Moon rabbit

In the 316th episode of Jataka, a collection of ancient Indian Buddhist narratives, there is a story that one of the past lives of Buddha was a rabbit, which was introduced to Japan and becomes the story of a rabbit on the moon . can be found in the Aztecs.

　A long time ago, Buddha was born as a rabbit and lived in a forest. This rabbit had friends called monkeys, mountain dogs, and otters. These four wise creatures lived together, each getting food at their hunting ground and gathering again in the evening The wise rabbit preached the truth to his three companions, teaching them to give alms, to keep moral law, and to keep the holy day. They accepted the teaching and each went to their place in the woods and began to live there.

　One day the rabbit observed the sky, looked at the moon, learned that the next day was a fasting day, and told his three companions. "Tomorrow is a fasting day. All three will be rewarded if they keep the commandments and the holy day ." It's okay to give food from each table to the beggars who come to everyone. " They were willing to accept and each spent their time in their own home.

　The next day, the otter found a fish buried on the banks of the Ganges and brought it home. The mountain dog also found two skewers, a lizard and a jar of milk in the field work hut and brought them home. The monkey brought back Rabbits, on the other hand, decided to give their body flesh if someone asked for alms. Knowing
　that feeling, Taishakuten decided to take the form of a brahmin (priest) and check the feelings of the rabbits. He When I went to the mountain dog and monkey's house like that, everyone was willing to offer food . When I went to the mountain dog and monkey's house like that, everyone was willing to offer food.　

　And when the brahmin went to the rabbit, the rabbit asked the brahmin to set fire. As the rabbit jumps into the fire, he wants him to eat the burnt flesh and fulfill his duties as a priest. The rabbit then jumped into a pile of burning charcoal created by Brahmin's miraculous power. However, the fire could not burn the rabbit's body. When the wondering rabbit asked, Brahmin replied: "I'm not a Brahmin. I'm Taishakuten. I'm here to test your virtues. Wise Rabbit, let everyone know your virtues. " Buddha is an extract obtained by squeezing a mountain and painted a rabbit on the surface of the moon.

 

The story of rabbits is also transmitted to the moon during the Tang dynasty from 618 to 907 in China, and frogs can also be seen in the moon. The next image is a Tang dynasty bronze mirror called the Moon Rabbit Magpie Hakkyo.

 

Tang in the early 700s.

In China, the toad is considered the spirit of the moon. There is a story about a toad living on the moon in a collection of Chinese novels in the 300's called Sojinki.

The "Moon Spirit"
Hou Yi (Gei "Master of the Bow" ") received an immortal herbal medicine from the Queen Mother of the West, but his wife Chang'e tried to steal it and escape to the moon. Did. When Chang'e was about to escape, Chang'e asked Ariho to tell him about the good and bad, and Ariho counted the bamboo (Zeichiku "like 50 bamboo sticks") and said, "It's good. My sister (Kimai) is the only one who is about to leave for the west. If the heavens go black on the way, don't be afraid or surprised. Eventually, it will prosper greatly. "In this way, Chang'e moved to the moon.This is a toad (Senjo "Toad").

A rabbit can be seen on the upper left of the embroidery relic called Tenjukoku Mandala Embroidery Book in 622 at Chuguji Temple in Nara Prefecture.

 

In the Aztecs, which flourished in central Mexico from around 1428 to 1521, rabbits were also equated with the hunting god Mixcoatl. The following image is a rabbit in the Aztec moon of the 1500s, which was conquered by Spain around this time. From the handwritten manuscript of the colonial Florentine pictorial document.

 

In Jataka tales, India, it was said that a rabbit jumps into the fire and is finally drawn on the moon, but a similar story can be seen in the Aztecs. The following text is a summary of the story reproduced based on the Florentine document and the legend of the sun.

"Creation of the Fifth Sun"
　After creating the earth and humans, as well as food and drink, the gods gathered at Teotihuacan to discuss who should be the next sun to illuminate the world in the dark. Then the arrogant god Tecsiscatl was advancing. The other gods chose Nanahuatzin, a humble god suffering from illness, as another candidate.
　Firewood was prepared to burn the offerings, and a hill was created where Tēccizcatl and Nanahuatzin fasted and penalized . Today.

　At midnight after four days of penance, the gods dressed them and the gods caught fire. The fire was burning for four days, and it was extremely hot.Standing on either side of the fire, the gods called Tēccizcatl and ordered him to dive into the flames. Upon hearing that, Tēccizcatl ran toward the fire, but in front of the burning flames, his legs shrugged. So he tried again, but again He wasn't scared . At last the gods called Nanahuatzin. Then he ran in a blink of an eye and jumped into the fire. He wasn't scared . He didn't stop on the way. He didn't step back, didn't look back, and jumped into the fire in no time. Then he burned.
　Seeing the brave end of Nanahuatzin, Tecsiscatl finally got angry and threw himself into the flames to death.

　Once Nanahuatzin and Tēccizcatl were burnt to death, the gods waited for them to reappear. Looking eastward, Nanahuatzin appeared. It wasn't the poor, shabby guy he used to be. Nanahuatzin revived as the sun god Tonatiuh and emitted sunlight in all directions . The sun that appeared then was fiery red, dazzled by the light, and no one could see its face.
　Shortly thereafter, Tēccizcatl also rose to the eastern sky and began to shine like Tonatiuh. The way they shine is so similar that the gods thought that this would make the world too bright. There, a pillar of god ran and threw a rabbit at the face of Tecsis catl.Then the brilliance of the injured moon was weaker than that of the sun, and the rabbit became visible in the full moon.

Khoekhoe in Southern Africa also have a myth about the moon and rabbits. But the story is not similar.

The death of man, like many other African legends, is explained by the myth of the communicator. The moon is said to have entrusted the wild rabbit with the message that humans will never die. When the wild rabbits were confused and informed humans that they would not be resurrected, the moon was very angry and tore the wild rabbit's lips with a powerful blow.

If it spreads only in India, China, and Japan, it is considered to be with the spread of Buddhism. If this spreads to Mexico, it means that the Aztec civilization is also influenced by religions from Asia.