You’ve probably seen them in Chinese shops. These toads are often referred to as 金蟾 jīn chán (Golden Toads) or 招财蟾蜍 zhāocái chánchú (wealth-welcoming toads).
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In fact, there are separate legends about a magical lucky toad appearing around the full moon. Toads aren’t necessarily unlucky in Chinese culture. Here’s an etching from the Han Dynasty of Chang’e flying to the moon to become a toad.
The Gods decided to punish Chang’e by turning her into a toad 蟾蜍 (chánchú).Ĭhang’e changes herself into a toad to make it harder for Houyi to fire arrows at her. But when it comes to Chang’e, it’s always chánchú. Note: in Chinese, a toad can either be called 蟾蜍 chánchú or 癞哈蟆 lài hā má. There are 2 variants of the greedy Chang’e version-both of which involve her becoming a toad! 蟾蜍 (chánchú). So in all 3 versions, Chang’e takes the pill of immortality, flies up to the moon, and that’s why we make offerings to her as the Moon Goddess.īut here’s where the tales take an even weirder turn. (Maybe his heart wasn’t in it, or maybe it’s harder to hit a person than a whole sun.)Įventually, he got over his anger and started missing her, so he started making offerings to her. Houyi got angry and tried to shoot her down as she flew up, but failed. She stole the pill from him while he was sleeping, ate it and flew up to the moon. In both Versions 1 and 2, Houyi missed her so much that he started making offerings of food to her, and that’s why many people make offerings to Chang’e up till today. To save the world from an evil king who could now live forever, Chang’e ate the pill herself, and then became an immortal who flew up to the moon. Rather, after his heroic act, Houyi became an evil king. She thus became an immortal and ascended to the moon. Houyi had a jealous apprentice named 逢蒙 (either F éng Méng or Péng Méng), who tried to steal the pill of immortality for himself.īut Chang’e managed to grab the pill first, and swallowed it so that Peng Meng couldn’t get it. The Gods rewarded Houyi by giving him either a pill or elixir of immortality-whoever ate it would become a god and live forever.
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So Houyi shot nine of them down-with his bow and arrows! (Wish he could be around to teach us how to deal with climate change in such a cheap way.) Houyi got famous because one day, ten suns appeared in the sky, and as you’d expect, things got uncomfortably hot. (I guess you could say he was the Hawkeye or Green Arrow of ancient China.) Chang’e was married to Houyi 后羿 Hòu Yì, a famous archer.