Why does Wu Gang keep cutting down trees?

When we look up at the moon, we will see some shadows in the moon. Legend has it that it is Wu Gang who is conquering Gui. The osmanthus tree on the moon is five hundred feet high. This sacred osmanthus tree is not only tall, but it can also heal ax wounds by itself.

Then why does Wu Gang keep chopping down trees on the moon? There are several legends about this story:

One of the legends

It is said that there is a laurel tree five hundred feet high in the moon. During the Han Dynasty, there was a man named Wu Gang who made mistakes while learning immortality. Therefore, Emperor Longyan was furious and detained him in the Moon Palace. He ordered him to cut down the laurel tree in the Moon Palace and said: "If you cut down the laurel tree, you will be punished. You can gain immortality." But every time Wu Gang struck an axe, the wound on the tree healed immediately. Day after day, Wu Gang's wish to conquer Guangxi remained unfulfilled. Therefore, Wu Gang cut down the osmanthus tree in the Moon Palace all year round, but could never cut down the tree. Therefore, later generations can see the image of Wu Gang endlessly cutting down laurel trees in the middle of the month.

Legend 2

Wu Gang, also called Wu Quan, was from Xihe. Boling, the grandson of Emperor Yan, took advantage of Wu Gang's three years away from home to study immortality. He had an affair with Wu Gang's wife and gave birth to three sons. Wu Gang killed Boling in a rage. This angered the sun god Yan Emperor and sent Wu Gang to the moon. He was ordered to cut down the laurel tree, the tree of immortality. The laurel tree is five hundred feet high and can be cut back together. Emperor Yan used this endless labor as a punishment for Wu Gang.

Wu Gang’s wife Yuanfu felt guilty, so she asked her three sons, one named Gu, one named Yan, and one named Shun, to fly to the moon to accompany their nominal father through that long period of time. Endless cold years. Wu Gang's three sons named Gu turned into a toad, one named Yan turned into a jade rabbit, and the one named Shun turned into an "unknown" Tiangui. From then on, Shunhe began to make arrow targets, drums and Yan began to make bells and chimes, and formulated the rules for composing music. Therefore, the lonely Guanghan Palace is always filled with fairy music.

In later generations, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty recorded these entertainment songs when he roamed the Moon Palace, returned to the human world, and composed "Nirvana Songs". Legend has it that when Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty roamed the Moon Palace, Wu Gang even met him! It's just that his face was tired at that time, and his ax was covered with black rust, and his old sleeves were in tatters because no one had mended them.

Legend 3

Wu Gang of Nantianmen is very close to Chang'e in the Moon, because he often meets Chang'e and neglects his duties. When the Jade Emperor found out, he was furious and ordered Wu Gang to go to the moon and cut down a big tree called the moon tree. If Wu Gang didn't cut down all the moon trees, he would not be able to return to the Nantianmen and meet Chang'e.

Wu Gang chopped and chopped, from winter to summer, for half a year. Seeing that the tree was about to be chopped down, the Jade Emperor sent a crow to the moon tree, and with a "swish" sound, He picked up Wu Gang's coat that was hanging on the tree. Wu Gang immediately put down his ax and chased the crow. After recovering the clothes, Wu Gang returned to the tree and saw that all the branches and leaves that had been cut had grown back on the tree. From then on, whenever Wu Gang was about to cut down the tree, the crow would stand on the tree and scream. Wu Gang only had to stop the ax and look at it, and the tree would grow branches and leaves again.

In this way, year after year, Wu Gang could not cut down all the moon trees. And only on August 16th every year, a leaf falls from the moon to the ground. Whoever picks up the leaves of this moon tree will get endless amounts of gold, silver and jewels.

Legend 4

It is said that a long time ago, a plague broke out in Xianning, and almost one-third of the people died. People have tried various folk remedies with no results. At the foot of Guabang Mountain, there was a brave, loyal and filial young man named Wu Gang. His mother was also bedridden because of illness. The young man went up the mountain every day to collect medicine to save his mother. One day, Guanyin returned from his eastward journey and was rushing back to the west to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. He passed by this day and saw a young man collecting herbs on the cliff, and he was deeply moved. I entrusted him with a dream at night, saying that there is a tree called Osmanthus osmanthus, also called sweet-scented osmanthus, with small golden flowers blooming in the Moon Palace. Drinking water with it can cure the plague; there is a ladder to heaven on Guibang Mountain on August 15th. It can be removed and hung in the moon palace.

This night happens to be August 12th, and there are only three days until the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th. But to get to the top of Guabang Mountain, you have to cross seven deep streams and go up seven cliffs. It takes at least seven days and seven nights, but time waits for no one. After August 15th, the annual flowering period of the sweet-scented osmanthus is missed, and we have to wait another year. To make a long story short, Wu Gang spent a lot of hard work and finally climbed to the top of Guibang Mountain on the night of August 15th and caught up with the ladder leading to the Moon Palace.

August is the time when sweet-scented osmanthus is fragrant, and the fragrance is floating in the sky.

Wu Gang followed the scent to the osmanthus tree and looked at the golden osmanthus. He was so happy to see this extraterrestrial thing. He picked and picked desperately, always wanting to pick more and go back to save his mother and fellow villagers. But he couldn't pick too many, so he thought of a way. He shook the sweet-scented osmanthus tree and let the sweet-scented osmanthus fall one after another, and fell into the river at the foot of Guabang Mountain.

Suddenly, the fragrance of the river was fragrant, and the river water was dyed golden yellow. People drank the river water, and all the diseases were cured. So people said, this is not a river water. This is obviously the life-saving water of the river, which is more valuable than gold, so people named the river Jinshui. Later, three dots of water were added next to the gold character, and it was named "Gan (gn) River".

This night is the gathering of the gods in the Heavenly Palace on August 15th, during which they will also enjoy the moon and eat moon cakes. At this time, the fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus rushed to the sky, alerting the gods, so they sent messengers to investigate. When the official went to the Moon Palace, he saw that all the osmanthus flowers on the sacred tree of the Moon Palace and the osmanthus tree, the treasure of the Ding Palace, were gone and fell into the "Gan River" in the human world, so he reported it to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor was furious when he heard this. You have to know that the Jade Emperor likes to eat mooncakes made of osmanthus the most. When all the osmanthus trees are gone, he can't eat mooncakes, so he sent heavenly soldiers and generals to capture Wu Gang.

After Wu Gang was arrested, he told the Jade Emperor everything that happened that night. After hearing this, the Jade Emperor didn't know what to say and admired this young man from the bottom of his heart. But Wu Gang broke the rules of heaven after all. If he is not punished, he will not be able to establish the prestige of the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor asked Wu Gang what he wanted, and Wu Gang said that he wanted to bring the sweet-scented osmanthus tree to the world to save people in distress.

So the Jade Emperor came up with an idea, which could not only punish Wu Gang, but also agree to Wu Gang's request. He said, as long as you chop down the sweet-scented osmanthus, you can take it. So Wu Gang got a big ax and started chopping, hoping to chop down the big tree quickly. Unexpectedly, the Jade Emperor cast a spell to make the sword grow longer after cutting. In this way, Wu Gang continued to chop down for thousands of years.

Wu Gang felt homesick for his mother when he saw that the tree did not fall down, so he dropped an osmanthus flower on Guibang Mountain every Mid-Autumn Festival night to express his homesickness. Year after year, Guibang Mountain was covered with sweet-scented osmanthus, and the villagers used the sweet-scented osmanthus to make tea, and there were no more disasters in Xianning.