Eggsquisitely Mythical #9: China
- Wera Niyom
- Mar 27
- 23 min read
Updated: Sep 5
Hello, fellow eggs and mythology lovers!
For our next Eggsquisitely Mythical issue, we are doing a deep dive on the myths, legends, and folktales of China. Please note that this is the third article in a three-part series. Check out part one to learn about deities and part two to learn about mythical creatures of China!
Please note that there are different versions of the stories shared below and may exist in other cultural mythologies.
THE LEGEND OF THE WHITE SNAKE / MADAME WHITE SNAKE
Xu Xian, a young boy, buys tangyan from Lü Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals who disguises himself as a tangyuan vendor at the Broken Bridge near the West Lake in Hangzhou. However, unknown to Xu Xian, the tangyuan are actually immortality pills. He eats them and doesn't feel hungry for the next three days. When he asks Lü Dongbin, the Immortal laughs and takes him to the bridge where he flips Xu Xian upside down. He vomits the tangyuan he ate into the lake, where a white snake spirit dwells.
The white snake spirit has been practicing Taoist magical arts and after she eats the pills that have been spilled into the lake, she gains 500 years worth of magical powers. After this, she is convinced her fate is intertwined with Xu Xian. A tortoise spirit who is also training in the lake didn't get to eat any of the pills so he becomes jealous of the white snake.
One day, the white snake spirit comes across a beggar on the bridge who has a green snake that he intends to dig its gall out to sell. The white snake transforms into a beautiful woman and buys the green snake from the beggar to save its life. The green snake expresses gratitude towards the white snake and begins regarding her as her elder sister.
Eighteen years pass, and during the Qingming Festival, the white and green snakes transform into two beautiful young women known as Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing. They meet Xu Xian at the bridge and he lends them his umbrella because of the rain. Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen fall in love and marry eventually. After that, they move to Zhenjiang, where they open a medicine shop.
The tortoise spirit accumulates enough powers to take on a human form, so he transforms into a Buddhist monk known as Fahai. He plots against Bai Suzhen to break up her relationship with Xu Xian because of his jealousy over her powers. He approaches Xu Xian and tells him his wife should drink realgar wine during Duanwu Festival, which is an alcoholic drink.
Bai Suzhen drinks the wine and it reveals her true form as a large white snake. Xu Xian dies of shock when he discovers his wife is not human. Then, Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing travel to Mount Emei to steal a magical herb to revive Xu Xian.
After coming back to life, Xu Xian still loves Bai Suzhen despite knowing what she really is. Fahai tries to separate them by capturing Xu Xian and imprisoning him in Jinshan Temple. In order to rescue Xu Xian, Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing fight with Fahai. Bai Suzhen uses her powers to flood the temple, which drowns many innocent people and brings about a lot of destruction. Despite bringing about great calamity, her powers are limited due to her being pregnant with Xu Xian's child. She fails to save Xu Xian, but he manages to escape the temple and reunite with Bai Suzhen in Hangzhou, where their son, Xu Mengjiao is born.
Fahai manages to track them down and defeats Bai Suzhen. He imprisons her in Leifeng Pagoda and Xiaoqing flees, vowing to avenge Bai Suzhen.
Twenty years have passed and Xu Mengjiao has earned the position of top scholar in the imperial examination. He returns home to visit his parents. At the same time, Xiaoqing, who had spent the intervening years refining her powers, goes to the Jinshan Temple to confront Fahai and defeats him. Bai Suzhen is freed from Leifeng Pagoda and reunited with her husband and son, while Fahai flees and hides inside the stomach of a crab. There is a saying that a crab's internal fat is orange because it resembles the color of Fahai's kasaya.
THE BUTTERFLY LOVERS / THE LEGEND OF LIANG SHANBO AND ZHU YINGTAI
Zhu Yingtai is the ninth child and only daughter of the wealthy Zhu family of Shangyu, Zhejiang. Although women are traditionally discouraged from taking up scholarly pursuits, Zhu manages to convince her father to allow her to attend classes in disguise as a man. During her journey to Hangzhou, she meets Liang Shanbo, a scholar from Kuaiji (present-day Shaoxing). They chat and feel a strong affinity for each other at their first meeting. Hence, they gather some soil as incense and take an oath of fraternity in the pavilion of a wooden bridge.
They study together for the next three years in school and Zhu gradually falls in love with Liang. Although Liang equals Zhu in their studies, he is still a bookworm and fails to notice the feminine characteristics exhibited by his classmate.
One day, Zhu receives a letter from her father, asking her to return home as soon as possible. Zhu has no choice but to pack her belongings immediately and bid Liang farewell. However, in her heart, she has already confessed her love for Liang and is determined to be with him for all eternity. Before her departure, she reveals her true identity to the headmaster's wife and asks her to pass a jade pendant to Liang as a betrothal gift.
Liang accompanies his "sworn brother" for 18 miles to see her off. During the journey, Zhu hints to Liang that she is actually a woman. For example, she compares them to a pair of mandarin ducks (a symbol of lovers in Chinese culture), but Liang does not catch her hints and does not even have the slightest suspicion that his companion is a woman in disguise. Zhu finally comes up with an idea and tells Liang that she will act as a matchmaker for him and Zhu's "sister". Before they part, Zhu reminds Liang to visit her residence later so he can propose to marry her "sister". Liang and Zhu reluctantly part ways at the Changting pavilion.
Months later, when Liang visits Zhu, he discovers that she is actually a woman. They are devoted to and passionate about each other and they make a vow to the effect of "till death do us part." The joy of their reunion is short-lived as Zhu's parents have already arranged for her to marry a wealthy merchant, Ma Wencai. Liang is heartbroken when he hears the news and his health gradually deteriorates until he becomes critically ill. He dies in office later as a county magistrate.
On the day of Zhu's marriage to Ma, strong winds prevent the wedding procession from escorting the bride beyond Liang's grave, which lies along the journey. Zhu leaves the procession to pay her respects at Liang's grave. She descends in bitter despair and begs for the grave to open up. Suddenly, the grave opens with a clap of thunder. Without further hesitation, Zhu throws herself into the grave to join Liang. Their spirits emerge in the form of a pair of butterflies and fly away together, never to be separated again.
LADY MENG JIANG
One late afternoon, while Meng Jiang is attending to her parents' garden, she is startled by a young man who leaped over the fence. He apologizes for the intrusion and tells her that he is Wan Xiliang, who escaped from the First Emperor's draft as a laborer to build his walls. He's been on the run for so long, he is fatigued and hungry. Her family invites him to stay with them and eventually she falls in love with him as he does with her. Her four elderly parents are happy to discover their love for each other, so they have them get married.
Unknown to them, there is someone else in the village who secretly coveted Meng Jiang's beauty. He becomes jealous of her marriage and ends up going to the local authorities to report Wan Xiliang. On the day of their wedding, he is captured and sent to the construction site of the Great Wall in the far north.
Lady Meng Jiang waited day and night for her husband to return. Before she knows it, summer and fall passes and still no word from Xiliang. She begins to look for him. After overcoming many obstacles, she finally reaches the construction site only to fail to locate Xiliang among the laborers. She eventually learns that Xiliang died of hard work and has been buried in the wall. The news incapacitates her as she goes into a stupor. When she regains consciousness, she cried for three days at the foot of the Great Wall, drowning in her sorrow for her newly-wed husband.
All of a sudden, a section of the wall, that stretches to 800 miles, breaks loose and collapses with a big bang to reveal countless white bones, including her husband's, amidst the debris of dirt and stones.
THE COWHERD AND THE WEAVER GIRL
There once were seven goddesses who lived in heaven, who were sisters. One night, they decide to visit the Mortal Realm because it was often difficult to get permission from the Empress goddess to do so. They decide to bathe together in a lake that is located near a cowherd's home. This cowherd is known as Niulang.
They have fun in the lake, laughing and splashing the water around. However, this awakens the cowherd and causes him to check the commotion. When he steps out into the open area, he sees all the goddesses but one captures his attention the most, Zhinu. They fall in love immediately and have two children. Zhinu's sisters become worried because it was against the laws of the universe for a goddess to marry a mortal man and they feared what the Goddess of Heaven would do if she found out. Ultimately, the Goddess of Heaven finds out and orders Zhinu to return to heaven to resume her weaving duties.
As a result, Niulang is sad and upset as thinks about what life would be like without Zhinu. His ox notices this and begins to speak to him. He tells him that if Niulang kills the ox and wears the hide, he will be able to travel to heaven to see Zhinu. While crying, he does as the ox suggests and carries his two children to find Zhinu in heaven.
This enrages the Goddess of Heaven and forces her to create a large river to separate them as much as she possibly can. But, the cowherd refuses to give up. With the help of Zhinu's sisters and after much time has passed, they manage to persuade the Goddess of Heaven to allow Niulang to see Zhinu on a single night on the 7th day of July every year.
In preparation for this meeting, magpies form a bridge so they can see each other. When they reunite, it starts to rain because the Zhinu, Niulang and the magpies are sad.
In other versions of the story, the Goddess of Heaven is referred to as Zhinu's mother OR the Goddess of Heaven softened her punishment when she witnesses Niulang and Zhinu crying for each other due to separation and allows them to see each other.
CHANG'E AND HOU YI THE ARCHER
There are several legends about the moon fairy lady Chang'e. The most popular one goes like that, in the distant past, there used to be 10 suns in the sky one year. The scorching heat dried up the lake and people were at death's door. Just at that time, a hero named Hou Yi heard about this predicament. With his extraordinary power, he then pulled his supernatural bow and shot 9 needless suns down on the peak of Mount Kunlun.
Hou Yi of course made distinguished contributions to people and was respected, loved and supported by them. A large number of persons of ideals and integrity flocked to Hou Yi to take him as their teacher and seek instructions out of admiration. Among those learners, there was no lack of the treacherous and cunning learner, such as a learner named Peng Meng.
Before long, Hou Yi got married to a beautiful and virtuous girl named Chang'e. They loved each other very much and got along very well. One day, Hou Yi went to Mount Kunlun to meet friends when he encountered the Queen of Heaven who gave him an elixir of life. It was said that half of the elixir could make a person live forever and the whole elixir could make a person become immortal instantly.
However, Hou Yi was unwilling to leave his wife, and he gave the elixir of life to Chang'e for safekeeping. Chang'e put the elixir of life into a case of her dressing table, which was seen by Peng Meng who was very treacherous. Three days later, when Hou Yi went out hunting with his disciples, the disingenuous Peng Meng pretended to be ill, so he didn't go with them. Shortly after their leave, Peng Meng broke into Hou Yi's House with a double-edged sword in his hand. Peng Meng threatened Chang'e to hand over the elixir of life. Chang'e knew that she couldn't manage to protect the elixir of life.
So, at a crisis, Chang'e fetched the elixir of life from the case and swallowed it promptly. Suddenly, Chang'e floated away from the ground, dashed out of the window and flew towards the sky. It was said that Chang'e became immortal and stayed on the moon which was the nearest to the earth as she was anxious about her husband Hou Yi.
At nightfall, Hou Yi went back home and was told what happened during his absence from his maids. Hou Yi became extremely enraged and he immediately went to kill Peng Meng. However, Peng Meng had already escaped. The heart-stricken Hou Yi shouted to the sky and shouted Chang'e, just at that time he surprisingly discovered the moon was extremely bright and clear that night and he caught sight of a swaying figure that was exactly like Chang'e.
Hou Yi hastily asked his maids to put an incense table in the back garden and put fresh fruits and moon cakes which were the favourite food of Chang'e on the table, holding a memorable ceremony for Chang'e who lived on the distant moon. When the local people heard that Chang'e flew to the sky and became immortal on the moon, they all arranged incense tables below the moon for the worship of the goodness Chang'e, praying for happiness and safety. Since then, worshipping and appreciating the moon during the Mid-autumn festival has become popular.
Second Version
Chang'e and her husband Hou Yi were immortals living in heaven. One day, the ten sons of the Jade Emperor transform into ten suns, which causes the earth to burn. The Jade Emperor summons Hou Yi for help after failing to stop his sons from destroying the earth. Hou Yi uses his legendary archery skills to shoot down nine sons, but spares one so that he could be the sun. The Jade Emperor becomes displeased with how he saves the earth, so as punishment, the Jade Emperor banishes Hou Yi and Chang'e to live as mortals on earth.
Hou Yi sees that Chang'e is miserable over the loss of her immortality, so he sets out on a journey to find the Pill of Immortality so that they can be immortals again. At the end of this journey, he meets the Queen Mother of the West who agrees to give him the pill, but warns him that each person only needs half of the pill to become immortal.
Hou Yi returns home with the pill and stores it in a case. He warns Chang'e to not open the case before he leaves home again. Chang'e ultimately becomes too curious and opens the case to discover the pill inside just as Hou Yi returns home. She becomes nervous that Hou Yi will catch her with the opened case, so she swallows the entire pill. She overdoses on the pill, causing her to float into the sky. Hou Yi wanted to shoot her down in order to prevent her from floating further, but he couldn't bear to aim her arrow at her. She continues to float until she lands on the moon.
She becomes lonely on the moon, but she has the jade rabbit, who creates elixirs (continue reading to learn about the jade rabbit), who also lives on the moon. In other versions, woodcutter Wu Gang keeps her company (continue reading to learn about the woodcutter myth).
Third Version
Chang'e is a beautiful young girl working in the Jade Emperor's palace where immortals, good people, and fairies live. One day, she accidentally breaks a precious porcelain jar, which angers the Jade Emperor. In his fury, he banishes her to live on earth among the mortals. She could only return to heaven if she provided a remarkable service while in the Mortal Realm.
Chang'e is transformed into a member of a rich farming family. When she is eighteen, a young hunter known as Hou Yi notices her and they become friends.
Later on, a strange phenomenon occurs: ten suns rise in the sky, scorching the earth. Hou Yi tries to save the earth and successfully shoots down nine suns, becoming a hero to the people. He eventually becomes king and marries Chang'e.
However, Hou Yi becomes greedy and selfish, seeking immortality by ordering that an elixir be created to prolong his life. The elixir is created in the form of a pill and is almost ready when Chang'e discovers it. She swallows the pill, either accidentally or purposely, angering King Hou Yi. She tries to flees by jumping out the window of a chamber at the top of the palace, but instead of falling, she floats into the sky toward the moon. King Hou Yi fails to shoot her down with arrows.
Her companion is a rabbit, who doesn't create the elixir of life. She also has a woodcutter for a companion. And so, King Hou Yi ascends to the sun and builds a palace, so Chang'e and Hou Yi come to represent yin and yang, the moon and the sun.
Fourth Version
Chang'e is a human in the Mortal Realm, working as a palace maid. When suddenly, ten suns appear in the sky and drastically increases the temperature on earth. The king searches for a person with great archery skills to shoot down nine suns.
Hou Yi, a commoner, notices the situation and takes out his arrow to shoot down nine suns with nine arrows. Subsequently, the king rewards him by giving Chang'e to him to marry as Hou Yi was in love with her. They lived happily until a mysterious old man appears and gives Hou Yi an immortality elixir. Hou Yi hesitates as he ponders whether he should take the pill, so he leaves it under his pillow.
Chang'e discovers the pill, not knowing what it is. She ends up swallowing it and it transforms her into a immortal. She flies towards the moon, leaving Hou Yi devastated. He dies soon after. People use lanterns to light up the earth so that Chang'e can see them.
Alternate Versions
In one retelling of the story of Chang'e and the Elixir of Immortality, Chang'e's decision to consume the elixir is not caused by selfishness or spite; instead, it is caused by fear of Hou Yi's apprentice, Feng Meng, who attempts to steal the elixir from Chang'e. She consumes the elixir in order to escape him before the elixir can fall into Feng Meng's hands.
WU GANG, THE WOODCUTTER
Wu Gang is a lazy man who is obsessed with immortality and divinity. He could never continue a task that lasted more than three days. Nevertheless, he desperately wanted to become an Immortal, so he sought out a god to help him achieve his goal. He eventually finds a gray-bearded god in the mountains and asks him to teach him how to become immortal. The God asks him if he's sure because it's not easy to become immortal and it will be a long and difficult journey. Wu Gang says he is sure and asks for instructions.
The god leads Wu Gang into the mountains where he begins to teach him different functions and properties of each herb. Although Wu Gang is too impatient to pay attention. He asks why they're doing hard work when a god should be relaxing. He continues to complain about how tiring the work is.
The god gives him another chance by telling him to finish reading a book about life and philosophy to understand the universe.
Wu Gang asks if he'll become immortal after. The god tells him yes.
After a few minutes of reading, Wu Gang begins to doze off and awakens when the god hits his shoulder. Angry from embarrassment, he asks the deity what kind of god he is by being glued to a book all day because he believes a god should be flying to the moon and playing around.
The god tells him since he said that, he'd take him to the moon to look around. After they arrive, Wu Gang sees nothing but a huge tree.
Wu Gang, unimpressed, asks if he can go back.
The god tells him if he wants to be come divine, he must take the axe and chop the osmanthus tree down.
Wu Gang becomes excited because he thinks chopping a tree down is easy and quick, so he was finally going to become immortal. However, to his astonishment, the tree healed itself every time Wu Gang cut it.
The god informs him that the tree can only be chopped down if he makes 300 continuous cuts with patience and concentration or it will keep healing. Once the tree is cut down, he will become divine and fly home on his own. Since them, the tale of the woodcutter Wu Gang chopping a tree on the moon non-stop has spread, serving as a message educating its listeners of the importance of perseverance and hard work.
Second Version
In another version, it is said that immortals were sent to chop at the tree for punishment.
Third Version
In another version, Wu Gang witnessed his wife's affair with the Yan Emperor's grandson. The affair had been going on for so long, she bore three sons. In a rage, he murders the grandson, but in punishment, Wu Gang is banished to the Moon where he would cut down a tree for eternity. Like other versions, the tree would heal itself and therefore was cursed to cut it forever.
Fourth Version
In another version, Wu Gang begins the attempt to become a Taoist immortal, but gives up halfway through the process due to laziness. This infuriated the Jade Emperor, so he punished him by creating a cherry bay on the moon for Wu Gang to chop it down. However, it healed itself, proving the task to be impossible. It is said that the shadows on the moon are created by the growing cherry bay.
Fifth Version
In the last version we found, Wu Gang locates a teacher in the mountains to help him with his quest for immortality. When his teacher taught him to heal, he gave up after three days. When he was taught how to play Chinese chess, he gave up after two days. When he was taught the method of eternal life, he gave up after a day. His teacher sends him to the moon to chop down the tree there as punishment.
THE JADE RABBIT (aka the Moon Rabbit)
One day, the Jade Emperor decides that he wants help preparing the elixir of life for the immortals in the Heavenly Realm. He feared that the humans would be too selfish and untrustworthy if he gave them such an important role, so he thought an animal would be better suited to have this responsibility. The Jade Emperor comes down to earth, disguised as a beggar, and goes to search for a worthy animal in the forest. He cries out for help and eventually three animals approach him to see if they could help him; a monkey, fox, and a rabbit.
The monkey, fox, and rabbit go into the forest to search for food. The monkey returns with fruits he gathered from the trees and the fox returns with fish he caught in a nearby stream. However, despite searching throughout the entire forest, the rabbit is unable to find any food for the disguised Jade Emperor. When the rabbit returns to see him eating the fruit and fish, he feels sad that he was unable to find him any food. He realizes he can sacrifice himself so the man can eat, so he throws himself into the fire as an ultimate act of selflessness.
The Jade Emperor returns to his original form and stops the rabbit from being burned. He takes the rabbit to the moon, feeling pleased that he found the most noble of creatures to take on the role of creating elixirs, and teaches him to make divine medicine and keeps him safe from humans who want to steal the elixir of life.
The rabbit works hard and eventually masters the skills needed to pound the right ingredients to create the elixir of life. The Jade Emperor makes the rabbit's fur a dazzling white. The heavenly glow from its smooth and bright fur was so beautiful that it looked like precious jade, which is how the rabbit came to be called the Jade Rabbit by other immortals.
It is said that if you look up at the full moon and squint slightly at the markings on its surface, you can still see the Jade Rabbit with his pestle and mortar, making the elixir of life.
NÜWA MENDS THE HEAVENS
The four pillars that support the sky crumble suddenly without any warning or reason. Some believe it may be because of the battle between Gong Gong and Zhuanxu or Zhu Rong. In this version, it is believed that Gong Gong was unable to accept his defeat so he banged his head on Mount Buzhou, one of the four pillars of the sky. Half of the sky subsequently falls, creating a hole in the sky and cracking the earth. The earth's axis mundi is tilted to the southeast as the sky rises into the northwest. It is believed that this is why the western region of China is higher than the eastern region and that most of its rivers flow towards the southeast.
A wildfire burns the forest and leads the wild animals to run amok and attack innocent people. The water that came from the earth's crack continues to pour out.
Nüwa pities the humans she made and attempts to repair the sky. She gathers five colored stones (red, yellow, blue, black, and white) from the riverbed and melts them to use them to patch up the sky because the sky is colorful. Next, she kills a tortoise and cuts off its four legs to use as the new pillars to support the sky. However, because she didn't do it perfectly, the unequal length of the legs made the sky tilt. After the job is completed, the fire is extinguished, the animals return to their homes, and the flood is now controlled with the ashes from the burning forests. The world becomes peaceful once more.
CHINESE NEW YEAR MYTHS
❥ There are other stories that exist around New Year’s and New Year’s Eve. One in particular is the Nian and New Year’s Eve. The Nian usually lives at the bottom of the sea, but it comes up once a year to feast on animals and humans. During this time, the villagers would flee to the mountains. One year, a beggar came to seek shelter but everyone hurried away, ignoring him. An old woman helped him and he promised to chase the Nian away. He busied himself with decorating the homes and at midnight, the Nian appeared but stopped when it saw red paper on the doors. Firecrackers resounded when it roared in anger, causing the Nian to tremble in fear. It ran away when it saw the beggar dressed in red, laughing at it.
The villagers returned the next day and were surprised that the homes weren’t destroyed. They discovered that the Nian was weak to loud noises and the color red, so this is why families eat dinner in their homes fortified by red decorations, with firecrackers at midnight, on New Year’s Eve. people would also wear new red clothing to celebrate.
❥ A tradition that Chinese people love are Spring Festival couplet poems. They are pasted on both sides of the doorframe, protecting the people from the Nian and other monsters. It is said to guard against demons who might wander around the human world at night, looking to cause trouble. They have to return to the Underworld at dawn. Any demons that harmed humans at night would be seized and fed to the tigers. People began to carve the gods’ names, who guard the entrance of the underworld under a giant peach tree, into peach wood tablets to safeguard their homes and scare the demons away.
❥ During the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor ordered every household to decorate by pasting calligraphy of the word fú (福), which means happiness or fortune, to their doors. He sent soldiers to check to make sure every household did it, but found that one illiterate family had pasted the word upside down. He ordered the family be executed, but the Empress jumped in to try to save them. She explained that “Upside down” (倒 / dào) is a homophone of “here” (到 / dào) so when it’s upside down, it means that happiness or fortune is here. From that point on, people would hang the word upside down in remembrance of the Empress’ kind act.
❥ Nuwa created humans out of yellow clay, but she realized the ears would freeze and crack off in the winter. She solved the problem by sewing the ears in place and putting them on the end of the thread in humans’ mouths. To thank Nuwa, people molded dough into the shape of ears and stuffed it with meat and vegetables, instead of thread.
❥ Tusu wine (屠苏酒) is a drink that is specific to Chinese New Year. The story foretells a plague going around villages, killing many people. A man decided to put some herbs, leaves, and grains into bags, and brought one to each of his neighbors to tell them to soak the bag in water. They drank the water on New Year’s Day and they discovered this magical drink saved them from the plague. It became known as Tusu wine because it was named after his Tusu-structured home.
❥ According to old legends, there used to be an evil Nian or spirit called Sui that would appear on New Year’s Eve to pat the heads of sleeping children three times. The children would end up getting a fever, and even if they recovered, they would never be the same. One couple placed coins on red paper and left it on their child’s pillow after playing with them with the child. When Suit arrived, the coins flashed and scared it away. From this moment on, the parents would give children money wrapped in red paper every New Year’s Eve.
In another version of this old legend, a Nian would come out of the forest at night and devour entire villages. Parents would give children money that night so that they could bribe the monster or other evil spirits with.
By giving money to the children, the elders are hoping to pass on a year of good fortune and blessings. There are other versions in which younger generations will give them to the elderly as a blessing of longevity or a show of gratitude or married couples to unmarried friends to transfer some of their luck. This transition began in the Han dynasty and started as small collectibles instead of real money. There would be phrases and symbols like “Worldwide peace” (天下太平 / tiān xià tài píng), “Longevity and fortune” (千秋万岁 / qiān qiū wàn suì) engraved onto the surface.
❥ In one story, the Stove God would return to the heavens to report to the Jade Emperor about how each family was. He would return to Earth to bless or punish families, as the Jade Emperor ordered. This is why families make malt candy gourds to leave out at night (this is equivalent to leaving cookies for Santa Claus). The candy would sweeten the Stove God’s mouth so he would only praise the family. It can also force his teeth to stick together so he wouldn’t say bad things.
❥ Your zodiac animal year is known as your benming year (本命年 / běn mìng nián). During this entire year, you’re prone to catching demons. The best way to protect yourself is to wear red underwear. It is also believed that before turning 100 days old, the souls of infants could be taken back at any time, so parents would gift their infants with a lock pendant. During the Liao dynasty, this year was known as rebirth, so people would celebrate their rebirth through a ceremony conducted by a priestess.
❥ The Lantern Festival is 15 days after the Spring Festival and marks the end of Chinese New Year celebrations. During this, people would light lanterns. This goes back to an old story, in which a heavenly swan was killed by a hunter when it visited the human world. The Jade Emperor wanted to send his knights and burn the earth to avenge its death. The lesser gods went to secretly warn the humans. On that night, the humans lit firecrackers and hung lanterns for each household. It seemed like the Earth was burning from the heavens, so it tricked the Jade Emperor and saved humanity from his wrath
❥ Some people call the Lantern Festival day as the true Chinese Valentine’s Day.
❥ 2022 is the year of the Tiger and 2023 is the year of the Rabbit.
Long ago, the heavenly Jade Emperor came to the decision that time should be arranged into cycles of 12 years, with an earthly animal representing, and essentially guarding, each cycle. He announced that the first 12 animals who arrive at the Heavenly Gate will earn a place in the zodiac calendar in the order in which they pass through the Gate.
At that time, the Rat and Cat were great friends and neighbors. The Cat had a tendency to sleep in, so they made a pact to wake each other up early to go to the Heavenly Gate together. On the day of the race, the Rat woke up early but forgot its promise to the Cat in its excitement, so it went to the Heavenly Gate by itself.
While on its way to the Gate, the Rat came across a river that flowed very quickly. He was unable to cross it on its own, so it stopped and waited for the other animals to catch up. The Ox was the second to arrive at the river, so the Rat jumped into the Ox’s ear to cross with it. The Ox didn’t mind and continued towards the Heavenly Gate.
When they reached the shore, the Ox ran towards the palace. And right when it was about to pass through the Heavenly Gate first, the Rat jumped out of the Ox’s ear, taking first place. The Ox came in second. The Tiger came in third, due to its agility and competitiveness. The Rabbit came in fourth, crossing the river by hopping from stone to stone.
The Dragon came in fifth by flying, though it stopped at a village on the way to bring rain to desperate farmers who needed it. The Jade Emperor said that Dragon’s son could be sixth, but his son didn’t come with him that day. The Snake came forward and said the Dragon was his adoptive father, so the Snake came in sixth, knocking the Horse out of the way. The Horse came in seventh.
The Goat, Monkey, and Rooster came in eighth, ninth, and tenth respectively after working together to build a raft to cross the river. The Dog was a great swimmer and runner, but it took its time to splash and bathe in the river, securing its place in the eleventh spot. The Pig took a nap in the middle of the race, so it took the last place in the zodiac cycle.
When the Cat arrived, the race was over. Other versions of the story say that the Rat pushed the Cat into the river when they crossed it together. Despite the version, the Cat fails to enter the zodiac and holds the Rat accountable, creating the belief that these two animals are sworn enemies.
That concludes today's discussion about the myths, legends, and folktales of Chinese Mythology. We hope you enjoyed learning about these unique stories with significant impact on Chinese culture and beliefs!
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