Chang’e, the spirit of the moon, or the moon goddess, is based off a chinese myth of love, loss, and sacrifice.
Hou Yi, husband to Chang’e, who saved the world from burning when he shot down 9 of the 10 suns in the sky was awarded two elixirs of immortality for his efforts. Together, Chang’e and Hou Yi planned to take these elixirs to spend eternity together but fate would change their direction.
One night, an enemy of Hou Yi broke into their home looking for the elixirs to take for himself. Chang’e was the only one home and, in order to hide them from this terrible man, she took both of them, granting herself an immortal life by herself. In her despair, she floated up to the moon with her spirit animal, Jade rabbit, where she would spend eternity looking down on the world, without her one true love.
This is also the reason the we see a rabbit in the shadows of the moon, making his own potions to bring Hou Yi back to Chang’e.
This beautiful story of the Moon Goddess has been taken to new extents in recent years with the amazing book, Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan (Where I was first introduced to this story), as well as the Netflix children’s movie, Over The Moon.
As a lover of mythology, goddesses, and the moon, I feel this heartbreaking connection to the moon goddess. While I haven’t felt the loss she holds of losing her one true love, there is something about her that draws me in. Maybe it’s her strength and power to keep going, maybe it’s her connection to the divine feminine through the lunar energy, or maybe it’s simply the connection that all women know of loss somewhere deep in our bones. Whatever it is, this story has drawn me in and pushed me to create this gouache painting with an acrylic ink background, showing Chang’e holding the moon as it glows with feminine light, and a hope for the future.
For a more rich understanding of this story and the Chinese history behind it, read this blog post from Irene Lo.
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