Tu'er Ye (), also known as the Rabbit God, is a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

of Chinese folk religion unique to Beijing, where his sculptures are traditionally crafted. He is related with moon worship, as he is considered the moon rabbit of the goddess

Chang'e Chang'e ( ; , alternatively rendered as Chang-Er or Ch‘ang-o), originally known as Heng'e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. She is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elem ...

. A frequent misnomer is "Tuye Er" (兔爺兒, "Rabbit God (as a) Youth"). Based on the correct Beijing dialect, it should be "Tu'er Ye" (兔兒爺). In his traditional

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

, he rides a tiger, a dragon or a horse, but he is represented standing alone as well. The cult of the Rabbit God started in Beijing in 1906, later in the 20th century disappeared, and was resumed only in the late 2000s. He has a female counterpart, Tu'er Nainai ({{zh, c=兔兒奶奶, p=Tù'ernǎinai, l=Lady Leveret). However the two could be one and the same deity since in some legends, Tu'er Ye changed his appearance depending on what human clothing was donated to him by the people he helped. So Tu'er Nainai could simply be a cross-dressing Tu'er Ye. He is not to be confused with Tu'er Shen, a different cult of perhaps the same deity.

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Lord Rabbit Worshipping Returns to Yuetan Park

Jade Rabbit, Lord Rabbit
Chinese deities

See also

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