Chang'e

A woman who appears in ancient Chinese legends. Also known as Chang'e, she was the wife of the archer Yi. Chang'e is said to have stolen the elixir of immortality that her husband Yi had received from the female fairy Queen Mother of the West who lived in Mount Kunlun, and after taking it, she ascended to the moon and transformed into a toad. It is believed that the reason the elixir of immortality and the moon were linked through Chang'e is because people sensed immortality in the moon, which waxes and wanes forever. The idea that she transformed into a toad may also be due to the ancient Chinese idea that the moon's shadow resembled a frog. However, later on, the legend of her transformation into an ugly frog disappeared, and Chang'e came to be thought of as a melancholy beauty who lived alone under the moon. Tang dynasty poets often used this image of Chang'e as a subject for incorporating the moon into their poetry.

[Tota Kirimoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国古代の伝説に登場する女性。姮娥(こうが)ともいい、弓の名人羿(げい)の妻。嫦娥は、夫の羿が崑崙(こんろん)山に住む女仙の西王母(せいおうぼ)からもらい受けた不死の薬を盗み出し、それを服用したのち、月世界へ昇ってガマガエルに化したと伝えられる。嫦娥を仲立ちとして不死の薬と月が結び付いたのは、人々が永遠に変わることなく満ち欠けを繰り返す月に不死性を感じ取ったためと思われる。またガマガエルに変身したというのも、月影をカエルに見立てた古代の中国人の観念によるものであろう。しかしのちになると、醜いカエルに化したという伝承は消失し、嫦娥はただ1人で月中に孤独をかこつ憂愁の美女と考えられるようになった。そうした嫦娥の姿を唐代の詩人たちは、しばしば詩に月を読み込むときの素材としている。

［桐本東太］

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