Chang’e’s Flight: The Ancient Chinese Legend That Explains Why We Chase the Moon​​

The Day the Sky Burned​​

The world was dying. ​​Ten suns​​ blazed in the heavens, scorching rivers into steam and cracking the earth like a broken eggshell. Desperate, the ​​Jade Emperor​​—ruler of the gods—called upon the only man who could fix this: ​​Hou Yi, the divine archer​​.

With his ​​dragonbone bow​​ and arrows tipped with phoenix feathers, Hou Yi did the impossible. Nine times he drew his bow. Nine suns fell from the sky. The last remaining sun, trembling, promised to behave—rising and setting like clockwork forever.

As reward, the gods gave Hou Yi a ​​crystal vial containing the Elixir of Immortality​​. But there was a catch: the vial held only enough for one person.

​​The Secret in the Cottage​​

Hou Yi returned to his wife, ​​Chang’e​​, the most beautiful woman in the mortal realm. Instead of drinking the elixir himself, he hid it beneath their bed, whispering:

"When the time is right, we’ll share it—half for you, half for me. Even if it takes a thousand years to find a way."

But secrets have a way of slipping out.

Hou Yi’s apprentice, ​​Pang Meng​​, a man with hungry eyes and a greed-stained soul, overheard rumors of the elixir. One night, when Hou Yi was hunting in the western mountains, Pang Meng ​​kicked down the door​​, sword gleaming in the moonlight.

"Give me the elixir," he demanded, "or I’ll carve it from your bones."

​​The Choice That Made History​​

Chang’e stood frozen. If Pang Meng became immortal, he’d plague the world forever. But if she drank it alone...

She made her choice.

In one fluid motion, she ​​swallowed the entire vial​​. Instantly, her body became light as a dandelion seed. The thatched roof tore open as she floated upward, her husband’s name tearing from her lips—"Hou Yi!"—but he was miles away, arrow nocked, unaware his world was ending.

The wind carried her past startled cranes, through silver clouds, until the earth shrank to the size of a blue pearl beneath her. With the last of her will, Chang’e steered toward the ​​cold, luminous moon​​—the only place far enough to keep the elixir from evil hands.

​​The First Moon Festival​​

When Hou Yi returned at dawn, he found their home shattered and Pang Meng gone. Then a villager pointed to the sky: "Look! The moon... it has a face!"

There, in the lunar shadows, was Chang’e’s silhouette—​​forever out of reach​​.

That night, Hou Yi laid a feast beneath the moonlight: ​​peaches from the gods’ orchard​​, ​​honey cakes shaped like the moon​​, and ​​jugs of osmanthus wine​​. He played their wedding song on a jade flute, begging the heavens for mercy.

The villagers, moved by his grief, began doing the same every harvest moon. Over centuries, this became the ​​Mid-Autumn Festival​​, where families:

Eat mooncakes​​ (originally offerings to Chang’e)

​​Light lanterns​​ (symbolizing messages to the moon)

​​Tell children​​ the dark patches are "Chang’e’s Moon Palace"

​​From Myth to Moon Landings​​

Chang’e’s legend never faded. In 2007, when China launched its first lunar probe, scientists named it ​​Chang’e-1​​—a nod to the goddess watching from above.

But here’s the twist no ancient storyteller could’ve predicted:

In 2019, ​​Chang’e-4​​ landed on the far side of the moon, planting potatoes and cotton seeds in an experiment. For the first time in history, something grew on that barren sphere where Chang’e wept.

Perhaps, after 3,000 years, she finally has company.

​​Why This Story Resonates Globally​​

​​It’s the original "lonely space explorer" narrative​​—predating Interstellar by millennia.

​​The moral is timeless​​: Sacrificing personal happiness to protect others.

​​It explains traditions​​ in a way that’s emotional, not academic.

​​Final Line:​​

"Next Mid-Autumn Festival, look closely at the moon. Some say you can still see her dancing—a woman who gave up everything to keep immortality from the wrong hands."