Daltokki: The legend of the rabbit on the moon
We have all turned to the sky at some point in our lives and have marveled at the beauty of the moon and her mysterious companion, the “daltokki (literally meaning ”moon rabbit"), a mythological character in some countries including Korea, China, Japan and Vietnam.
Over the years, it has been the source of inspiration for artists, poets and the mean character of thousands of stories, myths, and legends, but have you ever thought, ‘How did the rabbit get there?’
According to Korean mythology, daltokki (also known as yutu or “jade rabbit” in China), is the protagonist in a tale who represents self-sacrifice. A Buddhist tale has it that, in ancient times, there were a fox, a little monkey, and a rabbit. One day, Jeseokcheon (a king of the gods) decided to test these animals.
Pretending to be a sick elderly man, he approached the animals saying that he was very hungry. The fox, monkey and the rabbit decided to help him and went to look for food. The fox caught a large fish and gave it to the old man. The monkey found and gave berries to the old man. The rabbit, on the other hand, could not find any food.
The rabbit made a bonfire and jumped into it, offering himself as food to save the old man. After seeing the admirable sacrifice that the rabbit had made, the elderly man revealed his true identity as Jeseokcheon and decided to send the honorable rabbit to the moon and make him its guardian, so that every living being could admire his sacrifice and good heart.
The rabbit on the moon and its various interpretations.
- Within the story, there are various interpretations of how Daltokki appears on the moon:
- Some people say that the rabbit is covered by smoke, the one from the bonfire where he sacrificed himself.
- Other stories say that there are two rabbits on the moon.
- In some other books, the rabbit makes rice cakes on the moon.
The rabbit on a full moon
The shape of the rabbit is observable only on a full moon, thanks to the effect exerted by the shadow and light on the seas and mountains on the surface of the moon and an interesting trick made by our brains called pareidolia, which refers to the ability to see figures in shadows, landscapes and things.
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