Tag Archives: moon

The Legend of Chang’e and Houyi

Performance Date: 2/26/2026

CONTEXT:

The performance is a telling of the Chinese legend of Chang’e and Houyi told to me by a Chinese international student at USC, who I will refer to as “EY.” We are sitting together outside of Taper Hall discussing legends. EY goes on to explain the legend and its connection to the Mid-Autumn Festival, along with the cultural beliefs associated with the story.

TEXT:

EY: The legend story I’ll be telling you about is called Chang’e’s legend. It is a Chinese legend um that explains where we have or how we have the Mid- Autumn Festival in mid September in China. Umm so the story basically is about like there’s a goddess whose name is Chang’e who kinda like takes a pill and turns into a rabbit that runs to the moon on the day of mid-autumn festival. Nowadays people in China usually have moon cakes on that festival to celebrate Chang’e.

Interviewer: Oh that’s interesting

EY: So if you look closely at a picture of the moon, there’s a shade that’s in the shape of a rabbit and so people often see that shade as the picture of Cheng’e. The rabbit shape is Cheng’e.

The longer version of the story is mostly about how previously there’s a god called Houyi who kinda shoots the sun in the sky. Chang’e and Houyi get married to each other. Bu then, Houyi was originally supposed to take a pill but he refused to and like the person who asks him to take the pill hides in their home. When Houyi is out and Cheng’e is home, Cheng’e has no other options but to take the pill. When Houyi returns home, he finds out his wife is gone and he’s sad… He might be sad… He must must be sad.

Interviewer: Probably, he’s probably sad.

EY: Yeah, and so the two are separated and Cheng’e is in the sky.

Interviewer: Okay, that’s cool. Do you think there’s like a metaphor, like a meaning behind the story. A meaning that you or your family and friends associate with it?

EY: Yeah, so it’s mostly about nostalgia and separation, I guess. There’s a metaphor in China where we compare the moon to reunion and a happily ever after.

Interviewer: That’s pretty cool, I never thought of the moon as associated with that before.

EY: And so we can associate the moon with romance or reunion in some sense. In Western [Chinese culture] ideas.

Interviewer: I don’t think that’s very common over here. We don’t typically associate the moon with romance. I think I got the story and the meaning behind it. Is there a personal meaning for you that you take on specifically to that story?

EY: I just felt like the look of the rabbit is very interesting. Yeah if you google a picture of the moon.

*looking up a picture of the moon*

* not the image referenced, but gets the idea*

EY: For example, this part is the rabbit’s head. These two are the ears of the rabbit.

Interviewer: So, I gotta look at it upside down.

EY: Yeah, so this is something that most people don’t usually observe.

Interviewer: Interesting, is that something you can only see at a certain time? Cause there’s different phases of the moon and seasons. Is this something you can only see in September? [The month of the festival].

EY: I guess yeah, but like that time that day is when the moon is like a full moon.

*end of interview

Analysis:

EY explains the story has a significant meaning not just to her, but her family and culture. The story explains the shapes in the moon, gives meaning to culturally significant foods like moon cakes and serves as a fun story to tell. The story is distinctly Chinese and like any cultural story serves as a great reminder for who you are. Without the legend, the mid-autumn festival is really just another holiday. The legend gives the celebration new meaning and amplifies the significance beyond just a fun tradition.

It also gives a standard story to relate to across generations. The culture as a whole can appreciate and enjoy this story. Parents telling their children aren’t just entertaining them. They’re connecting them to their family and culture giving them an identity. It also creates a symbolic meaning that Chinese people can relate to.

EY explained how the story recontextualizes the moon as a symbol of reunion, romance or “happily ever after.” This is interesting because in my culture, the moon doesn’t really mean anything in particular, it’s just the moon. So, to hear how this legend breathes new meaning into the natural world is quite cool. It gives an “everyday” object new culturally significant meaning. In this case, love and reunion. I’m familiar with the idea of roses symbolizing love and affection. But I actually think the moon is better. Unlike a rose, the moon won’t fall apart over time. It might wane, but it always comes back. That makes the reunion and meaning so much more impactful. The same moon can be seen across cities or continents, so it really does connect family and friends. Also, I think there is some more meaning with the moon in that it represents reunion. Every morning, the moon disappears, but we know it’ll come back. That physical movement and repetition adds to meaning that EY explained.

I think that the ritual of eating moon cakes and celebrating during the festival is a way for people to connect with their family, culture, and partners. It’s something that I’ve heard my other friends do, whether they were in China or here in LA. That makes it a cultural signal and reminder of shared belief and identity. It’s given meaning by the story, and eating mooncakes is a way for people to actively participate in that story and culture. The food, story, and importance of the moon itself are great because they can be transmitted anywhere. People can relate to and appreciate that meaning, whether in China or here in America. That story, food, and connection to the moon a ways for people to share their culture without needing to be “at home” for the festival and celebrations. These traditions can be transported and adapted to new regions or environments while maintaining that unique cultural identity.

It’s very interesting to me because, like Houyi, my informant is away from home, separated from loved ones. This must be a very personal story for her, and maybe a very significant one at this moment as well. The legend she chose to share specifically covered longing, separation, and the desire to be together. Whether she meant to or not, the choice to tell that story seems to have been influenced by her feeling away from home; it is probably a way to process her emotions, which is quite cool.

Cutting Hair with the Moon

Nationality: British
Age: 26
Occupation: Pharmacist
Residence: Liverpool
Language: English

Text: “My nan has always told me you should cut your hair during the waxing moon, when it’s growing bigger, so your hair would grow thicker and faster. But never cut it during a waning moon, or it’d grow back slow and thin. Same thing with nails. My nan wouldn’t get her nails done or anything; she would just wait to trim them herself and always looked up at the moon first.”

Context: My informant is from England and told me that her grandmother grew up in a farming village that often relied on the moon to guide the planting and personal care. Her nan treated it like common sense, and a hairdresser in the town also told her this once. 

Interpretation: This is an example of sympathetic magic. Cutting hair during a waxing moon (that looks like it’s growing) symbolically encourages growth; meanwhile, cutting during a waning moon (that looks like it’s shrinking) is seen as limiting or weakening. It reflects an ancient human instinct to see natural cycles like the moon as connected to our bodies and health. This also reflected a transmission of knowledge, passed from grandmother to granddaughter, rooted in domestic spaces and body care. 

Kaguya – Legend

Nationality: Korean
Age: 20
Occupation: Film & TV Production Major Student at the University of Southern California
Residence: Orion Housing at the University of Southern California
Language: English

Text:

The popular tale of The Bamboo Cutter features an old man who finds a bamboo stalk with a girl inside the stalk. The girl grows to become one of the most beautiful people in the entire empire, catching even the attention of the emperor. To win her over, she makes her suitors do insane tasks. She eventually reveals that she is extraordinarily beautiful because she is from the moon. After falling in love with the emperor, she realizes she must go back to the moon, and offers the emperor immortality so that he may not forget her. However, the idea of being tortured by an eternity where he lives forever knowing he can never be his lover is too much for the emperor to handle and he burns the immortality token she grants him.
Context:

The performer witnessed this lore in Japanese culture originally before looking into its origins within Korean folktales as many “Kaguya” characters in Japanese media are beautiful women who seem out of the male lead’s league. One of the mediums he watched with involved this type of trope was the movie Princess Kaguya. He felt that while the Kaguya trope has many supernatural elements, the idea of being “banished” somewhere such as the moon, the feeling related to the universal duty one sometimes feels toward their “point of origin” (family).

Analysis:

A common theme within East Asian cultures is the idea of family and societal duty. The moon is representative of “home” or family in which Kaguya must return to and sacrifice her hopes of love for in order to serve a power larger to herself.
Additionally, Korean Buddhist ideas of balance, harmony, and impermanence are represented through this tale as at first, Kaguya resists her role of being a “submissive” beautiful object in society. However she can only resist for so long before nature runs its course and that beauty is taken away and sent back to the moon. While bittersweet, this story serves as a tale to remind Koreans to keep their realities in check. Sometimes it’s okay to dream big and long for more, but at the end of the day, family and loyalty to your origin should be at the forefront of one’s values.

El Conejo en la Luna (The Rabbit on the Moon)

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 48
Occupation: Business
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: Spanish/English

Text:

(transcribed from Spanish)

“My mom told me this tale when I was a kid. She told me that a long time ago, the Mexican god Quetzalcoatl explored the world. So he came down and turned himself into a mortal man. He was so amazed by how big and beautiful the Earth was that he got distracted and forgot to eat and hydrate himself. Quetzalcoatl started feeling faint and decided to rest on the road. Then a rabbit appeared to him and asked him if he was okay. Quetzalcoatl told him that he was very hungry. Right away, the rabbit offered to share his food with him, but Quetzalcoatl refused and told the rabbit that he didn’t eat plants. The rabbit thought for a moment and decided to offer himself to Quetzalcoatl and said, “I am an insignificant creature; you must recover and return to your travels. Please eat me.” Quetzalcoatl was moved by the rabbit’s noble gesture, so he returned to his godly form and held the rabbit high to the moon. He then placed him back on the ground and told him, “You will be remembered all around the world, and when everyone looks up to the moon, they will see the print of you on the moon.”

Context: 

The informant was my father. He is from Michoacan, Mexico, on a small ranch. He grew up off the grid, and his mother told him this tale. 

Analysis: 

This is a myth that is deeply rooted in Mesoamerican tradition. It centers on one of the most important deities in Aztec belief systems. The story reflects core mythological themes such as a godly figure interacting with the mortal world. The rabbit is an example of sacrificial heroism. The rabbit has become immortalized, not because of power or money but through compassion and generosity. This shows the cultural values of Indigenous Mexicans. The myth has also been shared across multiple generations, especially in East Asia, yet it might differ from the Mexican version. 

Man on the Moon

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Waitress
Residence: Glendale, AZ
Language: English

“when i was younger my dad told me when he was in a really bad place he saw this man in the moon and he basically told my dad to keep going and just a bunch of advice so i’ve always kind of believe in a ‘man on the moon’

he always just looked to the sky and thought that was where we ended up when we passed, i think the man in the moon thing kind of goes with the fact he thought each star had a family of souls and when u passed u’d be with your family in the stars again. he just had really nice outlooks on the afterlife, he grew up Christian but i think he created his own beliefs as we all do in life”

Context: As far as the informant knew, her dad had always seen the man on the moon. He would tell her about the man all throughout her life. She had been extremely close to her dad growing up, and he passed away when she was in 6th grade. 

Analysis: In many places around the world, there has been a myth or legend about the man of the moon. This is often attributed to the face-like patches on the moon called lunar maria. The informant’s dad seemed to have strong beliefs in the cosmos, always turning to the man on the moon during dark times. This belief might have been passed down through his family, stemming from traditional beliefs present prior to Christianity. Solar cosmology was highly prevalent all around the world, and many people still follow these beliefs. The informant keeps this myth alive now in honor of her dad, so she will always be reminded of him by just looking up to the night sky.