Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang cutting the cassia tree, the jade rabbit pounding medicine — Chinese people have hung their longing for reunion on the moon.
The Chinese believe the moon holds the farthest longing on earth — and the nearest home.
The legend says Hou Yi shot down nine suns, and the Queen Mother of the West gave him the elixir of immortality. Hou Yi did not want to ascend alone, so he gave the elixir to his wife Chang'e for safekeeping. While he was away, his apprentice Peng Meng tried to force her to hand it over; in desperation she swallowed it and floated, weightless, toward the moon. From then on, the Cold Palace held only her, a jade rabbit pounding medicine, and a cassia tree that could never be felled.
The moon holds more than one story. Wu Gang was sentenced to chop the cassia tree, which healed itself with every blow, so he labours forever; Emperor Ming of Tang visited the moon palace, memorised its celestial music and brought back 'Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat'. Every age placed its own cares on the moon, which is why it became the liveliest palace in China.
On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the moon is roundest and people long for reunion. Travellers hurry home; families sit together to admire the moon, share mooncakes and split pomegranates. Su Shi wrote, 'May we live long and share the moon's beauty, though a thousand miles apart' — turning the regret of separation into a blessing for everyone. Mid-Autumn is second only to Spring Festival in the Chinese heart.
We know now there is no Cold Palace on the moon, only craters. Yet on Mid-Autumn nights people still point at the shadows and tell children they are Chang'e's cassia tree. Science can explain the moon; it cannot explain the longing in its light. Some myths we know are untrue — but we keep telling them, because they are truly warm.
