Mandarin Monday: Learn Your Moony Vocabulary

Back in the days when people still had no clue as how to harness electricity, not to mention utilizing its power to create entertainment, the night sky, untinged by artificial light sources, was the most loyal friend one could have after sunset. No wonder all of our ancestors have projected their abundant imaginations and creativity onto this boundless canvas with stars scattering across it despite the differences of civilizations.

And among all of this diamond dust blinking to us from the distance, the Moon – the one and only natural satellite of the earth – has shouldered the most emotion and favor from mankind through the ages. Due to its relatively gentle and soothing beam and its subtle connection with the tide, the Moon has long been considered as a symbol of mysticism and femininity almost ubiquitously around the world. Yet, in ancient China, where people set up their calendar according to the wax and wane of our nearest rock, it seems people had even more fondness for this glowing sphere in the sky. Many folktales and poems about the Moon can be found in historical record, and I've collected a few to introduce to you here.

In China, when people talk about the fables around the Moon, the story Chang’e ascention there is probably the first to come to mind. It's such a classic that even China's latest Moon probe project was named after the legend. Her name has even appeared in official documents dating back to the Warring States Period, before China had been unified by its first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. The story varies depending on who's telling it, but the common belief is that Chang’e is the wife of Hou Yi, an archer who shot down nine of ten suns which set the Earth ablaze in prehistoric times. For his efforts, he was given 2 elixiers of immortality by the gods. However, either out of pure selfishness, or in an effort to protect the liquid from robbers, Chang’e took both doses and consequently ascended to the moon. While "Goddess of the Moon" may sound like a splendid title, there are not many living things on the Moon, and in some variants of the tale, she was even punished by being turned into a toad and was forced to make medicine for the celestial court throughout her lonely life on the rock.

When the ancient Chinese gazed upon the Moon, the shadows cast by the craters on its surface must have reminded them of this cute little creature, or perhaps they simply felt bad for Chang’e, all alone in her 广寒宫  Vast and Chilly Palace, and wanted to give her a companion. In any case, they believed there was a rabbit on the Moon, the Jade Rabbit. Usually, the Jade Rabbit will aid Chang’e in her endless herb-pestling, but in the classic Chinese fantasy novel “Journey to the West”, she eventually descended and disguised herself as a princess to seduce the monk Tang Sanzang, and ended up putting her life in danger before her rabbit master came to the rescue.

Surprisingly, the Chinese weren't the only ones who believed there was a rabbit on the Moon, with the Aztecs, all the way across the Pacific, sharing a similar legend.

Apparently, the big wigs in the celestial court tend to expel people they don’t like to this beautiful yet barren heavenly body. Wu Gang is the other human resident on the Moon, and probably the cousin of Sisyphus and Jing Wei as well, since he is also serving out a lifetime sentence, cutting down an osmanthus tree (other versions say it is a cherry bay tree) which constantly regenerates. It's believed that he took the osmanthus flowers that grew in the celestial courtyard to cure a plague in his village, but the stingy gods still decided to punish him to just to show their power.

Similar to the Greek god Apollo, Wang Shu is a goddess who rides on her Carriage of the Moon across the night sky in China. People also use her name to refer to the Moon.

Originally a word to describe beautiful, elegant ladies who have charming figures, Chinese literati later appropriated it as a word for the Moon. The most famous verse to use this reference is probably the one written by the renowned poet, politician and gourmand, Sushi, who wrote "但愿人长久，千里共婵娟" (Dàn yuàn rén chángjiǔ, qiānlǐ gòng chánjuān) "May we all live a long life, sharing the moon even though we're thousands of miles apart".

In Chinese, the Sun is called 太阳 Tàiyáng, which can be literally translated as the ultimate yang. And in I-Ching, or the book of changes, the classic treatise of Taoist beliefs, everything comes with its counterpart, just like the the Sun and the Moon. So the Moon is called 太阴 Tàiyīn, the ultimate yin that retrieves the balance of the energy.

Some more nicknames for the moon

• 弦月 Xián yuè 月弓 Yuè gōng The crescent moon

• 冰魄 Bīng pò The icy soul

• 寒璧 Hán bì The cold jade

• 丹桂 Dān guì The orange osmanthus

• 白玉盘 Báiyù pán The white jade plate

The last one, 白玉盘 Báiyù pán, is a nickname derived from a poem written by the most famous poet in Chinese history, Li Bai, who is known for his carefree lifestyle, love of alcohol, and, of course, the unparalleled wild imagination and talent present in his poetry. The poem was a way for the author to describe the impression that the Moon left on him when he was a child. Throughout his life, Li Bai penned a number of beautiful lines relating to the Moon, including but not limited to:

• 床前明月光，疑是地上霜。举头望明月，低头思故乡 Chuáng qián míngyuèguāng, yí shì dìshàng shuāng. Jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè, dītóu sī gùxiāng I mistook the moonbeams shining in front of my bed as the frost on the ground. When I gaze upon the Moon it brings about nostalgic thoughts.

• 举杯邀明月，对影成三人 Jǔ bēi yāo míngyuè, duì yǐng chéng sān rén I toast to the moon, the Moon, my shadow and I are the perfect trio.
  

The story of Li Bai's demise even relates to the moon. He was drinking on a boat and was entranced by the breathtaking view of the Moon and its reflection and decided to dive in and catch it. He drowned instead. In the minds of many, only this act of 抱月而眠 (Bào yuè ér mián) eternal sleep in the cradle of the Moon, romantic yet deadly, was a worthy form of death for the man.

Images: flickriver.com