Yoshitoshi - 100 Aspects of the Moon - 26

Wu Gang (), formerly

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

as Wu Kang and also known as Wu Zhi in some sources,Eberhard, Wolfram. ''Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought''
pp. 76 ff
Routledge & Kegan Paul (London), 2013. Accessed 12 November 2013. is a figure in traditional

Chinese folklore Chinese folklore encompasses the folklore of China, and includes songs, poetry, dances, puppetry, and tales. It often tells stories of human nature, historical or legendary events, love, and the supernatural. The stories often explain natural phe ...

and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

. He is known for endlessly cutting down a self-healing

osmanthus ''Osmanthus'' ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. Most of the species are native to eastern Asia ( China, Japan, Korea, Indochina, the Himalayas, etc.) ...

tree on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, a divine punishment which has led to his description as the Chinese

Sisyphus In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos (; Ancient Greek: Σίσυφος ''Sísyphos'') was the founder and king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). Hades punished him for cheating death twice by forcing him to roll an immense boulder up a hill ...

.Brendon, Juliet & al. ''The Moon Year: A Record of Chinese Customs and Festivals''
p. 410
Kelly & Walsh, 1927. Reprinted Routledge ( Abingdon), 2011. Accessed 13 November 2013. In modern Chinese, the ''

chengyu ''Chengyu'' () are a type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expression, most of which consist of four characters. ''Chengyu'' were widely used in Classical Chinese and are still common in vernacular Chinese writing and in the spoken language ...

'' "Wu Gang chopping the tree" () is used to describe any endless toil. The specific reason for his situation has varied in the sources, but Wu Gang's story dates back to at least the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

Legend

Origins

origin myth An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have st ...

for the

lunar phase Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...

s was that a great forest or great tree grew there, swiftly growing and losing leaves and blossoms over the course of each month. After the expansion of the Chinese cultural area south of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

during the Qin and Han dynasties, the lunar trees became associated with the fragrant and white-blossoming Osmanthus fragrans. This tree flowers during the autumn and promoted the connection of the

harvest festival A harvest festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places. ...

with the Moon, a connection still observed during the modern

Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival ( Chinese: / ), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan (), Korea (), Vietnam (), and other countries in E ...

. Confections and cassia wine flavored with its blossoms are also still associated with the holiday. By the time of the Han, the ''

Huainanzi The ''Huainanzi'' is an ancient Chinese text that consists of a collection of essays that resulted from a series of scholarly debates held at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, sometime before 139. The ''Huainanzi'' blends Daoist, Confuci ...

'' associated the waxing of the moon with trees growing from the feet of a

Daoist immortal Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao ...

. In his ''Compendium of'' Materia Medica,

Li Shizhen Li Shizhen (July 3, 1518 – 1593), courtesy name Dongbi, was a Chinese acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is the author of a 27-year work, found in the ''Compendium o ...

explains that Wu Gang was added to the stories about the holiday from

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...

s published during the Sui and

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) ...

dynasties.

First version

The 9th-century ''

Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang The ''Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang'' () is a book written by Duan Chengshi in the 9th century. It focuses on miscellany of Chinese and foreign legends and hearsay, reports on natural phenomena, short anecdotes, and tales of the wondrous a ...

'' mentions a lunar tree over five hundred '' zhang'' high. A certain Wu Gang of Xihe stands under it, constantly chopping at the tree, which grows back after it is chopped.

Second version

Wu witnessed a liaison between his wife and Yandi's grandson, after the two had already carried on an affair so long it begat three sons. In a rage, Wu murdered his wife's lover but Yandi ordered Wu banished to the Moon, where he would cut down a tree. After each blow, the tree healed itself and Wu was therefore forced to cut at it forever.

Third version

Another version features a

cherry bay ''Prunus laurocerasus'', also known as cherry laurel, common laurel and sometimes English laurel in North America, is an evergreen species of cherry ('' Prunus''), native to regions bordering the Black Sea in southwestern Asia and southeastern ...

. In this version, Wu Gang began the attempt to become a Taoist immortal but gave up lazily midway through the process. The

Jade Emperor The Jade Emperor or Yudi ( or , ') in Chinese culture, traditional religions and myth is one of the representations of the first god ( '). In Daoist theology he is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun, who is one of the Three Pure Ones, the th ...

was furious and decided to punish him. The Emperor created a cherry bay on the Moon and Wu Gang was invited to chop it down in order to become an immortal. Wu Gang tried, but again the tree healed itself and the task was impossible. The shadows on the Moon are said to be created by the growing cherry bay.

Fourth version

In yet another version, Wu found a teacher in the mountains in his quest for immortality. When his teacher taught him to heal, he gave up after three days. When he was taught to play

Chinese chess ''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as ''shogi'', ''janggi'', Western chess, ''chatu ...

, he gave up after two days. When he was taught the method of eternal life, he gave up after a day. His teacher then sent him to the Moon to chop down the tree.

References

{{reflist, 30em Taoist mythology Characters in Chinese mythology