THE FOLKLORE ABOUT CHANG’E

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This famous folklore about Chang’e dates back to ancient China. The earliest record is in The Huai-nan Tzu.6 And the version presented hereinafter is a composite of various versions currently told.7 This lady’s name is Chang'e8, who is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. Unlike many lunar deities in other cultures who personify the Moon, Chang'e only lives on the Moon as an punishment. And she has been living there for more than 4000 years.
According to the folklore, Chang'e and her husband Houyi were both immortals living in Heaven. Chang’e was a beautiful young woman working as a servant of the Jade Emperor9. Chang’e was married to another immortal, an archer named Houyi. One day the Jade Emperor’s ten sons transformed themselves into ten suns and began to march across the sky all together. They did this just for fun, however, they glared down upon the world mercilessly, causing the earth to scorch and burning the land to cinders. Fields were baked dry and cracks appeared in them. Plants withered and fierce beasts ran wild, placing the earth in grave danger.10 Having failed to stop...

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