Editing Chang'e (section)

==Myth==
===Tales===
{{See also|Xian (Taoism)}} 
[[File:MET 46 156 25 cons.jpg|thumb|The ornate style of clothing worn by these four women suggests they are [[Xian (Taoism)|Immortals]]. The osmanthus leaf held by the largest figure, at the right, identifies her as the Moon Goddess Chang’e, who inhabits her celestial palace along with a rabbit that prepares the elixir of long life.]]
[[File:White-Rabbit-making-elixir-of-immortality.jpg|thumb|The [[moon rabbit|jade rabbit]] lived on the Moon preparing the elixir of life.]]
There are many tales about Chang'e, including a well-known story about her that is given as the origin of the [[Mid-Autumn Festival]].<ref name=yn5-233/>

In a very distant past, Chang'e was a beautiful woman. Ten suns had risen together into the skies and scorched the Earth, thus causing hardship for the people.<ref name=yn5-233/> [[Hou Yi]], a legendary archer and the husband of Chang'e, shot down nine of them, leaving just one Sun, and was rewarded with two portions of the elixir of immortality.<ref name=yn5-233/> As he did not want to gain immortality without his beloved wife, Hou Yi waited to consume the elixir and left it with his wife, Chang'e.<ref>{{cite web |title=Four Legends Of The Mid Autumn Festival |date=June 2021 |url=https://moonfestivalblog.com/four-legends-of-the-mid-autumn-festival/}}</ref> While Hou Yi went hunting, his apprentice [[Fengmeng]] broke into his house and tried to force Chang'e to give him the elixir, so Chang'e took both portions herself rather than giving them up to Fengmeng. Then, Chang'e flew upward past the heavens, choosing the Moon to be her immortal residence as she loved her husband and wished to live near him.<ref name=yn5-233/> When Hou Yi discovered what transpired, he felt responsible for Chang'e, so he displayed the fruits and cakes that his wife had enjoyed, then killed himself.<ref name=yn5-233>Yang & An 2005, 89–90 & 233.</ref>

In older versions of the story, Chang'e stole the elixir from Hou Yi, drank it, and flew to the Moon so that her husband could not go after her.<ref>{{cite book|title-link=Huainanzi | script-title=zh:淮南子 | title=Huainanzi |date=2011 |publisher= Zhonghua Shuju |orig-date=139 BC|chapter=[[:zh:s:淮南子/覽冥訓|覽冥訓]]|editor=Liu An|editor-link=Liu An|quote=羿請不死藥於西王母，姮娥竊以奔月，悵然有喪，無以續之。}}</ref>

In the most classic version of the story, Wu Gang does good deeds for the King, and receives an immortality pill from him, and is asked to keep it safe in his house. One day, when Wu Gang was not home, thieves broke in, and Chang'e, in a brief shock of pain, swallows it when she was not supposed to. Citizens cried as Chang'e flew up to the Moon, now living with a jade rabbit. Her husband returns, realizes what just happened and mourns her death. He continues to cut wood for Chang'e in the mortal realm. His name is changed to Hou Yi in some adaptations of the myth.

=== In other depictions ===
[[File:嫦娥奔月.png|thumb|Chang'e flying to the Moon in [[Han dynasty]] stone [[reliefs]]]]
Chang'e also appears in [[Wu Cheng'en]]'s late 16th-century novel, the ''[[Journey to the West]]''; here, she is said to live in the {{zhp|p=Guǎng Hán Gōng|c=|s=|t={{linktext|廣寒宮}}|l=Vast-Cold Palace}}, located upon the Moon. During a heavenly festival of immortal peaches (after Sun Wukong's banishment), the heavenly official (a Canopy [[Marshal]] named ''Heavenly Tumbleweed'') who would become ''[[Zhu Bajie]]'', became heavily drunk, saw the goddess Chang'e, and attempted to force himself on her, only to be prevented and reported for this act. He was reincarnated as a boar/man beast-monster, who would later be recruited by the [[Bodhisattva]], ''[[Guanyin]]'', as a guardian for ''[[Tang Sanzang]]'' as he went on his pilgrimage to India for the ''[[Tripitaka]]'', the three baskets of scriptures written by ''[[Tathāgata]]'' ''[[Buddha]]''. Later into the story, the goddess Chang'e's pet, the [[Moon rabbit|Jade Rabbit]], [[List of Journey to the West characters#Jade Rabbit Spirit|became an antagonist]] and had to be retrieved by Chang'e and [[Taiyin Xingjun]] before ''[[Sun Wukong]]'' killed the rabbit.

=== Adaptations into film and novels ===
In 2020, a film called ''[[Over the Moon (2020 film)|Over the Moon]]'' premiered on Netflix. A young girl named Fei Fei flies to the Moon using a rocket she built to find Chang'e. Her hope is to convince her father true love exists and persuade him not to remarry. Chang'e is mourning over the loss of Houyi, who died on earth before they could be reunited. She believes Fei Fei holds the key to reuniting her with Houyi (through a magical potion created by Jade Rabbit) before the last sliver of moonlight is gone.