The legend of Beijing rabbit

The image of rabbit comes from the jade rabbit in the middle of the moon, but it is different. There is such a legend:

One year, a plague broke out in Beijing, and almost everyone got it and could not be cured. Chang 'e was very sad to see this scene, so she sent the jade rabbit around her to treat the people. Jade rabbit turned into a girl. She went door to door and cured many people. In order to thank Jade Rabbit, people gave her things in succession. Yutu wants nothing but to borrow other people's clothes to wear. Wherever she goes, she has to change clothes. Sometimes she dresses like an oil seller, sometimes she looks like a fortune teller ... sometimes she dresses like a man and then dresses like a woman. In order to treat more people, Yutu rode his horse, deer, lion and tiger all over the capital. After the plague was eliminated in Beijing, the Jade Rabbit returned to the Moon Palace. Therefore, people created the image of Jade Rabbit with clay sculpture, including those who rode deer, those who rode phoenix, those who wore armor, and those who wore various work clothes. It was very cute. On the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, every household will worship her and give her delicious fruits and beans as a reward for her good luck and happiness. They also affectionately called her "male prostitute" and "grandma rabbit".

Male prostitutes are household names in Beijing, so many proverbs and two-part allegorical sayings related to grandpa rabbit have been derived, such as "the flag of male prostitutes-one-on-one", because grandpa rabbit only relies on one side of the flag; There is also "the male prostitute in the next year-Teacher Chen", because male prostitutes are made of mud and rarely can be preserved until the next year. Therefore, if you see a male prostitute, it belongs to an old male prostitute.

Male prostitute is the mascot of Beijing and the patron saint of peace. Legend has it that there is a magical power to eliminate disasters, take refuge and protect peace, which has won the love and respect of Beijingers. There is a magical legend about the origin of male prostitutes:

In ancient times, there was a strange plague in old Beijing. Almost everyone is very ill. Once you get sick, there is no cure, and the doctor is helpless. At that time, the people in Beijing died countless times, and there was a miserable scene everywhere.

Chang 'e was very sad to see this scene in the Moon Palace, so she sent the Jade Rabbit in the Moon Palace to the lower bound to treat the people. Under the banner of Chang 'e, Jade Rabbit became a white doctor and came to people with a pestle and a mortar.

People don't know the origin of Jade Rabbit, and they are all afraid that Jade Rabbit is dressed in white and won't open the door for him. The clever Jade Rabbit came to the temple and borrowed the armor of the idol and put it on. In this case, people think that Jade Rabbit is like a fairy who came to the world. They open the door to meet him.

Yutu went door to door and soon cured many people.

In order to end the suffering of ordinary people as soon as possible, tigers, elephants, sika deer, unicorns in the sky and other animals came to help the Jade Rabbit. With the help of Qi Xin, Yutu quickly eliminated the plague inside and outside Beijing and returned to the Moon Palace.

Beijingers are grateful for the kindness of the Jade Rabbit, so they ask skilled craftsmen to make it look like a Jade Rabbit and sacrifice it in front of the main hall. Called "male prostitute", fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains will be placed for sacrifice on holidays or festive days. In the minds of ordinary people, male prostitutes will bless the whole family and be the patron saint of happiness and peace.

From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China, there were many workshops in old Beijing to make "male prostitutes", which produced various forms of male prostitutes for people to buy all the year round and were honored as "please male prostitutes". Every family should invite a new prostitute home on holidays to show their respect for the prostitute. Usually, relatives and friends will also send a rabbit to express their blessings on these festive days of housewarming, marriage, further education, opening business and having children, which has become a beautiful traditional custom of Beijingers.

Nowadays, male prostitutes, as valuable intangible cultural heritage, have become Beijing's image ambassador, Beijing's mascot and the most representative cultural gift for Beijing's foreign exchange.