CUTE BUNNIES: Stuffed rabbits are the best decoration during the Spring Festival this year (CFP)

Every year of the Chinese lunar calendar corresponds with an animal. The rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig make up the Chinese zodiac, which repeats in a 12-year cycle. This year's Chinese New Year rings in the Year of the Rabbit.

China's lunar calendar has spread with slight variations to other Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam. The Year of the Rabbit (or the year of the cat in Viet Nam), is commonly believed to be a peaceful and auspicious year in the countries using the Chinese zodiac.

Domesticated rabbits were introduced into China from Europe via the Silk Road some 2,000 years ago. Due to its high rate of reproduction, the rabbit has traditionally been viewed as the "God of Fertility" in China, where people historically believed that more children meant more blessings.

Rabbits in legend

Chinese people's fondness for rabbits is also tied to their worship of Chang'e, the Goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology. There are accounts of Chang'e in several ancient books such as the Book of Mountains and Seas, a work of folk geography that includes myths written during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) and early Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 220); and The Huainanzi, a work of eclectic learning compiled in the Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 9). The legend states that Chang'e in mortal life stole an elixir of life from her husband. After swallowing the potion she flew to the Moon, where she became immortal but was cloistered forever. Accompanying her in the cold, cheerless Moon palace were the Jade Rabbit whose duty was to pound medicine in a mortar, and a man named Wu Gang who cut a laurel tree day and night. According to legend, the human world once suffered an outbreak of plague. In response, Chang'e sent the Jade Rabbit to Earth, where it used the miraculous tonic to save mankind.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, an important traditional Chinese festival falling on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, is also closely related to the Moon and the rabbit. According to the Survey of Scenery and Monuments in the Imperial Capital, a 17th century Chinese prose classic, people traditionally offered sacrifices to the Moon Goddess and Jade Rabit for the Mid-Autumn Festival. According to popular legend, Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) strictly observed this ritual even as she was fleeing from Beijing in 1900 following invasion by the Eight-Power Allied Forces.

Rabbits in culture

Archaeological finds show that at least 3,000 years ago, the hare was already part of daily life. A jade sculpture of a hare and a hare-shaped bronze zun—an ancient wine vessel—were discovered among the ruins of the late Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.) in today's Anyang City of central China's Henan Province and in a Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 B.C.) tomb in Quwo County of north China's Shanxi Province.

The legendary Jade Rabbit motif has also appeared on various ancient items, including a silk painting excavated from the Mawangdui tombs of the Western Han Dynasty in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province. Similar images have been found on brick reliefs discovered at a late Western Han tomb in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and a Southern Dynasties (420-589) tomb in Danyang, east China's Jiangsu Province. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Jade Rabbit worship had become a very popular subject of Spring Festival wood block pictures.

The rabbit also has a rich history in literature. For example, among the four most famous 12th-century Southern Opera—a genre first appearing around the city of Wenzhou, south of the Yangtze River, during the early Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)—two were related to the Moon and the rabbit. Pavilion of Moon-Worshipping tells about the forced separation and reunion of a couple amidst the turmoil of war. Legend of a White Rabbit featured a fantastic plot wherein a white rabbit accidentally brought about the reunion of a family after years of separation.

In addition, rabbit-related proverbs readily spring to people's lips. One of the most popular is: "The fox mourns the death of the rabbit," which means one expresses grief to the death or misfortune of people with similar situations as him or her.

Rabbits have also served as playthings. During the Qing Dynasty, the image of the Rabbit God—an outgrowth of the earlier Jade Rabbit legend—was featured on clay figurines molded as children's toys for the Mid-Autumn Festival in and around Beijing.

According to a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) book, Seasonal Festives in Beijing, clay Rabbit God figurines were sold at shops and stalls in the capital city. Featuring different sizes, the personified rabbit typically wore a suit of armor and rode on the backs of various animals such as the tiger, lion, elephant, peacock or crane.

In the past, such figurines could be found everywhere in Beijing. Nowadays, however, they are only sold occasionally at temple fairs held during the Spring Festival.

What's in a Rabbit?

People born in a particular year have the "animal sign" or shuxiang of the year of their birth. Babies born in 2011 and people who were born in previous "rabbit years" of the 12-year cycling zodiac—such as 1999, 1987, 1975, etc.—share the sign of the rabbit. In traditional Chinese belief, people who share the same shuxiang also share a similar character, temperament and even good or bad fortune.

Rabbits are articulate, talented, and ambitious, according to Chinese belief. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. People born in the Year of the Rabbit are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They like gossip, but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and, being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with sheep, pigs, and dogs.

(Source: www.c-c-c.org)

The author is a folklorist and senior editor with the Academy Press