Chang'e, Goddess of the Moon

Every Mid-Autumn Festival, families across China raise mooncakes to the sky in memory of Chang'e, the lady who dwells on the Moon. In the age of legend, ten suns scorched the earth until the mighty archer Houyi shot down nine of them, saving humanity. As a reward he received an elixir of immortality, meant to be shared with his beloved wife Chang'e so they might ascend to heaven together. Versions of the tale then diverge. In one, a greedy apprentice breaks into their home to steal the potion; to keep it from him, Chang'e swallows the elixir herself and floats irresistibly upward, coming to rest on the Moon, the place nearest to the earth she loved. In another she drinks it out of longing or misfortune. Forever parted from Houyi, she lives on the cold lunar palace with only a jade rabbit that pounds herbs for company. Each year Houyi lays out her favourite foods, a gesture echoed in festival offerings. The story lends the harvest moon its aura of reunion, tenderness and gentle sorrow.