Chang'e

The Lady in the Moon

Chang'e is the solitary goddess of the moon, forever separated from her beloved husband, the archer Hou Yi. Her story is one of Chinese mythology's most poignant tales, exploring themes of sacrifice, immortality, and eternal loneliness.

The Archer's Wife

Chang'e was the beautiful wife of Hou Yi, the divine archer who saved the world by shooting down nine of the ten suns that threatened to scorch the earth. For this heroic act, the Jade Emperor stripped Hou Yi and Chang'e of their immortality and banished them to live as mortals.

The Elixir of Immortality

Desperate to regain their immortality, Hou Yi journeyed to the Queen Mother of the West (Xi Wangmu) on Mount Kunlun. She gave him a single dose of the elixir of immortality - enough for two people to live forever, or enough for one person to ascend to Heaven.

The Fateful Choice

What happened next varies by version. In some tellings, Chang'e selfishly stole the elixir when Hou Yi was away. In others, she swallowed it to prevent it from falling into the hands of Hou Yi's treacherous apprentice Feng Meng. In the most sympathetic version, she sacrificed her chance at shared immortality with her husband to prevent a wicked man from gaining divine power.

Eternal Isolation

After drinking the entire elixir, Chang'e floated up to the moon, where she has dwelled ever since in the Cold Lunar Palace. Her only companions are the Jade Rabbit (who endlessly pounds the elixir of immortality in a mortar) and Wu Gang (who eternally chops at a self-healing osmanthus tree). She gazes down at the earth, forever separated from her husband.

The Mid-Autumn Festival

On the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, when the moon is fullest, the Chinese celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Families gather to eat mooncakes, admire the full moon, and remember Chang'e. It is said that Hou Yi would set out fruits and cakes as offerings to his wife, gazing up at the moon where she dwells.