herbs for the immortals.



This notion is supported by later texts, including the Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era encyclopedia of the Song Dynasty. Han Dynasty poets call the rabbit on the moon the "Jade Rabbit" (玉兔) or the "Gold Rabbit" (金兔), and these phrases were often used in place of the word for the moon. A famous poet of the Tang Dynasty period, Li Bai, relates how: "The rabbit in the moon pounds the medicine in vain" in his poem "The Old Dust."

月兔的记载，首见于屈原的《天问》：“夜光何德，死而又育？厥利维何，而顾菟在腹。”在西汉初期的马王堆一号汉墓帛画中月上绘有蟾蜍和玉兔。刘向《五经通义》：“月中有兔与蟾蜍何？月，阴也；蟾蜍，阳也，而与兔并，明阴系于阳也。”古诗中往往以兔指代月，以下是唐代前的例子：

《古诗十九首》之十七：三五明月满，四五蟾兔缺。
庾信《宫调曲》：金波来白兔，弱木下苍乌。
江总《内殿赋新诗》兔影脉脉照金铺，虬水滴滴泻玉壸。
江总《赋得三五明月满诗》：三五兔辉成，浮阴冷复轻。
江总《箫史曲》：来时兔月满，去后凤楼空。

 The Old Dust 12 Poems (Part 9) by By Li Bai (李白)
The living is a passing traveler;
The dead, a man come home.
One brief journey betwixt heaven and earth,
Then, alas! we are the same old dust of ten thousand ages.
The rabbit in the moon pounds the medicine in vain;
Fu-sang, the tree of immortality, has crumbled to kindling wood.
Man dies, his white bones are dumb without a word
When the green pines feel the coming of the spring.
Looking back, I sigh; looking before, I sigh again.
What is there to prize in the life's vaporous glory?

《拟古十二首》中的第九首 - 李白
生者为过客，死者为归人。
天地一逆旅，同悲万古尘。
月兔空捣药，扶桑已成薪。
白骨寂无言，青松岂知春。
前后更叹息，浮荣何足珍。


Moon Rabbit in Indian Folklore
In the Buddhist Śaśajâtaka (Jataka Tale 316), a monkey, an otter, a jackal, and a rabbit resolved to practice charity on the day of the full moon (Uposatha), believing a demonstration of great virtue would earn a great reward.

When an old man begged for food, the monkey gathered fruits from the trees and the otter collected fish, while the jackal wrongfully pilfered a lizard and a pot of milk-curd. The rabbit, who knew only how to gather grass, instead offered its own body, throwing itself into a fire the man had built. The rabbit, however, was not burnt. The old man revealed himself to be Śakra and, touched by the rabbit's virtue, drew the likeness of the rabbit on the moon for all to see. It is said the lunar image is still draped in the smoke that rose when the rabbit cast itself into the fire.

Moon Rabbit （月兔） in Japanese Folklore
A version of this story can be found in the Japanese anthology Konjaku Monogatarishū (今昔物語集), where the rabbit's companions are a fox and a monkey.

Mexican folklore
According to an Aztec legend, the god Quetzalcoatl, then living on Earth as a man, started on a journey and, after walking for a long time, became hungry and tired. With no food or water around, he thought he would die. Then a rabbit grazing nearby offered herself as food to save his life. Quetzalcoatl, moved by the rabbit's noble offering, elevated her to the moon, then lowered her back to Earth and told her, "You may be just a rabbit, but everyone will remember you; there is your image in light, for all people and for all times."

Mesoamerican legend
Another Mesoamerican legend tells of the brave and noble sacrifice of Nanahuatzin during the creation of the fifth sun. Humble Nanahuatzin sacrificed himself in fire to become the new sun, but the wealthy god Tecciztecatl hesitated four times before he finally set himself alight to become the moon. Due to Tecciztecatl's cowardice, the gods felt that the moon should not be as bright as the sun, so one of the gods threw a rabbit at his face to diminish his light. It is also said that Tecciztecatl was in the form of a rabbit when he sacrificed himself to become the moon, casting his shadow there.

Native American (Cree) legend
A Native American (Cree) legend tells a different variation, about a young rabbit who wished to ride the moon. Only the crane was willing to take him. The trip stretched Crane's legs as the heavy rabbit held them tightly, leaving them elongated as cranes' legs are now. When they reached the moon Rabbit touched Crane's head with a bleeding paw, leaving the red mark cranes wear to this day. According to the legend, on clear nights, Rabbit can still be seen riding the moon.

Related Articles:

•  Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival - Origin & History
• Celebrating Mid-Authumn Festival
• The Legend of Moon Goddess - Chang-Er (婵娥)
• Praying To Moon Goddess - 拜月娘
• The Jade Rabbit - Chang-Er's Pet