Editing Rabbit (section)

==In culture==
[[File:La Vierge au Lapin à la Loupe.jpg|thumb|[[Madonna of the Rabbit]], a 16th-century painting depicting the white rabbit as a symbol of fertility and purity]]
{{Main|Rabbits and hares in art}}Rabbits are often posited by scholars as symbols of [[fertility]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Stein |first=Sadie |date=31 March 2024 |title=Our Bunnies, Ourselves |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A788166009/ITOF?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1b6a6489 |journal=The New York Times Book Review |pages=22 |via=Gale General OneFile}}</ref> [[Human sexuality|sexuality]] and spring, though they have been variously interpreted throughout history.<ref>{{cite web |last=Windling |first=Terri |authorlink=Terri Windling |date=2005 |title=The Symbolism of Rabbits and Hares |url=http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrRabbits.html |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503161949/http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrRabbits.html |archivedate=3 May 2012 |publisher=[[Endicott Studio]]}}</ref> Up until the end of the 18th century, it was widely believed that rabbits and hares were [[hermaphrodite]]s, contributing to a possible view of rabbits as "sexually aberrant".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harley |first=Marta Powell |date=1985 |title=Rosalind, the Hare, and the Hyena In Shakespeare's "As You Like It" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2869713 |journal=Shakespeare Quarterly |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=335–337 |doi=10.2307/2869713 |jstor=2869713 |issn=0037-3222|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The [[Easter Bunny]] is a figure from German folklore that then spread to America and later other parts of the world and is similar to [[Santa Claus]], albeit both with softened roles compared to earlier incarnations of the figures.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cross |first=Gary |url= |title=The Cute and the Cool |date=2004-05-13 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-515666-9 |chapter=Holidays and New Rituals of Innocence |pages=83–120 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195156669.003.0004 |chapter-url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195156669.001.0001/acprof-9780195156669}}</ref>

The rabbits' role as a prey animal with few defenses evokes vulnerability and innocence in folklore and modern children's stories, and rabbits appear as sympathetic characters, able to connect easily with youth, though this particular symbolic depiction only became popular in the 1930s following the massive popularization of the pet rabbit decades before.<ref name=":3" /> Additionally, they have not been limited to sympathetic depictions since then, as in literature such as ''[[Watership Down]]''<ref name="masterplots">{{Cite book |title=Masterplots II: Juvenile and Young Adult Fiction Series |publisher=Salem Press, Inc. |year=1991 |volume=4: ''Sev–Z, Indexes'' |chapter=Watership Downs}}</ref><ref name="maleChauvinistRabbits">{{cite news |last=Lanes |first=Selma G. |date=30 June 1974 |title=Male Chauvinist Rabbits |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/30/archives/the-guest-word-male-chauvinist-rabbits.html |access-date=10 July 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> and the works of [[Ariel Dorfman]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Swier |first=Patricia L. |date=2013 |title=REBELLIOUS RABBITS: CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE UNCANNY IN TWO SOUTHERN CONE TEXTS |journal=Chasqui |language=es |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=166–80 |via=EBSCOhost}}</ref> With its reputation as a prolific breeder, the rabbit juxtaposes sexuality with innocence, as in the [[Playboy Bunny]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=John |date=2016-04-05 |title=The Erotic Rabbits of Easter |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/04/the-sexual-linguistic-history-of-rabbit.html |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339}}</ref> The rabbit has also been used as a symbol of playfulness and endurance, as represented by the [[Energizer Bunny]] and the [[Duracell Bunny]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fowles |first=Jib |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YkxMPOkSQ_0C |title=Advertising and Popular Culture |date=1996-01-23 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-0-8039-5483-0 |pages=1–9 |language=en}}</ref>

===Folklore and mythology===
{{Main|List of fictional hares and rabbits}}

The rabbit often appears in folklore as the [[trickster]] [[archetype]], as he uses his cunning to outwit his enemies. In Central Africa, the common hare (''Kalulu'') is described as a trickster figure,<ref>Brian Morris, ''The Power of Animals: An Ethnography'', p. 177 (2000).</ref> and in [[Aztec mythology]], a pantheon of four hundred rabbit gods known as [[Centzon Totochtin]], led by [[Ometochtli]] or Two Rabbit, represented fertility, parties, and drunkenness.<ref name=":8">{{cite book |author=Miller, Mary |author-link=Mary Ellen Miller |url=https://archive.org/details/godssymbolsofa00mill |title=The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion |author2=Karl Taube |author-link2=Karl Taube |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |year=1993 |isbn=0-500-05068-6 |location=London |pages=142 |oclc=27667317 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Rabbits in the Americas varied in mythological symbolism: in Aztec mythology, they were also associated with the moon,<ref name=":8" /> and in [[Anishinaabe traditional beliefs]], held by the [[Ojibwe]] and some other [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] peoples, [[Nanabozho]], or Great Rabbit,<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Nanabozho (Nanabush, Nanabosho, Wenebojo, Nanapush, Manabus) |url=http://www.native-languages.org/nanabozho.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328152256/http://www.native-languages.org/nanabozho.htm |archive-date=28 March 2013 |access-date=24 September 2024 |website=www.native-languages.org}}</ref> is an important deity related to the creation of the world.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/NanabozhoIndianstoryofthecreation.htm |title=Handbook of Indians of Canada |date=1913 |editor-last=White |editor-first=James |pages=331–335 |chapter=Nanabozho and the Algonquin Story of the Creation of the World}}</ref> More broadly, a [[rabbit's foot]] may be carried as an [[amulet]], believed to bring protection and [[luck|good luck]]. This belief is found in many parts of the world, with the earliest use being recorded in Europe {{circa|600 BC}}.<ref name="Ellis">{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Bill |title=Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture |date=1 January 2004 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-2289-2}}</ref>

Rabbits also appear in Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean mythology, though rabbits are a relatively new introduction to some of these regions. In [[Chinese folklore]], rabbits accompany [[Chang'e (mythology)|Chang'e]] on the Moon,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lemei |first=Yang |date=2006 |title=China's Mid-Autumn Day |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4640212 |journal=Journal of Folklore Research |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=263–270 |doi=10.2979/JFR.2006.43.3.263 |jstor=4640212 |issn=0737-7037|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and the moon rabbit is a prominent symbol in the [[Mid-Autumn Festival]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cammann |first=Schuyler |date=1953 |title=Ming Festival Symbols |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20066955 |journal=Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America |volume=7 |pages=66–70 |jstor=20066955 |issn=1945-2926}}</ref> In the [[Chinese New Year]], the [[Rabbit (zodiac)|zodiacal rabbit]] or hare is one of the twelve celestial animals in the [[Chinese zodiac]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gao |first1=Jinlin |last2=Joh |first2=Yoon-kyoung |date=2019-04-30 |title=Chinese Zodiac Culture and the Rhetorical Construction of ''A Shu B'', ''C'' |url=https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/153111/1/03%2019-004%20Jinlin%20Gao%20and%20Yoon-kyoung%20Joh.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Lanaguage Research |language=en |publisher=Seoul National University |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=2 |doi=10.30961/lr.2019.55.1.55 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106115356/https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/153111/1/03%2019-004%20Jinlin%20Gao%20and%20Yoon-kyoung%20Joh.pdf |archive-date=Jan 6, 2024 |doi-access=free}}</ref> At the time of the zodiacal cycles becoming associated with animals in the Han dynasty,<ref name="Ferlus2013">Ferlus, Michel (2013). ''[https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00922842/document The sexagesimal cycle, from China to Southeast Asia]''. 23rd Annual Conference of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, May 2013, Bangkok, Thailand.</ref> only hares were native to China, with the currently extant breeds of rabbit in China being of European origin.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Long |first1=J.-R. |last2=Qiu |first2=X.-P. |last3=Zeng |first3=F.-T. |last4=Tang |first4=L.-M. |last5=Zhang |first5=Y.-P. |date=April 2003 |title=Origin of rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in China: evidence from mitochondrial DNA control region sequence analysis |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12648090 |journal=Animal Genetics |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=82–87 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2052.2003.00945.x |issn=0268-9146 |pmid=12648090}}</ref> The [[Chinese zodiac#Chinese zodiac in other countries|Vietnamese zodiac]] includes a [[Cat (zodiac)|zodiacal cat]] in place of the rabbit. The most common explanation is that the ancient Vietnamese word for "rabbit" ''(mao)'' sounds like the Chinese word for "cat" ([[wikt:卯|卯]], ''mao)''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Year of the Cat OR Year of the Rabbit? |url=http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2011/02/year-of-the-cat-or-year-of-the-rabbit/ |website=nwasianweekly.com |access-date=27 February 2018 |date=2011-02-03}}</ref> In [[Culture of Japan|Japanese tradition]], rabbits [[Moon rabbit|live on the Moon]] where they make [[mochi]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ippo |first=Mori |date=January 30, 2021 |title=Object Lesson: Rabbit Pounding the Elixir of Life Under the Moon |url=https://noma.org/object-lesson-rabbit-pounding-the-elixir-of-life-under-the-moon-by-mori-ippo/ |website=New Orleans Museum of Art}}</ref> This comes from interpreting the pattern of dark patches on the moon as a rabbit standing on tiptoes on the left pounding on an [[Usu (Mortar)|usu]], a Japanese mortar.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harley |first=Timothy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2EyAQAAMAAJ |title=Moon Lore |date=1885 |publisher=S. Sonnenschein |pages=60–68 |language=en |chapter=The Hare in the Moon}}</ref> In [[Korean mythology]], as in Japanese, rabbits live on the moon making rice cakes ("[[tteok]]" in Korean).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-19 |title=Here Comes a Rabbit |url=https://www.nfm.go.kr/user/bbs/english/17/469/bbsDataView/23465.do?page=1 |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=National Folk Museum of Korea}}</ref>

Rabbits have also appeared in religious symbolism. [[Buddhism]], Christianity, and Judaism have associations with an ancient circular motif called the ''[[Three hares|three rabbits]]'' (or "three hares"). Its meaning ranges from "peace and tranquility"<ref name="Zhang">{{cite web |last1=Chapman |first1=Chris |last2=Wei |first2=Zhang |last3=Rasmussen |first3=Peter |date=August 2004 |title=The Three Rabbits in China |url=http://www.threerabbits.net/ |access-date=25 April 2012 |work=Adapted from a presentation at the International Conference on [[Grotto]]es Research |location=Dunhuang China}}</ref> to the [[Holy Trinity]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Edward Payson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8afAAAAMAAJ |title=Animal Symbolism in Ecclesiastical Architecture |date=1896 |publisher=H. Holt |pages=239 |language=en}}</ref> The tripartite symbol also appears in [[Three hares#Other uses and related designs|heraldry]].<ref name="Fox">Fox-Davies, A.C. (1978) [https://books.google.com/books?id=y5tI9jSKxRsC&dq=FitzErcald&pg=PA214 ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry''] (New York: Bonanza Books) p. 214. {{ISBN|1-60239-001-0}}; {{ISBN|978-1-60239-001-0}}.</ref> In [[Jewish folklore]], rabbits are associated with cowardice, a usage still current in contemporary Israeli spoken [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. The original Hebrew word (shfanim, שפנים) refers to the [[hyrax]], but early translations to English interpreted the word to mean "rabbit", as no hyraxes were known to northern Europe.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gilad |first=Elon |date=13 June 2013 |title=Word of the Day Shafan: Don't Turn Yourself Into a Hyrax! |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2013-06-13/ty-article/.premium/word-of-the-day-shafan/0000017f-f44f-d47e-a37f-fd7ffb0c0000 |work=Haaretz}}</ref> <gallery widths="180" heights="200" class="center">
File:Syrischer Maler von 1354 001.jpg|''Rabbit fools Elephant by showing the reflection of the moon''. Illustration (from 1354) of the ''[[Panchatantra]]''
File:Blason ville fr Corbenay (Haute-Saône).svg|"[[Three hares|Three rabbits]]" motif, [[Coat of arms]] of [[Corbenay]], France
File:Taddeo Crivelli (Italian, died about 1479, active about 1451 - 1479) - Saint Jerome in the Desert - Google Art Project.jpg|''Saint Jerome in the Desert'', by [[Taddeo Crivelli]] (died about 1479)
</gallery>

=== Modern times ===
[[File:PeterRabbit8.jpg|left|thumb|[[Beatrix Potter]]'s [[Peter Rabbit]]]]
The rabbit as [[trickster]] is a part of American popular culture, as [[Br'er Rabbit]] (from African-American folktales<ref>{{cite book |last=M'Baye |first=Babacar |author-link=Babacar M'Baye |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wkmQ2WXnkJsC |title=The Trickster Comes West: Pan-African Influence in Early Black Diasporan Narratives |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |year=2009 |pages=13–18|isbn=978-1-60473-352-5 }}</ref> and, later, [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Disney animation]]<ref name="Brasch2000">{{Cite book |last=Brasch |first=Walter M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UNNaAAAAMAAJ |title=Brer Rabbit, Uncle Remus, and the 'Cornfield Journalist': The Tale of Joel Chandler Harris |date=2000 |publisher=Mercer University Press |pages=74, 275|isbn=978-0-86554-696-7 }}</ref>) and [[Bugs Bunny]] (the [[cartoon]] character from [[Warner Bros.#Warner's cartoons|Warner Bros.]]<ref name="Adamson">{{Cite book |last=Adamson |first=Joe |url=https://archive.org/details/bugsbunnyfiftyye0000adam |title=Bugs Bunny: 50 Years and Only One Grey Hare |publisher=Henry Holt |year=1990 |isbn=0-8050-1855-7 |url-access=registration}}</ref>), for example.

Anthropomorphized rabbits have appeared in film and literature, in ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' (the [[White Rabbit]] and the [[March Hare]] characters), in ''[[List of Watership Down characters|Watership Down]]'' (including the [[Watership Down (film)|film]] and [[Watership Down (1999 TV series)|television]] adaptations), in ''[[Rabbit Hill]]'' (by [[Robert Lawson (author)|Robert Lawson]]), and in the ''[[Peter Rabbit]]'' stories (by [[Beatrix Potter]]). In the 1920s, ''[[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]]'' was a popular cartoon character.<ref name="SusaninMiller2011">{{cite book |last1=Susanin |first1=Timothy S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgwbBwAAQBAJ |title=Walt Before Mickey: Disney's Early Years, 1919–1928 |last2=Miller |first2=Diane Disney |date=April 7, 2011 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-960-2 |access-date=September 4, 2012}}</ref>

On the [[Isle of Portland]] in Dorset, UK, the rabbit is said to be unlucky, and speaking the creature's name can cause upset among older island residents. This is thought to date back to early times in the local quarrying industry, where, to save space, extracted stones that were not fit for sale were set aside in what became tall, unstable walls. The local rabbits' tendency to burrow there would weaken the walls, and their collapse would result in injuries or even death. In the local culture to this day, the rabbit (when he has to be referred to) may instead be called a "long ears" or "underground mutton" so as not to risk bringing a downfall upon oneself.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wallace and Gromit spook island |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/4318710.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=25 August 2022 |date=7 October 2005}}</ref>

In other parts of Britain and in North America, "[[Rabbit rabbit rabbit]]" is one variant of an [[Apotropaic magic|apotropaic]] or [[talisman]]ic superstition that involves saying or repeating the word "rabbit" (or "rabbits" or "white rabbits" or some combination thereof) out loud upon waking on the first day of each month, because doing so is believed to ensure good fortune for the duration of that month.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mayntz |first=Melissa |date=2019-04-26 |title=On the 1st Of The Month Say "Rabbit Rabbit" for Good luck! |url=https://www.farmersalmanac.com/rabbit-rabbit-35150 |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=Farmers' Almanac – Plan Your Day. Grow Your Life. |language=en-US}}</ref>

The "rabbit test" is a term first used in 1949 for the [[Rabbit test|Friedman test]], an early diagnostic tool for detecting a pregnancy in humans. It is a common misconception (or perhaps an [[urban legend]]) that the test-rabbit would die if the woman was pregnant. This led to the phrase "the rabbit died" becoming a euphemism for a positive pregnancy test.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Friedman |first=Maurice |title=The Assay of Gonadotropic Extracts in the Post-Partum Rabbit11 |date=1 May 1939 |url=https://doi.org/10.1210/endo-24-5-617 |journal=Endocrinology |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=617–625|doi=10.1210/endo-24-5-617 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Many modern children's stories and cartoons portray rabbits as particularly fond of eating carrots, largely due to the popularity of Bugs Bunny, whose carrot eating habit was modeled after Peter Warne, the character played by [[Clark Gable]] in the 1934 romantic comedy ''[[It Happened One Night]]''.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=George|editor1-first=Amber E.|editor2-last=Schatz|editor2-first=J.L.|title=Screening the Nonhuman: Representations of Animal Others in the Media|chapter=Chapter 5: Would Bugs Bunny Have Diabetes? The Realistic Consequences of Cartoons for Non-Human Animals|year=2016|isbn=978-1-4985-1375-3|pages=63–67|publisher=Lexington Books}}</ref> This is a misleading as wild rabbits do not naturally prefer carrots over other plants. Carrots are high in sugar, and excessive consumption can be unhealthy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bittel |first=Jason |date=2022-02-19 |title=Think you know what bunnies and bears eat? Their diets may surprise you. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/think-you-know-what-bunnies-and-bears-eat-their-diets-may-surprise-you/2019/09/20/bac528ea-ce5d-11e9-87fa-8501a456c003_story.html |access-date=2024-03-10 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> This has led to some owners of domestic rabbits feeding a carrot heavy diet on this false perception.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rioja-Lang |first1=Fiona |last2=Bacon |first2=Heather |last3=Connor |first3=Melanie |last4=Dwyer |first4=Cathy Mary |date=2019 |title=Rabbit welfare: determining priority welfare issues for pet rabbits using a modified Delphi method |journal=Veterinary Record Open |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=e000363 |doi= 10.1136/vetreco-2019-000363|issn=2399-2050 |pmc=6924855 |pmid=31903189}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=George |first1=Amber E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZD2CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 |title=Screening the Nonhuman: Representations of Animal Others in the Media |last2=Schatz |first2=J. L. |date=2016-04-27 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-4985-1375-3 |language=en}}</ref>