Editing Rabbit (section)

===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>