The Jade Rabbit Pounds Medicine

Rabbit in the Moon

The moon rabbit pounds the elixir of immortality, companion of Chang’e since Han times.

In the moon stands a jade rabbit, lifting a pestle to pound the elixir of immortality; Han-dynasty poetry and carved stone reliefs already show the scene, and the image belongs to the same moon family as Chang’e’s flight and the Queen Mother of the West’s deathless drug. Because the rabbit pounds the very medicine of eternal life, the ancients counted it the spirit of the moon. When later ages gazed up at Mid-Autumn, they saw the hare at work in the shadows, and the jade rabbit became a sign of reunion and good fortune — and the most beloved figure of the festival to this day.