- Tale One: The Tale of Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit
- Tale Two: The Tale of the Year of Rabbit, the Forth Animal in the Chinese Zodiac
- Tale Three: The Puzzling Image of the Three Hares on the Dunhuang Manuscripts
Have you noticed our cute bunnies and the Moon designs in the new September loungewear collection? Rabbits are a well-liked Easter symbol in the west, representing vitality and fertility.
However, our designs tell the stories of the ancient historical culture in far East Asia from the Chinese folklores passed down from generation to generation. Following our telling of the legendary tales, we invite you to closely experience the enlightenment we explored throughout the ancient civilizations in history expressed in our design.
Tale One: The Tale of Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit
Once upon a time, there was a white rabbit to be seen on the Moon by the ancient villagers. They called it the Jade Rabbit. The Jade Rabbit was said to live on the Moon as its forever home and works relentlessly on making the elixir of life for the immortals. The ancient villagers believed that the Jade Rabbit was Chang'e, a renowned beauty who took the immortal pill by mistake and became Goddess of the Moon in the incarnation of a rabbit. You may find this rabbit in the shape of running hard to chase the Moon in our new loungewear collection. As the Chinese poem by Su Shi depicts, "the Moon is bright or dim, and she may wax or wane." Like other planets in the cosmos, the beauty of the Moon never dies.
Tale Two: The Tale of the Year of Rabbit, the Forth Animal in the Chinese Zodiac
According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2023 is the year of the Water Rabbit. In the twelve-year Chinese zodiac cycle, the year of the rabbit comes the fourth, also known as "卯兔 (Mao Tu)". Regarded as the luckiest one of all the twelve animals, the rabbit waits for her moment to leap for success. In the origin of the zodiac story, all the animals in the Great Race of becoming zodiac animals needed to make their way to the gate of Heaven. The Jade Emperor ruled that the top twelve would become the zodiac animals and be ranked in order as they arrived at the destination. The rabbit started the race much earlier than the other runners but got loose halfway in a nap. Still, the rabbit made it to the end and ranked fourth in the race. Since then, the rabbit has symbolized a dash of luck in Chinese culture. The zodiac sign of the rabbit also embodies mercy, peace, elegance, and beauty.
The Chinese lunar calendar indicates the cycles of the Moon. During the Chinese New Year, also referred to as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, people from all walks of life travel back to their hometowns for a celebration. They gathered around the dinner table with their family members and friends, shared their stories of the past year, and gave their best wishes to each other for the upcoming year.
Tale Three: The Puzzling Image of the Three Hares on the Dunhuang Manuscripts
On the edge of the Gobi Desert in western China, a chamber in a cave outside the oasis town of Dunhuang came to the scholars' and artists' view. This chamber was filled with more than five hundred cubic feet of bundled manuscripts and is deemed one of the great archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century, on par with Tutankhamun's tomb and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among these mystical manuscripts, the visitors noticed a puzzling image on multiple manuscripts that three rabbits appear to be chasing each other in a never-ending circle. Only three rabbit ears can be seen, with each pair of adjacent rabbits sharing an ear. These three rabbit ears are laid out to form a triangle, surrounded by the circles of the lotus flower hearts and the flying apsaras. The mythical image is described to reflect the ancient art of beauty in harmony.
The rabbits and the Moon have vastly existed in the Chinese classics and cultural relics, including the ones we illustrated above. Through these tales we are telling, we unfold to you what our design embodies:
the faith in the perpetual pursuit of beauty,
the thoughts of being with the family and loved ones,
a piece of hope for new opportunities,
and an unstoppable journey of exploring the commonly shared wisdom
from thousands of years of ancient civilizations.
In the year of the rabbit, under the stunning light shone by the Moon, may your life be filled with peace, hope, fortune, and beauty.
