Rabbit leaps into global awareness

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York recently launched Celebrating the Year of the Rabbit, an exhibition that will run until Feb 4 next year. It brings together 16 outstanding works of Chinese art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, stating that the rabbit is a popular character that often appears in Chinese literature and folk tales, and has been an important artistic subject since ancient times.

The image of the rabbit first appeared on jade pendants and bronze objects that were used in rituals during the Shang (c. 16th century-11th century BC) and Zhou (c. 11th century-256 BC) dynasties. According to Chinese mythology, the rabbit inhabited the moon to accompany fairy Chang'e and prepares the elixir of immortality. The legend was embodied on the backs of bronze mirrors from the 8th to 10th centuries, and was embroidered in silk patterns of the 19th century.