Chang'e：Chinese Moon Goddess

By Zoey Eden

千百年前，唐朝詩人李商隱《嫦娥》一詩勾起了人們對嫦娥偷靈藥的猜想，勾起了人們對月亮的無限遐想。

Also known as Heng'e,Chang'o，Chang'e is the Chinese Goddess in the Moon.As the sister of River God,she is now the silvery lady of our nearest neighbor in space.

Chang'e started out as the greedy wife of the ill-fated Yi.She took his share of the elixir （長生不老藥）,leaving him with nothing.She might have heard the elixir was great for losing weight,but when she became truly weightless and started floating up to Heaven,she began to regret her impulsiveness（沖動）.

Fearing Heavenly punishment,she took refuge in the Moon and was turned into a toad （蟾蜍）.Therearemany things beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals（凡人）.

All those dreamy moon songs and romantic moony images and this sort of thing go on behind our backs! “Give me the moonlight—give me the toad.”

There she remains to this day.She is not alone though.She has a pet rabbit.Yes she does.The Jade Rabbit,Yutu,keeps her company while she works on her silvery elixirs.

As Lady of the Moon,Chang'e glows with a brilliant light and offers good fortune to those that remember her,particularly during her festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,when prayers and offerings are most welcome.From time to time she is allowed to visit Heaven,but an unfortunate experience with the Pigsy (豬八戒)left her unwilling to return.

Being separated from her husband Houyi,she's sympathetic to all lovers.That's why it's traditional for romantic couples to hug under the silvery moon.

As official Chinese goddess for the lunar surface,Chang'e has donated her name to the China's Lunar Exploration Program.In December 2013 the Chang'e Program successfully placed a lander on the moon,with more to follow.So far no images of the Moon Goddess have been set back to Earth.