Category:Rabbits on Chinese numismatic charms

English: Rabbits on Chinese numismatic charms symbolise Longevity. In Taoist mythology, the elixir of immortality is prepared by the "moon hare", who resides on the moon. The rabbit (or hare) is one of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals. Houyi's wife Chang'e (嫦娥) found the pill (or elixir) of immortality which Houyi had hidden, ate it, and then floated to the moon where she is destined to live for eternity. Chang'e's companion on the moon is the "Moon Hare" or "Jade Rabbit" (yu tu 玉兔) who, next to a large and magical cassia (cinnamon) tree (gui shu 桂树), works eternally pounding cassia leaves, flowers and bark with mortar and pestle trying to recreate the pill of immortality so that Chang'e can float back to earth to reunite with her husband. In the meantime, Chang'e, also known as the "Moon Goddess", lives is a cold palace (guang han gong 广寒宫) built among cassia trees. Some versions of the story describe that the Queen Mother of the West punished Chang'e for stealing the pill (or elixir) by transforming her into a toad (chanchu 蟾蜍).  Over the centuries that followed, the Chinese gradually associated the "toad" with the "moon" and eventually the expression "toad palace" came to simply refer to the "moon".