The Chinese moon deity Xiwangmu is one of the most important deities in Chinese religion. He is known for his great powers and wisdom. He was also known as Change. He was the husband of Xihe, the moon goddess. He is said to have ruled over the sky for ten years.
Xiwangmu
The Chinese moon deity Xiwangmi is a goddess with several powers. Often associated with fertility and health, she prayed for rain and a good harvest. Usually, these are attributes associated with other deities, such as the sun or rain god, but Xiwangmu is a goddess of nature and the human soul.
Xiwangmu is a deity who was formerly a ferocious monster but later transformed into an immortal god. In this form, Xiwangmu lost all of her beastly attributes and became utterly human, resembling an older woman. Despite this change, her power and influence remain.
Chinese legends depict the goddess as rescuing people from ships. She was the patron of fishermen and sailors and was one of the most popular deities throughout China. She was worshipped by men and women alike. She also helped people overcome their troubles on the sea. She is associated with fertility and can be seen in many temples and paintings.
Chinese moon deities are revered in many ways. During the Mid-Autumn festival, her image is depicted as the Moon Goddess, Change. According to legend, Change stole the immortality potion from her husband, Hou Yi. However, after receiving the elixir, she flew into the sky and took residence on the Moon. When Yi discovered that Change was gone, he gave sacrifices to her. Later, he was made king and became a tyrant. Eventually, Change stole the elixir and saved the people from Yi’s rule.
Change
The Chinese moon deity Change is a god of the Moon. Originally from Earth, she was a beloved goddess living on the Moon. The elixir of immortality she received from the Queen Mother of the West was only enough to give immortality to one person. Change didn’t want to gain immortality without her husband, Houyi. Therefore, she kept the elixir with her. One day, one of Hou Yi’s students tried to steal the medicine, but Change did not let go of it. Eventually, she drank the elixir, flew to the Moon, and became immortal.
Changes name means beautiful young woman, which is a fitting symbol of the high place she holds in Chinese culture. She was initially called Heng, but her name was changed because the heng character was similar to that of the Han emperor. The Emperor thought it was bad form for a cultural figure to share letter character traits with someone else. That is why he decreed Chang’e’s name to be Change.
The Change myth traces its origins to the fifth century BC during the Warring States period. The story of Change, the god of immortality, is well-known in Chinese mythology. The myth describes her as a woman of beauty, grace, intelligence, and self-sacrifice. She has several aspects in common with her fellow gods, including drinking an elixir of immortality and flying to the Moon to fulfill her destiny.
The
The Chinese moon deity Xihe is a solar goddess who is also the sun’s mother. She and her sons created the Mid-Autumn Festival, the country’s second-largest holiday. They also made the three-legged crows that originated in China and spread throughout Eastern Asia.
Legend says that Emperor Li Longji (r. 618 – 907) and his two wives, Changxi and Xihe, had many children. One of them, Changxi, bore ten suns and twelve moons. The other two, Xihe and Changxi, were mothers to twelve moons and ten suns. The sons of Xihe were said to live in the Fusang mulberry tree in the east sea. The Emperor’s wife, Xihe, would choose one of her sons to accompany her.
The Chinese moon goddess is associated with immortality. She is often represented floating toward the Moon in paintings, and a palace is usually in the background. She is also associated with the red gem cinnabar, which symbolizes alchemy.
Xihe’s wife
In mythology, Xihe’s wife was a Chinese moon deity. According to a legend from the 2nd century BC, a carriage carried the goddess Xihe through the world, traveling from one continent to the next. She passed by landmarks along the way, crossing nine continents and resting in seven places. Although the goddess is never explicitly mentioned by name, she is often described as the female attendant of Di Jun, the Chinese moon god. In addition, a team of dragons pulled the goddess Xihe’s carriage.
She was the mother of ten suns in ancient Chinese mythology. Each child of Xihe was a separate sun that took turns driving the chariot across the sky. When the suns were together, they scorched the Earth. However, Hou Yi shot down nine of Xihe’s children, but the last sun survived and warmed the Earth.
In Chinese mythology, Xihe’s wife was a goddess who was closely linked to Di Jun. Her sons were responsible for founding China’s second-largest holiday, the Moon Festival. Xihe’s mythology is so widespread that it’s often traced on modern maps of Asia. She was one of the wives of the ancient agricultural god Di Jun and is even mentioned in ancient poetry.
Xiwangmu’s elixir of immortality
In Chinese mythology, Xiwangmu is a goddess who represents immortality. She lives in the Kunlun Mountains of the far west. Xiwangmu is surrounded by many celestial beings who help her prepare her elixir of immortality. The mixture is peach-shaped like a peach and is said to bring long life.
In Chinese mythology, the goddess Xiwangmu gave the elixir to Hou Yi at the beginning of the Han dynasty. The mixture makes you immortal and will enable you to ascend to heaven. Despite its power, Hou Yi did not want to split with his wife, so he asked her to hide it in a wooden box.
Xiwangmu was once associated with wildcats and tigers and was often depicted holding a tiger’s tail and teeth. In legend, she was even known to keep tigers as companions. Her other connections include the Moon. In some paintings, she is seen pounding her elixir of immortality and dancing with a frog.
The legend of Xiwangmu’s mystical powers needs to be clarified. While the peach of immortality is supposedly made of peaches, it is not proven that peaches can give immortality. Beauty is also believed to be a fruit, and the peach tree blooms only once every 3,000 years.
Xihe’s neighbor
Astronomers have announced the discovery of a new exoplanet orbiting the Xihe star, the first of its kind. Named after the Chinese moon deity, Wangshu, this planet is about 440 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. It is also about 2.7 times as massive as Jupiter.
According to Chinese mythology, Xihe was a solar goddess who gave birth to the ten suns of antiquity. These suns nearly destroyed the Earth, but the goddess protected the Earth. The name Xihe combines the ancient surname xi and the character here, which means gentle and harmonious. In ancient times, Xihe was the first wife of Emperor Di Jun. She was also the wife of the moon goddess Changxi, who gave birth to twelve moons.
While Xihe was never worshipped, he is remembered today through the construction of a statue in Hangzhou. Despite this, his gender and other details are sketchy. Nonetheless, the ten-legged crow is a symbol of Xihe’s power.
Mooncakes
Mooncakes are a popular Chinese gift. They are sold at hotels and supermarkets in elaborate gift boxes. If you buy mooncakes from a hotel, you will probably pay more. However, you can still find affordable versions if you look for them online. Many Chinese people prefer to buy gifts at the supermarket, and their packaging is much more attractive.
Chinese mooncakes are usually made with a dough or flour batter that is stir-fried and then baked. Some varieties are filled with fruit or vegetables. Taro paste, pineapple, and prunes are common fillings. Some variations even include ham and salted duck egg yolks.
The origin of Chinese mooncakes is slightly different than the origin of the holiday. Some believe the mooncakes were used as part of an uprising against the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) during the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. At that time, Chinese leaders needed to coordinate the rebellion with an attack by Chinese troops. As a result, mooncakes were used as part of this secret message.
Mooncakes can be lovely. The traditional filling is made of 5 different types of nuts. Peanuts, watermelon seeds, and sesame seeds are often included. Some people also have candied winter melon and pieces of rock sugar.
