Guided Sleep Meditation & Sleep Hypnosis from Sleep Cove - Chinese Mythological Stories - Including The Rabbit in The Moon and The Zodiac Race

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Starting point is 00:00:46 please go to sleepcove.com slash support. That's sleepcove.com slash support. If you can't support the show right now, please subscribe with a bell to get alerts on all new free content thank you have you ever gazed in wonder at the great pyramid have you marvelled at the golden face of Tudankhamun

Starting point is 00:01:16 or admired the delicate features of Queen Nefertiti if you have you'll probably like the History of Egypt podcast every week we explore tales of this ancient culture The history of Egypt is available wherever you get your podcasting fix. Come, let me introduce you to the world of ancient Egypt. Hello and welcome to Sleep Cove with Christopher Fitton, the place to come for a great night's sleep. With Chinese New Year upon us and 2023 being the year of the rabbit,

Starting point is 00:02:00 I researched the moon rabbit, the mystical rabbit that according to Chinese myth lives in the moon. So tonight I will start with a brief history of the rabbit in the moon and then read the tale of Zhang Yi who also came to live there. Then I will tell you the story of the animal race of the Chinese zodiac and a brief history of this Chinese myth. Also in my previous episode, the Festival of the Lanterns, the father in the story goes to the rabbit in the moon to complete his quest so he can be reunited with his family after unexpectedly travelling 150 years forward in time. So when you listen to the story after learning about the moon rabbit tonight, you will understand.

Starting point is 00:03:01 understand it a little bit better. The moon rabbit or moon hair is a mythical figure in East Asian and indigenous American folklore, based on interpretations that identify the dark markings on the near side of the moon as a rabbit or hair. The legend of the Jade Rabbit is an ancient Chinese story that has been told to children for decades. In this mythological context, Jade means moon. So when you say Jade Rabbit or hear it, it really means moon rabbit to Western ears. The myth tells the story of the white rabbit that lives on the moon and works with Chang-E, the goddess of the moon. According to the

Starting point is 00:04:05 legend, the jade rabbit was sent by the jade emperor to the moon as a reward for its hard work in making the immortality elixers. A rabbit is said to use a mortar and pestle to grind up herbs and plants to make the elixers. These elixers are believed to give humans eternal life. The Jade Rabbit is also said to keep Chang-E company in her pad that during the mid-autum festival the Jade Rabbit can be seen on the moon mixing the alexas of immortality. The legend is a reminder to us all of the importance of hard work and kindness, as well as a reminder of the beauty of the moon, during the third. the Mid-Aughton Festival, offerings are made to the Jade Rabbit in order to honour his noble and kind nature.

Starting point is 00:05:17 He is also seen as a symbol of longevity, fertility and good fortune, and is believed to bring good fortune to those who make offerings to him. Here is the story of how the Jade Rabbit got to the moon. One day, the Jade Emperor decided that he wanted some help preparing the elixir of life for the immortals. Fearing that humans would be too selfish and untrustworthy for such an important role, he thought an animal would be better suited to this responsibility. The Jade Emperor and with some fish, watching throughout the forest, the rabbit could not find any food for the old man from the woodland floor. When he returned much later, he saw the beggar sat next to the fire, eating the fruits

Starting point is 00:07:05 and the fish, able to find any food, realising that he could sacrifice himself so that the man could eat himself in creatures. to take on the role of creating the Alexas, the Jade Emperor carried him up to the moon, where he learned to make divine medicines, and he could be kept safe from humans wishing to steal the Alexa of life. A rabbit virtually mastering the skills

Starting point is 00:08:07 required to pound the right ingredients to create the Alexa of life. The Jade Emperor was still, so delighted with the rabbit that he made his fur and dazzling the heavenly glow from the rabbit's smooth, soft fur, beautiful, precious jade, which is why the other heavenly beings came to call him the jade rabbit. If you look up at the moon and squint slightly at the markings, you can see the jade rabbit. of year when parents tell their children the wondrous tale of the beautiful lady on the moon.

Starting point is 00:09:18 Chang'i, time ago, during the Shia dynasty around 2000 BC, the earth was circled by ten sons, each taking its time to shine down on the heavens, scorching the earth and drying out the water in the wells, rice paddies and lakes. Seeing the damage being caused to the earth, the Emperor sent for his most skilled archer, who why, he shot out of the sky, climbed up the Kunlan mountain under the blazing heat and raised his bow to the skies. Such was the skill and might of our hero, that he drew his bow back, and from it flew nine arrows, striking nine sons, leaving only one. Who I was richly rewarded and was given a pill of immortality by the goddess of heaven, so he might continue to protect the emperor and the earth for evermore.

Starting point is 00:10:45 The pill was only to be taken after a year of meditation and fasting, so Huai hid it away to be taken the following year. While Huai was tending to his imperial duties, his beautiful wife Chang-e, came across the pill in a pretty little box, beautiful, glowing and shimmering like a pearl, to examine it. just as her husband was returning home that her husband would catch her looking at the contents of the box she hid the pill in her mouth

Starting point is 00:11:34 who why was pleased to see his beloved wife and asked her if anything had happened while he was away Changi tried to reply swallowed the pill she began to float upwards and out of the window Try as he might, her husband could not keep her on the ground, and he watched helplessly as she floated away in the sky.

Starting point is 00:12:10 Eventually, Changi, where she came to rest under a tree. Here she met the friendly Jade Rabbit, who still keeps her company on the moon. A festival, when the moon is particularly big and bright, if you make a wish to the late. on the moon, she might hear you, and your wish? The Buddha who did essentially the same, excluding some minor details, Chinese zodiac, were selected through a race. This race is meant to create a time measurement for the people. There could only be 12 winners.

Starting point is 00:14:00 Discovered that the fastest way to the river is to hop on top of the ox. a generous ox agreed to carry them across the river. However, the rat was so eager to win that he pushed the cat into the water. Thus, the cat never forgave the rat and wasn't included in the race. Other variations of the story say that the rat just never told the cat about the race

Starting point is 00:14:31 and did not even compete at all towards the ox in front of the ox and came first and the rocks came in second, and the tiger finished in third. Of a sudden, a loud and big sound came. It was the rabbit. It jumped from one stone to another and was doing well until it slipped. Fortunately, there was a log floating by, and it grabbed onto the log and floated to the finish line, earning the fourth. In fifth place was the dragon, but everyone thought,

Starting point is 00:15:19 It would come in first because it could fly, that it had to stop a couple of times to help some villagers. And on its way to the finish line, it saw a little rabbit on a log and decided to give a little buff of air to help it get. After the dragon, the horse came galloping towards the finish line. The sneaky snake was hidden behind the horse's foot. It suddenly appeared and the horse was seen. scared. The snake took advantage of this and landed itself in sixth place, and the horse landed after the monkey, the rooster, and the sheep landed onto each other to gather together through the water currents and the weeds. They reached the shore. The monkey in ninth place,

Starting point is 00:16:38 and it was a great swimmer. It was late. It told the emperor that it needed a bath, and the fresh water from the river was too tempting that was going to close the race, and oik sound was heard. It was the pig. Lazy little pig originated from this story. The pig felt hungry in the middle of the race, so it stopped and after it awoke, it finished the race in 12th place and became the last animal, the Chinese zodiac in culture. Whether or not you believe in it, the zodiac system is a useful way to understand Chinese culture.

Starting point is 00:18:06 According to tradition, it reveals more than simply your age. It's a window into your personality, career, love prospects and future good or bad fortune. The Chinese zodiac follows the moon, rather than the constellations, as in the Greco-Roman zodiac system. It is divided into a 12-year cycle with a different animal representing each year. Every child in China, Taiwan and Singapore knows the story of the Chinese zodiac.

Starting point is 00:18:48 It's something they learn from birth. Philosophy is deeply rooted in Chinese culture and the zodiac combined with the principles of ying and yang and the five elements asserts a remarkable influence over some people's decisions and beliefs. But if you ask them if they want to have children, they'll say, hey, it's not a bad idea to have a dragon baby. The Chinese believe certain animals get on better than the others, so parents choose specific years to give birth to babies

Starting point is 00:19:28 because they believe their team effort by the right combination of animals can give prosperity to families. These individual family by family decisions might seem small scale but it causes an actual fluctuation in consumer demand and impacts the economy. Even if you don't believe in it, the zodiac is a fun way to learn more about Chinese culture. It's a reminder of how important it is to pay attention to different societies and keep an open mind about our many differences and similarities.

Guided Sleep Meditation & Sleep Hypnosis from Sleep Cove - Chinese Mythological Stories - Including The Rabbit in The Moon and The Zodiac Race

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