Editing Chang'e (section)

== Origins and descriptions ==
Chang'e first appeared in ''[[Guicang]]'', a divination text written during the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou Dynasty]] (1046 BC – 256 BC). From the few preserved fragments of the text, it mentions "Yi shoots the ten Suns",<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Jiahao |first=Li | author-mask= Li Jiahao |date=April 2013 |title=Identifying the Wangjiatai Qin (221 B.C.E.–206 B.C.E.) Bamboo Slip "''Yi'' Divinations" (Yi ''zhan'') as the ''Guicang'' |journal=Contemporary Chinese Thought |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=42–59 |doi=10.2753/csp1097-1467440304 |s2cid=144857053 |issn=1097-1467}}</ref> and "Chang'e ascending to the moon."<ref name=":0" /> Chang'e—originally named {{zhp|p=Heng'e|c=姮娥}}—was renamed to avoid the [[Naming taboo|taboo on sharing names]] with a deceased emperor,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forgetting: Chang'e Descends to Earth, or Chang'e Escapes to the Moon |url=https://www.thewhitereview.org/fiction/forgetting-change-descends-to-earth-or-change-escapes-to-the-moon-2/ |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=The White Review |language=en-US}}</ref> in this case, [[Emperor Wen of Han|Liu Heng]], an emperor from [[Han dynasty|Han Dynasty]]. Many Chinese poems are written around the theme of Chang'e and the moon.

In [[Qin dynasty|pre-Qin Dynasty]] (before 221 BC), the text {{Zhi|tr=[[Classic of Mountains and Seas]]|s=山海經|out=tr}}, mentions {{zhi|out=tr|tr=a woman is bathing the moon; she is Chang Xi, the wife of Emperor Jun. She has given birth to twelve moons, and only then does she begin to bathe the moon|c=有女子方浴月，帝俊妻常羲生月十二，此始浴之。|s=}}.<ref>{{Cite book |translator-last=Birrell |translator-first=Anne |title=Classic of Mountains and Seas | script-title=zh:山海經 | title-link= Shanhaijing |publisher=Penguin Classics |year=1999 |isbn=978-0140447194 |language=en}}</ref> The name "Chang Xi" in this text refers to "Chang'e" since the pronunciation of "{{zhp|p=e|c=娥}}" is identical to "{{zhp|p=xi |c=羲}}" in ancient Chinese.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shen |first=Zhongwei | author-mask= Shen Zhongwei |date=2018 |title=Zheng-Zhang Shangfang 郑张尚芳 In Memoriam |journal=Journal of Chinese Linguistics |doi=10.1353/jcl.2017.0046 |issn=2411-3484 | publisher= Chinese University of Hong Kong Press |s2cid=258609133 | type= preprint}}</ref>

Late [[Tang dynasty|Tang Dynasty]] (618–907), famous poet, [[Li Shangyin]], wrote the poem "Chang'e" based on the story of Chang'e stealing the immortal elixir. Like this goddess, the poet discovers a connection in the solitude of moonlight, sensing their shared loneliness while gazing at the night sky. Among the hundreds of poems around Chang'e and the Moon, she gradually evolved into a symbol of nostalgia and solitude<ref>{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Xiaotong | author-mask= Li Xiaotong |chapter=Comparison of Moon Imagery in Chinese and Western |date=2023 |doi= 10.2991/978-2-494069-97-8_45 |title=Proceedings of the 2022 4th International Conference on Literature, Art and Human Development (ICLAHD 2022) |pages=357–361 |place=Paris |publisher=Springer Atlantis | editor1= Bootheina Majoul | editor2= Digvijay Pandya | editor3=Lin Wang |isbn=978-2-494069-96-1 | series=Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, vol. 726 | doi-access= free }}</ref> for numerous poets beyond Li.

The original poem in [[Traditional Chinese characters|Traditional Chinese]]:

<poem>{{lang|zh|嫦娥

雲母屏風燭影深，長河漸落曉星沉。

嫦娥應悔偷靈藥，碧海青天夜夜心。}}</poem>

The translation by [[Witter Bynner]], in his book ''The Jade Mountain'':

<poem>'''To the Moon Goddess'''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bynner |first=Witter |title=The Jade Mountain |publisher=Knopf |page=75 |year=1929}}</ref>

Now that a candle-shadow stands on the screen of carven marble

And the River of Heaven slants and the morning stars are low,

Are you sorry for having stolen the potion that has set you

Over purple seas and blue skies, to brood through the long nights?</poem>

During the [[Ming dynasty|Ming and Qing dynasties]] (Ming: 1368–1644, Qing: 1644–1911), with the flourishing of urban literature, the image of Chang'e gradually became more secularized. In the novel ''[[Journey to the West]]'' ({{Zhi|c=西遊記}}, 1592), Chang'e is a title that refers to the celestial maidens in the Moon Palace, and it is the Weathervane Marshal who teases the Niche Dress Fairy, not Chang'e. In ''[[Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio|Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio]]'' ({{Zhi|c=聊齋志異|s=}}, 1766), while Chang'e remains a celestial being from heaven, her character undergoes a transformation as she descends to the mortal realm, shedding her divinity.