Editing Man in the Moon (section)

==Origin==
[[File:Curious Myths p 190 illustration.jpg|thumb|Germanic woodcutter]]

There are various explanations for how the Man in the Moon came to be.

A longstanding European tradition holds that the man was banished to the Moon for some crime. Jewish lore says that the image of [[Jacob]] is engraved on the Moon.<ref>Wolfson, Elliot R. "The Face of Jacob in the Moon" in ''The Seductiveness of Jewish Myth: Challenge or Response?'' edited by S. Daniel Breslauer, Albany NY; SUNY Press, 1997</ref><ref>Harley, Timothy (1885). ''[https://archive.org/details/moonlore00harl Moon Lore]'', London; Swan Sonnenschein, Le Bas & Lowry. p.&nbsp;21.</ref> Another held that he is the man caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath and sentenced by God to death by stoning in the [[Book of Numbers]] XV.32–36.<ref>Harley, Timothy (1885). ''[https://archive.org/details/moonlore00harl Moon Lore]'', London; Swan Sonnenschein, Le Bas & Lowry. p.&nbsp;21.</ref> Some Germanic cultures thought he was a woodcutter found working on the Sabbath.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/curiousmythsofmi00bariuoft/page/190 Baring-Gould, Sabine. "The Man in the Moon", ''Curious Myths of the Middle Ages'', London. Rivington's, 1877, p. 190]{{PD-notice}}</ref> There is a Roman legend that he is a sheep-thief.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

One medieval Christian tradition claims that he is [[Cain]], the Wanderer, forever doomed to circle the Earth. [[Dante]]'s ''[[The Divine Comedy#Inferno|Inferno]]''<ref name="Inferno126">[[Dante]], [[The Divine Comedy]], [[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]], canto 20, [http://dante.dartmouth.edu/search_view.php?query=&cmd=Search&commentary%5B%5D=0&language=any&cantica=1&canto=20&line=126 line 126] and [http://dante.dartmouth.edu/search_view.php?query=&cmd=Search&commentary%5B%5D=0&language=any&cantica=1&canto=20&line=127 127]. The Dante Dartmouth Project contains the original text and centuries of commentary.</ref> alludes to this:

<blockquote><poem>
For now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine
On either hemisphere, touching the wave
Beneath the towers of Seville. Yesternight
The moon was round.</poem></blockquote>

[[File:Man In The Moon2.png|thumb|right|Different patterns identified in the appearance of the [[Near side of the Moon]], among them the Man in the Moon and the [[Moon rabbit]]]]

This is mentioned again in his ''[[The Divine Comedy#Paradiso|Paradise]]'':<ref name="Paradise">Dante, The Divine Comedy, Paradiso, canto 2, [http://dante.dartmouth.edu/search_view.php?query=&cmd=Search&commentary%5B%5D=0&language=any&cantica=3&canto=2&line=51 line 51].</ref>
<blockquote><poem>
But tell, I pray thee, whence the gloomy spots
Upon this body, which below on earth
Give rise to talk of Cain in fabling quaint?</poem></blockquote>

[[John Lyly]] says in the prologue to his ''[[Endymion (play)|Endymion]]'' (1591), ''"There liveth none under the sunne, that knows what to make of the man in the moone."''<ref>Child, Clarence Griffin (1894). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fmAvAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA118 John Lyly and Euphuism]''. Erlangen [etc.]: A. Deichert. p. 118. {{OCLC|1014813258}}.</ref>

In [[Norse mythology]], [[Máni]] is the male personification of the Moon who crosses the sky in a horse-drawn carriage. He is continually pursued by the Great Wolf [[Hati Hróðvitnisson|Hati]] who catches him at [[Ragnarök]]. ''Máni'' simply means "Moon".

In [[Chinese mythology]], the goddess [[Chang'e]] is stranded upon the Moon after consuming a double dose of an [[elixir of life|immortality potion]]. In some versions of the myth, she is accompanied by Yu Tu, a [[Moon rabbit]].<ref>Xueting Christine Ni (2018). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ck9UDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 From Kuan Yin to Chairman Mao: The Essential Guide to Chinese Deities]''. Red Wheel/Weiser. pp. 40–43. {{ISBN|1578636256}}.</ref> Another mythology tells the story of [[Wu Gang]], a man on the Moon who is trying to cut down a tree that always regrows.  <ref>{{cite book|author=[[Duan Chengshi]]|chapter=天咫|title=酉陽雜俎|trans-title=[[Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang]]|volume=卷一|quote="舊言月中有桂，有蟾蜍，故異書言月桂高五百丈，下有一人常斫之，樹創隨合。人姓吳名剛，西河人，學仙有過，謫令伐樹。"|language=zh|date=c. 830}}</ref>

In [[Haida mythology]], the figure represents a boy gathering sticks. The boy's father had told him the Moon's light would brighten the night, allowing the chore to be completed. Not wanting to gather sticks, the boy complained and ridiculed the Moon. As punishment for his disrespect, the boy was taken from Earth and trapped on the Moon.<ref>(1899). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=S8U4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA704 Report of the 68th Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 1898]''. 1899. London: Murray. p. 704.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.nosracines.ca/e/page.aspx?id=605508 |title=The Hydah mission, Queen Charlotte's Islands |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020133913/http://www.nosracines.ca/e/page.aspx?id=605508 |archive-date=2012-10-20 |first1=Charles |last1=Harrison |publisher=[[Church Missionary Society]] |date=c. 1884 |via=Our Roots / Nos Racines}}</ref>

In [[Japanese mythology]], it is said that a tribe of human-like spiritual beings live on the Moon. This is especially explored in [[The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter]].

In [[Vietnamese mythology]], the Man in the Moon is named Cuội. He was originally a woodcutter on Earth who owned a magical [[banyan]]. One day, when his wife ignorantly watered the tree with unclean water and caused it to uproot itself to fly away, Cuội grabbed its roots and was taken to the Moon. There, he eternally accompanied the [[Chang'e|Moon Lady]] and the [[Moon Rabbit|Jade Rabbit]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chú Cuội or The Man in the Moon |url=https://www.vietnam.com/en/culture/art/fairy-tales/chu-cuoi-or-the-man-in-the-moon.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230520123018/https://www.vietnam.com/en/culture/art/fairy-tales/chu-cuoi-or-the-man-in-the-moon.html |archive-date=May 20, 2023 |website=vietnam.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vietnam's magical Mid-autumn Festival |url=https://vietnam.travel/things-to-do/vietnams-magical-mid-autumn-festival |website=Vietnam Tourism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927114923/https://vietnam.travel/things-to-do/vietnams-magical-mid-autumn-festival |archive-date= Sep 27, 2023 }}</ref> The trio has become the personifications of the [[Tết Trung Thu]], when they descend to the mortal world and give out [[paper lantern|cellophane lanterns]], [[mooncake]]s and gifts to children.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief Primer of Asia's Mid-Autumn Mythology in 3 Folk Tales |url=https://saigoneer.com/saigon-culture/17395-a-brief-primer-of-asia-s-mid-autumn-mythology-in-3-folk-tales |website=Saigoneer |date=15 September 2019 |author1=Khôi Phạm |language=en-gb |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231001082826/https://saigoneer.com/saigon-culture/17395-a-brief-primer-of-asia-s-mid-autumn-mythology-in-3-folk-tales |archive-date= Oct 1, 2023}}</ref>

In [[Latvian mythology|Latvian legends]], two maidens went naked from the sauna with carrying poles to the well. While collecting water, one of the women noted how beautiful the moon is. The other was unimpressed, saying her bottom was prettier and proceeded to [[Mooning|moon]] the moon. As a punishment, either [[Dievs]] or Mēness (Moon deity) put the woman along with a carrying pole on the moon, with her bottom now visible to everyone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://valoda.ailab.lv/folklora/pasakas/13/13C00.htm |title=Latvian folktales and legends (Latviešu pasakas un teikas) Vol. 13|last=Šmits |first=Pēteris |date=1936 |website=Latviešu valodas resursi|publisher=Valters un Rapa |access-date=Oct 27, 2023 |quote=Legends from 8 to 14 cover different variations of this legend. (Latvian language only)}}</ref>