CH´ANG O

The Chinese moon goddess whose loveliness has been celebrated in poems and novels. She sough refuge in the moon when her consort Hou Yi (the Lord Archer), ,dscovered she had stolen the drug of inmortality given to him by the gods. Hou Yi´s pursuit was impeded by the Hare, who would not let the irate husband pass until he promised reconciliation.

Each year the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, Chinese celebrate the memory of Ch´ang O with a "Mid-Autum Festival" (Chung-ch´iu Chieh). With a full moon shining in the heavens, moon cakes are eaten and offered as gifts to friends and neighnours. Many go outside to view the outline of a toad on the surface of the moon, for this creature, according to one legend, is now Ch´ang O. At one time she was called Heng O, but the name became taboo when two Chinese emperors took it as their own.

A typical painting shows Ch´ang O floating toward the moon, often with her palace in the background. The Hare is sometimes present, pounding out the drug of inmortality. Statues more often represent her holding a moon disk in her raised right hand.