Cat spirits of Jinhua

This cat spirit from the folklore of the Jinhua region of Zhejiang is believed to transform into women or men to enchant its human victims. It remains invisible to other people.

Such spirits were once regular household cats. Learn how they acquired their power.

Jade Hare manifests as genderfluid healer to battle epidemic

Last April, when I posted the old Beijing legend of Sir/Dame Hare stopping an epidemic, I didn't think that the pandemic would still be with us now. This illustration is dedicated to the non-binary and transgender healthcare workers, health officials, community organizers and frontline workers who are working hard to support our communities during this pandemic, often in the face of prejudice from an unappreciative society. Here are a few of them:

• Chennai's hijra community organized to distribute relief during COVID-19 lockdown
• Lorena Borjas, a community activist who spent decades advocating for immigrant transgender women in NYC, passed away from Covid 19 in March 2020. Before her passing, Lorena Borjas had started a fundraising campaign to support transgender people who had lost their incomes during the pandemic.
• Dr Rachel Levine, as Health Secretary of Pennsylvania, led the state's COVID-19 response.

Sir/Dame Hare: The gender-fluid deity who saved a city from an epidemic

The legend behind a Beijing custom dating back to before the 17th century:

"So it was said, in a certain year, a sudden epidemic swept through Beijing. Almost every household was struck, and there was no cure for the disease. [The moon deity] Chang' E saw what was happening, and being very grieved, she sent her companion the Jade Hare to Earth to heal the people.

Jade Hare transformed into a teenage girl, and went from house to house curing patients. The people, in their gratitude, offered many gifts to them, but Jade Hare wanted none of that. They only took from each household a set of clothing, changing their outfit each time they moved on to a new location. Sometimes they appeared as a man; sometimes they appeared as a woman.

To reach more people, Jade Hare rode on a horse, a deer, a lion and a tiger. They covered all of the capital and its suburbs. Jade Hare returned to the Moon Palace after the epidemic was eradicated.

From then on, people made clay idols of Jade Hare, some riding a deer, some riding a phoenix, some dressed in armor, some dressed as artisans and tradespeople. On the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, each household lays offerings of fruit, vegetables and legumes on the deity's altar, to thank them for bringing blessing and happiness to the human world. The people fondly address them as Sir Hare or Dame Hare."

A cartoon retelling of the legend. ("Sometimes it is a man, sometimes it is a woman")

Myth of the Moon Toad

The Chinese belief concerning a toad in the moon predates the Warring States era.¹ Late Warring States era statesman and poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BCE) wrote of a toad in the moon in his Songs of Chu.²

Moon Toad may predate other Chinese moon myths such as the Moon Hare.¹ One version of the Moon Toad myth claims that the toad is the lady Chang E (aka Heng E) transformed. Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era (written between 977 and 983 CE³) quotes earlier works that mention a moon toad, including the astronomy book Ling Xian by Zhang Heng (78-139 CE)⁴:

Yi asked the Queen Mother of the West for the Medicine of Immortality. Yi's wife Heng E stole the medicine and flew to the moon. She installed herself on the moon and became a toad.

Just who exactly is Moon Hare / Jade Rabbit anyway?

This character from Chinese folklore is known as 月兔 (usually translated as Moon Rabbit) or 玉兔 (commonly translated as Jade Rabbit). But while researching animal references for this illustration, I realized that the Chinese 月兔 was most likely NOT a rabbit ;-) Why? Because rabbits are not indigenous to China.¹ There are rabbits in Southeast Asia and parts of Japan though.¹

China, however, does have a number of native hare species.² The rabbit/hare confusion in translation started with people applying the term 兔 tu to both indigenous hares and imported rabbits.³

Third century Chinese statesman and author Fu Xuan wrote about the Moon Hare in Ni Tian Wen: "What is in the moon? A white hare pounding medicine with a pestle." ⁴ Of the indigenous hare species living in/near China, only Lepus Timidus (aka Mountain Hare, Blue Hare, White Hare) has a white coat. (in winter)²  So this species conveniently became my reference for the Moon Hare.

So who exactly is Moon Hare/Jade Hare?

There seems to be no consensus, not even about the animal's gender. In one Beijing legend, Jade Hare  engages in repeated 'cross-dressing', casually switching between male and female attire (but more on that later ;-)

Some different versions of the Jade Hare myth: