Yin-Yang / BUWAN

Once there was a famed archer called Hou Yi and his beautiful wife, Chang’e. They lived a happy life until one day, ten suns appeared in the sky at the same time. They were powerful and bright- ten orbs of relentless heat that dried up the rivers, destroyed crops and burnt people.

The Gods finally called upon the famed Archer Hou Yi to shoot the suns down.

Faithfully, Hou Yi listened and tried begging the suns, threatening them and eventually, he shot down all but one of them. As the Suns fell, each turned into a three-legged raven. Happy with his intervention, the Gods rewarded him with a elixir of immortality. However, not wanting to leave his wife, he hid the elixir and continued living his life.

But one day, one of Hou Yi’s students named Peng Meng learned about the elixir and tried to steal it when Hou Yi wasn’t home. In order to protect the elixir from the evil person, Chang’e drank the elixir of immortality. Then she flew to the moon and became the Moon Godness, leaving her husband behind.

Hou Yi was heartbroken when he was told what had happened to Chang’e. He shouted to the sky and surprisingly discovered the moon was extremely bright that night. He caught sight of a swaying figure that was exactly like Chang’e. Then he displayed the fruits and cakes that Chang’e had enjoyed to convey to Chang’e that he missed her.

Moved by their true love, the Mother of the Moon allowed Chang’e to reunite with Hou Yi every year on the full moon of the eighth lunar month.