Page 74 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book
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A-Z 67
Centipede
Chang-e
The Moon-goddess, Chang-e, is supposed to have been the wife of the archer Hou Yi,
who had received the herb of immortality from Xi-wang-mu. When Hou Yi was
away, his wife ate the herb, achieved immortality and ascended to the moon, where
she lives to this day in the ‘Palace of the Far-reaching Cold’ (guang han gong). Hou Yi
tried in vain to follow her, and thereafter took up residence in the sun.
She is often represented as a fine lady who is looking at herself in a mirror held for her
by a lady’s-maid, while another maid brings tea. Beside her are two children who are
admiring a hare: this is the ‘hare in the moon’. It is using a phallus-shaped pestle and
a mortar to grind down the bark of the cinnamon tree which confers immortality.
