There are many legends concerning the origin of Lord Rabbit. According to the most popular version, Lord Rabbit, a maker of elixirs, was once sent by the Chinese moon goddess Chang’e to Beijing to save people from a deadly plague. In Beijing, it transformed itself into a young woman and visited every home in the city to give people medicine. The plague quickly subsided, and people competed to give her gifts to express their thanks. But of all gifts, she only accepted clothes. On the streets of Beijing, she was sometime seen dressing in men's clothes, and sometimes in women's clothes. When the plague was driven away, she returned to the Moon. To commemorate her, Beijingers started to created and worship clay rabbit figurines on every Mid-Autumn Festival.
Editor: Shi Liwei
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