Made in Macao | The other mid-autumn festival stories

Jenny Lao-Phillips

Next Monday is the Chinese 八月十五 (fifteenth of the eighth month), better known as the Mid- Autumn Festival, 中秋 (Chong Chao). Last year, I wrote about the story of Chang-o, the beautiful wife of Hao Yi who took the immortal elixir and ascended to the moon, and the story of the eternally regenerating laurel tree. The story of Chang-o and Wu Kong chopping the laurel tree on the moon is the most popular legend about Chong Chao, but there are a couple of other stories that are well known for the festival. To welcome the arrival of Chong Chao, let’s revisit some Mid-Autumn Festival stories.

Aside from Chang-o and Wu-Kong, who are trapped on the moon eternally, there is a third being on the moon. This is the Jade Rabbit. Legend has it that the gods in heaven needed someone to brew the immortal elixir. Knowing that human beings are cunning and wanting to prevent the elixir from falling into the hands of mortals, the gods decided to choose an animal to prepare the elixir.

Three immortals went down to earth disguised as poor and hungry old people. A fox, a monkey and a rabbit arrived and took pity on the immortals. The fox and the monkey quickly found some food to offer them. However, the little rabbit was unable to offer any food, so it jumped into the fire and offered itself instead. Seeing the selflessness of the rabbit, the Jade Emperor (or Heavenly King) turned the rabbit into an immortal, after which it ascended to heaven and was given the name of Jade Rabbit.

Jade Rabbit lived in heaven and was responsible for making the immortal elixir. One day, the Heavenly Queen approached the Jade Rabbit to ask for more elixir. Jade Rabbit explained that each immortal can only have one elixir each year. The Queen got angry and bullied the rabbit into giving her more. She took the elixir and gave it to Hao Yi, but it was his wife Chang-o who took the elixir and ascended to the moon. The Jade Emperor was angry at Jade Rabbit for not guarding the elixir well but, knowing his wife’s temper, he did not punish the Jade Rabbit severely but allowed the rabbit to choose its punishment. 

Knowing that it was responsible for Chang-o being stuck on the moon, Jade Rabbit offered to stay on the moon forever to accompany her. The Jade Emperor thought it was a good idea and that being on the moon would prevent other immortals from approaching Jade Rabbit for more elixir. So that was how Jade Rabbit joined Chang-o on the moon and continued making immortal elixir there.

Aside from appreciating the moon with one’s family during Chong Chao, another thing we have to do is eat mooncakes. The tradition of eating mooncakes on Chong Chao started at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. The Han people were against the Mongols’ rule, and many rebelled. However, the government prevented communication between the Han people, especially those they suspected of planning an uprising. The strategist of Zhu Yuanzhang (the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty) came up with the idea of hiding a note that said ‘eighth month fifteenth’ in cakes and had them delivered to different resistance groups. The messages got through, and on the day of the mid-autumn festival, the resistance groups joined forces and attacked the government. The uprising was very successful and started at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, leading to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. To commemorate the day of the uprising, Zhu Yuanzhang sent mooncakes to all his fellow resistance armies the next year. Since then, it has become a custom to give each other mooncakes and to eat them on Chong Chao.