VERSION VII - One can doubt the authenticity of this story of the moon and its shadow.  Hou Yi is not mentioned - at least by name - although there is a cruel king, and there is no reference to suns being shot down.  It's all about being chaste. 

          It tells of a very brave king in China who lived many years ago and was very good to all the people.  He was an admirer of pretty young women and he moved one into the palace so that he could see her whenever he wished.  

          The young woman, however regarded the king as a frightful figure and seldom spoke a word to him.  Every time he went to her rooms in the palace he would take some of his treasures in the hope that she would smile and talk with him.

          However, she ignored him completely - didn't say a word.  It was her custom to burn incense and wax candles every month when the moon was full, as she believed that God lived up there.  Many of the young women at that time believed that if they worshiped the moon, he would make them even more beautiful and eventually a handsome husband would be provided.

          When there was a full moon in the eighth month, the king brought three pills to show the young woman.  The palace priest had said that if he ate them, he would become immortal.  He offered to share them with her so that they could live together forever. 

          Unknown to the young woman, the king was worried about what would happen if he swallowed one of the pills, and he suggested that she take one first.  If nothing untoward happened to her, he'd take the rest.

          The young woman viewed with disgust the thought of living even one day with the king, and immediately thought of a plan to get away from him.  Speaking her first words to him, she said, "Let me see all of the pills first."

          He was so charmed to hear her voice that he gave them to her and she immediately swallowed them and began to float toward the moon.  The king was very angry, but there was nothing he could do except watch as she disappeared into the air.

          The people in his kingdom heard what had happened, as nothing can ever be kept secret.  When they looked at the shadows on the moon, they believed it was the movements of the young woman and her pet rabbit as she talked to God. 

          In time, she was regarded as a goddess and the people organized an annual festival on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar on which not only the God on the Moon was worshiped but also the Moon Goddess who had lived such a chaste life.          

* * * * *

          VERSION VIII has many of the same characteristics as version I, but Hou Yi's adventures are described in far greater detail and Chang e turns out to be a self-centered viscious woman.  It goes like this:

          The people of the earth rejoiced after the great archer Yi shot down nine of the ten wayward suns.  Yi felt great satisfaction at having helped the people so he decided to stay on Earth and do other heroic deeds.

          Yi's wife, the goddess Chang e didn't like that idea, but felt that she couldn't tell her husband.  She chose instead to ask him to finish the tasks as quickly as possible so that they could return to heaven and take their rightful places at King Di-Jun's celestial court.

          Yi set off in search of adventure, and by the time a year had passed he had rid the world of six evils:  the chimera Zha-Yu; the minotaur Tao-Chi; Jiu-Yang, the winged hydra; the fearsome Roc of Quingqu Lake; the great python of Dongting; and Feng-Xi, a giant boar.  All of these creatures had once been devine beings who had assumed monstrous forms to terrify and devour mortals.

          Yi felt great pride in his accomplishments and thought that the Heavenly King would be pleased.  He cooked a great joint of the slaughtered Feng-Xi and brought it on a platter to King Di-Jun expecting to hear words of praise.

          The King, however, was displeased with Yi.  "YIou shot down nine of my sons", he raged.  "You killed other celestial beings for sport!  From this day forward, neither you nor your wife shall set foot in this court again.  I hereby condemn you to live as mortals on earth until the end of your days."

          Yi returned to his wife with a heavy heart and told her what the king had said.  Instead of being sympathetic, she was furious.  "Look at where your foolish desires have landed us!  I am no longer a goddess!  My home is forever lost to me."

          Then sorrow claimed her.  "Oh, what a miserable ending.  One day we shall die and wander the earth as ghosts.  What a terrible fate!"

          The couple lamented together until Chang e suddenly had an idea.  "It is said that the Western Queen Mother has a special potion of immortality.  If you could obtain some, we would not be ghosts."

          Yi's hope and courage were immediately restored.  The very next day he mounted a white horse and galloped away toward Kunlun mountain where the Queen lived.

          His journey was arduous.  First he had to cross a fange of fiery mountains that burned day and night.  Then he had to cross a river with unusual water that couldn't keep even a feather afloat.  He finallyi had to hike eleven thousand leagues to reach the palace.

          The goddess was sympathetic and gave Yi all the elixir she possessed.  "It should be enough to grant immortality to both of you", she said, "but if one of you drinks it all, that person will regain their godhood."

          Yi hurried home and gave the potion to his wife.  He told her all that had transpired and then fell into exhausted slumber.  Chang e was then alone, and by the light of a single candle she stared at the magical potion.  The idea of immortality on earth was distasteful to her.  It was her husband's actions that had caused her to be exiled on earth, and she didn't think she should she have to suffer because of his foolishness.   And with that thought in mind, she suddenly swept up the potion and swallowed it in one gulp.

          In a twinkling, her body became so light that she floated out the window of the cottage they shared.  She drifted toward heaven while rejoicing at the thought that she'd soon be able to see her home once more.

          She was then paralyzed by the thought that she couldn't return to the celestial court, as the Heavenly King and all his courtiers would surely punish her for having left her husband.

          Filled with sorrow, Chang e flew toward the moon.  Arriving there, she found the Moon Palace to be lovely yet everything else seemed desolate.  The only other living things were a jade hare and a bay tree.  She was seized with regret for having thought only of herself.  Oh, if she could only fly down to earth and be with her husband once more.  But it was too late.

          People say that if you look at the moon when it is full, you can see the outline of Chang e as she moves around in the cold light of her lonely palace.

          COMMENT FROM THE INTERNET regarding Chang e. 

          According to a spoof by Thomas R, Neil Armstrong, the astronaut, met Chang e on the moon soon after he took that famous step for mankind.  She was dressed in a red silk gown instead of a space suit. 

          They had quite a conversation during which she revealed that the moon was a god-forsaken place, and she accepted his invitation to return to the earth with him.

          She's now living in Taipei.