The Moon rabbit, Moon hare or Jade rabbit is a mythical figure in both East Asian and indigenous American folklore, based on interpretations that identify the dark markings on the near side of the Moon as a rabbit or hare. In East Asian mythology, the rabbit is seen as pounding with a mortar and pestle, but the contents of the mortar differ among Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese folklore. In Chinese folklore, the rabbit, Yutu, is often portrayed as a companion of the Moon goddess Chang'e, constantly pounding the elixir of life for her and some show the making of cakes or rice cakes; but in Japanese and Korean versions, the rabbit is pounding the ingredients for mochi or tteok or some other type of rice cakes; in the Vietnamese version, the Moon rabbit often appears with Hằng Nga and Chú Cuội, and like the Chinese version, the Vietnamese Moon rabbit also pounding the elixir of immortality in the mortar. In some Chinese versions, the rabbit pounds medicine for the mortals and some include making of mooncakes. Moon folklore from certain Amerindian cultures of North America also has rabbit themes and characters.
History
An early Chinese source called the Chu Ci, a Western Han anthology of Chinese poems from the Warring States period, notes that along with a toad, there is a hare on the Moon who constantly pounds herbs for the immortals. This notion is supported by later texts, including the Song-era Taiping Imperial Reader. As rabbits were not yet introduced to China during Western Han, the original image was not a rabbit but a hare.
Han dynasty poets call the hare on the Moon the "Jade Hare" () or the "Gold Hare" (), and these phrases were used often, in place of the word for the Moon. The famed Tang poet Li Bai, relates how "The rabbit in the moon pounds the medicine in vain" in his poem, "The Old Dust".
East Asian folklore
In the Buddhist Jataka tales,Source: (accessed: Saturday January 23, 2010) Tale 316 relates that 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 from them, the monkey gathered fruits from the trees and the otter collected fish, while the jackal found a lizard and a pot of milk-curd. Knowing only how to gather grass, the rabbit instead offered its own body by throwing itself into a fire the man had prepared. However, the rabbit was not burnt and the old man revealed that he was Śakra. Touched by the rabbit's virtue, he 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. The rabbit is believed to be a Bodhisattva.
A version of this story may be found in the Japanese anthology, Konjaku Monogatarishū, where the rabbit's companions are instead a fox and a monkey.
The Moon rabbit legend originated in China, and is popular and part of local folklore throughout Asia. It may be found in diverse cultures in China, Japan, India, Korea, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
This legend also gave rise to the Mid-Autumn Festivals of China, Tết Trung Thu of Vietnam, Tsukimi of Japan, and Chuseok of Korea, and Bon Om Touk in Cambodia, all of which celebrate the legend of the Moon rabbit. In Vietnamese mythology, the Jade Rabbit on the Moon is often accompanied by the Moon Lady and Cuội, who sits under a magical banyan. The trio has become the personifications of the holiday, when they descend to the mortal world and give out cellophane lanterns, mooncakes and gifts to children.Fairy Tale of Moon Lady in Vietnam
In Journey to the West, when Tang Sanzang passes through India on his journey, a demoness wants to marry him so that she can absorb his yang essence and increase her powers. Sun Wukong sees through her disguise and fights with her. Just as Wukong is about to defeat the demoness, accompanied by the fairy Chang'e, Taiyin Xingjun descends on a colored cloud. The Monkey King hastily puts away his iron rod, saying, "Old Taiyin, where are you going? I, Sun Wukong, have been avoiding you." Taiyin replies, "The demon you are facing is the Jade Rabbit, who guards the mystical frost elixir in my Guanghan Palace. She secretly unlocked the jade gate and escaped from the palace, and it has been a year since then. I foresee she is currently in grave danger, so I have come to save her. I hope the Great Sage will spare her for my sake." Wukong reluctantly agrees, and Taiyin Xingjun takes the Jade Rabbit to the Moon and assigns her duties.
Indigenous American folklore
Presumed to be arising likewise, through lunar pareidolia, legends of Moon rabbits also exist among some indigenous cultures of the Americas.
In ancient Maya art, glyphs, and inscriptions, a rabbit is frequently shown with the Moon Goddess and another deity related to the Moon.
According to an Aztec legend, the god Quetzalcoatl, then living on Earth as a human, started on a journey and, after walking for a long time, became hungry and tired. With no food or water around, Quetzalcoatl believed that he would die until 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 before returning her to Earth, imprinting her image in the Moon. He told the rabbit, "You may be just a rabbit, but everyone will remember you; there is your image in light, for all people and for all times."
In Mesoamerican legend, Nanahuatzin and Tecciztecatl sacrificed themselves to become the sun and moon, respectively, during the creation of the fifth sun. Nanahuatzin did not hesitate to sacrifice himself, but Tecciztecatl hesitated four times before finally setting himself alight to become the Moon. Due to Tecciztecatl's cowardice, the other deities believed that the Moon should not be as bright as the Sun and threw a rabbit at Tecciztecatl's face to diminish his light. Another version of the legend states that Tecciztecatl was in the form of a rabbit when he sacrificed himself to become the Moon, casting his shadow there.
In a Cree cultural legend, a young rabbit wished to ride the Moon, but only the crane was willing to take him there. The trip stretched the crane's legs, leaving them elongated. When the crane and the rabbit reached the Moon, the rabbit touched the crane with its bleeding paw, leaving a red patch on its head. In the present, all cranes retain the crane's long legs and red patch. According to the legend, on clear nights, Rabbit still may be seen riding the Moon.
Modern references Spaceflight The Chinese lunar rover, Yutu, that landed on the Moon on December 14, 2013 was named after the Jade Rabbit, as a result of an online poll. The rover was followed up by a second rover, Yutu-2 which deployed on the far side of the Moon on January 3, 2019. The Moon rabbit was the subject of a humorous conversation between NASA mission control and the crew of Apollo 11:Woods, W. David; MacTaggart, Kenneth D.; O'Brien, Frank. "Day 5: Preparations for Landing". The Apollo 11 Flight Journal. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 9 October 2017 Houston: Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this morning, is one asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful Chinese girl called Chang-E has been living there for 4,000 years. It seems she was banished to the Moon because she stole the pill of immortality from her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is always standing on his hind feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not reported. Michael Collins: Okay. We'll keep a close eye out for the bunny girl.
Arts Comics and animation The eponymous Sailor Moon'''s human name is Usagi Tsukino, a pun on (Rom. ), which means Moon Rabbit in Japanese. Her daughter's name, Chibiusa, means small lady, however this is a play on words as her name is close to being chibi usagi which means small rabbit. The central antagonist of the final arc of Naruto, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, is partially based on the Moon Rabbit, according to which a rabbit can be seen in the markings of the Moon, brewing the Elixir of Life for the Moon Goddess. The Moon rabbit theme makes an appearance in the "Legend of the Stars" section of the Kamen Rider Spirits manga, told by Sergei Koribanof to his son Masim. In the Dragon Ball animation, Son Goku fights against the Rabbit Gang and solves the issue presented in the episode by taking the enemy leader, Monster Carrot, an anthropomorphic rabbit who turns anyone he touches into a carrot, and his human companions, to the Moon, where they are seen pounding rice cake mixture. In the Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They? anime, the character Black Rabbit is a Moon rabbit, with several references to the legends. In the film Over the Moon, there is a rabbit called 'Jade' and he is the companion of the goddess Chang'e. In the manga Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan - Episode 4: The Harvest Moon a supernatural creature by the name of The Moon Rabbit ( ) is responsible for the curse of the Mochizuki family. In the 60th episode of the anime Saint Seiya, Shiryu remembers an old fable of a rabbit sacrificing its life to save a traveler. In the Korean webcomic The God of Highschool the Moon rabbit is one of the four pillars of fate. An episode of Flower Witch Mary Bell has the protagonists taking a trip to the Moon, which is inhabited by a kingdom of anthropomorphic rabbits, in order to solve the animosity between their King and Queen because it's negatively influencing couples on Earth as well. The Japanese anime Madö King Granzört has characters who are humanoids with rabbit ears and they are natives of the Moon. In the manga and anime My Hero Academia, Rumi Usagiyama, also known as Mirko, is a hero who possesses rabbit-like ears and enhanced leg strength. Her Hero outfit prominently features a crescent moon symbol on its chest, and her ultimate attack names all start with the word "Luna". In One Piece, a rabbit character traveling with the Strawhats named Carrot can transform into a 'Sulong' rabbit with long hair and tail by looking at a full moon. In Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat there is an episode called "The Jade Rabbit" where Sagwa and Fu-Fu imagine themselves within a variation of the story about the character being a rabbit green like jade who works making mooncakes for a tyrant after being separated from his friend, the Moon Princess. In the film Doraemon: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration, Luca and Luna Tsukino are two characters who possess rabbit-like features and live on the moon alongside 9 other children. Similarly to Usagi Tsukino, their last name is a pun on (Rom. ), which translates to "of the moon" from Japanese.
Literature In a scene in the sixteenth century Chinese novel, Journey to the West, Sun Wukong fights the Moon Rabbit. Douglas Wood wrote Rabbit and the Moon (1998), an adaption of the Cree legend.
Live-action television The kaiju Lunaticks is based on the Moon Rabbit. He appears in the Tokusatsu series, Ultraman Ace as one of the series' 'Terrible-Monsters' under the command of its main antagonist, Yapool. Lunaticks's connection to the Moon Rabbit is further highlighted when it is revealed that he was responsible for draining the Moon of its magma (which was also the home of one of Ace's co-hosts, Yuko Minami), transforming it into a barren wasteland. In Chinese TV series You Are My Glory, the name of the main character, Yu Tu, is a pun on Yutu, the Chinese name of the moon rabbit. The Yutu moon rover is also mentioned multiple times in the series.
Music The American electronic music act, Rabbit in the Moon, founded in 1991, gets its name from this legend.