Chang'e

Chang'e ( ; , alternatively rendered as Chang-Er or Ch‘ang-o), originally known as Heng'e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. She is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elements: Houyi the archer, a benevolent or malevolent emperor, an elixir of life, and the Moon. She was married to Houyi. In modern times, Chang'e has been the namesake of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.

Tales

There are many tales about Chang'e, including a well-known story about her that is given as the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival. In one version, in a very distant past, Chang'e was a beautiful woman. Ten suns had risen together into the skies and scorched the Earth, thus causing hardship for the people. Houyi the archer shot down nine of them, leaving just one Sun, and was given either two or one with enough for two elixirs of immortality as a reward. He did not consume it straight away, but let Chang'e keep it with her, as he did not want to gain immortality without his beloved wife. However, while Houyi went out hunting, his apprentice Fengmeng broke into his house and tried to force Chang'e to give the elixir to him. She took them instead of giving them to Fengmeng. Then, Chang'e flew upward past the heavens, choosing the Moon as a residence, as she loved her husband and hoped to live nearby him. Houyi discovered what had transpired and felt guilty, so he displayed the fruits and cakes that Chang'e had enjoyed, and killed himself.Yang & An 2005, 89-90 & 233. In older versions of the story, Chang'e stole the elixir from Houyi, drank it, and flew to the Moon so that her husband could not go after her. Chang'e appears in Wu Cheng'en's late 16th-century novel ''Journey to the West''.

Worship

The recently rediscovered divination text '' Guicang'' contains the story of Chang'e as a story providing the meaning to Hexagram 54 of the I Ching, "Returning Maiden".

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the full Moon appears on the night of the eighth lunar month, an open-air altar is set up facing the Moon for the worship of Chang'e. New pastries are put on the altar for her to bless, and she is said to endow her worshippers with beauty. Her story is commonly used as a cautionary tale from older generations to warn young girls about the dangers of following selfish desires.

Space travel

Chang'e was mentioned in a conversation between Houston CAPCOM and the Apollo 11 crew just before the first Moon landing in 1969: The International Astronomical Union has assigned the name Chang-Ngo to a small impact crater on the Moon. In 2007, China launched its first lunar probe, a robotic spacecraft named Chang'e 1 in the Goddess' honor. A second robotic probe, named Chang'e 2, was launched in 2010. A third Chang'e spacecraft, called Chang'e 3, landed on the Moon on December 14, 2013, making China the third country in the world to achieve such a feat after the former Soviet Union and the United States. The lander also delivered the robotic rover ''Yutu'' ("Jade Rabbit") to the lunar surface. On January 3rd, 2019, Chang'e 4 touched down on the far side of the Moon and deployed the ''Yutu-2'' rover.

In popular culture

The original plotline and inspiration of Naoko Takeuchi's '' Sailor Moon'' is inspired by the legend of Chang'e. The titular character is a princess of the Moon while her love interest is from Earth.

In 2013, Chang'e was released as a playable character in the MOBA ''Smite

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases