Moon rabbit
| Moon rabbit |
The image of a rabbit and mortar delineated on the Moon's surface
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| Chinese name |
| Chinese |
月兔 |
| Literal meaning |
Moon rabbit |
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| Alternative Chinese name |
| Chinese |
玉兔 |
| Literal meaning |
Jade rabbit |
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| Korean name |
| Hangul |
옥토끼 |
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| Japanese name |
| Kanji |
月の兎 |
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The moon rabbit in folklore is a rabbit that lives on the Moon, based on pareidolia that identifies the markings of the Moon as a rabbit. The story exists in many cultures, prominently in Asian folklore and Aztec mythology. In East Asia, it is seen pounding in a mortar and pestle, but the contents of the mortar differ among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean folklore. In Chinese folklore, it is often portrayed as a companion of the Moon goddess Chang'e, constantly pounding the elixir of life for her; but in Japanese and Korean versions, it is pounding the ingredients for rice cake.
An early mention that there is a rabbit on the moon appears in the Chu Ci, a Western Han anthology of Chinese poems from the Warring States period, which notes that along with a toad, there is a rabbit on the Moon who constantly pounds herbs for the immortals. This notion is supported by later texts, including the Song-era Taiping Imperial Reader. Han Dynasty poets call the rabbit on the Moon the "Jade Rabbit" (玉兔) or the "Gold Rabbit" (金兔), and these phrases were often used in place of the word for the Moon. A famous poet of Tang China, Li Bai, relates how "[t]he rabbit in the Moon pounds the medicine in vain" in his poem "The Old Dust."
In the Buddhist Jataka tales (Tale 316), 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, the monkey gathered fruits from the trees and the otter collected fish, while the jackal wrongfully pilfered a lizard and a pot of milk-curd. The rabbit, who knew only how to gather grass, instead offered its own body, throwing itself into a fire the man had built. The rabbit, however, was not burnt. The old man revealed himself to be Śakra and, touched by the rabbit's virtue, 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. A version of this story can be found in the Japanese anthology Konjaku Monogatarishū, where the rabbit's companions are a fox, instead of a jackal, and a monkey.
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