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THE MEANING OF ‘MOON LOVERS’
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What does ‘Moon Lovers’ mean?
The Koreans are remaking the Chinese drama, ‘Bu Bu Jing Xin’. The Chinese have translated the title, ‘Bu Bu Jing Xin’ as ‘Startling By Each Step’. Sometimes, the meaning can be lost in translation.
‘Bu Bu Jing Xin’ has been renamed ‘Moon Lovers’ or ‘Scarlet Heart: Ryeo’ by the Koreans.
The interpretation of the titles of dramas, like translations, can be quite tricky.
What does ‘Moon Lovers’ mean? First, it can mean ‘the people who love the moon, that is, the people who cherish, worship or pray to the moon.’ Second, it can be related to the love story of ‘Hou Yi and Chang’e’, who are lovers and their story is connected to the moon. Third, the word ‘moon’ can symbolise a man, and the lovers are those who love or admire him.
PEOPLE
WHO LOVE
THE MOON /
Lovers of the Moon
PEOPLE WHO LOVE THE MOON
THE KOREANS
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It is true that many people all over the world ‘love’ the moon but the East Asians, that is, the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese especially love the moon. The moon features significantly in their religion, culture, folklore, songs and poetry, so they really are moon lovers.
The Koreans have a festival, 'The Harvest Moon Festival', or Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), which is one of Korea’s most cherished holidays.
Many scholars believe that Chuseok originated from the celebrations of the Harvest Moon.
People mark the day by paying homage to their ancestors and celebrating with their relatives. The Harvest Moon Festival is a reminder that families are connected and bonded in the same fortune.
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PEOPLE WHO LOVE THE MOON
THE CHINESE
The moon is an important feature in Chinese culture. There are references to the moon in their festivals, literature, folktales, poems and songs.
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One example of the Chinese love for the moon is shown in the Mid-Autumn Festival. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the second grandest festival after the Spring Festival in China. That day is also known as the Moon Festival, as at that time of the year, the moon is at its roundest and brightest. It is the tradition for the Chinese to eat moon cakes during the festival since the Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty.
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The Chinese also love to sing and recite poetry about the moon. One of Teresa Teng’s most famous songs is ‘The Moon Represents My Heart’, which, incidentally, is Lee Joon Gi’s favourite Chinese song which he sings in his concerts for his Chinese fans.
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Lee Joon Gi’s favourite Chinese song, ‘The Moon Represents My Heart’
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Thoughts in the Silent Night 静夜思
By Li Bai (李白)
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Chinese painting of Li Bai
Li Bai, of the Tang period, is considered one of the leading poets of China.
In the poem below, he used four lines of five characters to express his homesickness during the Moon (Mid-Autumn) Festival.
床 前 明 月 光Moonlight shining through the window
疑 是 地 上 霜Makes me wonder if there is frost on the ground
举 头 望 明 月Looking up to see the moon
低 头 思 故 乡Looking down I miss my hometown
PEOPLE WHO LOVE THE MOON
THE JAPANESE
In East Asia, including Japan, one cannot mention the full moon without talking about the rabbit in the moon.
THE RABBIT IN THE MOON
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The rabbit features prominently not only in the folklore of Japan, but also in that of China and Korea.
In China the rabbit, the companion of the Moon Goddess, Chang’e, is called the jade rabbit.
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In Chinese folklore, the rabbit makes the 'elixir of life or immortality' for the Goddess of the Moon, but in Korea, the rabbit pounds ingredients to make ‘tteok’ or rice cakes. The moon rabbit in Japan also pounds ingredients with his pestle to prepare 'mochi' or rice cakes .
TSUKI NO USAGI
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In Japanese folklore, the rabbit in the moon is known as "Tsuki no Usagi".
Many years ago, the Old Man of the Moon decided to visit the Earth. He disguised himself as a beggar and asked Fox, Monkey, and Rabbit for some food.
Monkey brought him some fruit. Fox caught a fish. But Rabbit had nothing to offer him but some grass. So he asked the beggar to build a fire. After the beggar started the fire, Rabbit jumped into it and offered himself as a meal for the beggar to eat.
The beggar changed back into the Old Man of the Moon and pulled Rabbit from the fire.
Since Rabbit was the kindest of them all, the Old Man carried Rabbit in his arms back to the moon.
In Japan, during the Mid-Autumn Festival or Jugo-ya Festival (as in China and Korea) people gather to watch the full moon, and the children would sing a song about the moon rabbit called "Usagi" or "Rabbit".
MOON LOVERS
The Moon
COUPLE
(CHANG’E AND HOU YI)
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'Moon Lovers' perhaps also refers to the romantic Chinese story of the lovers, Chang’e and Hou Yi.
Chang'e and Hou Yi were married. Hou Yi, the hero of the story, shot down the nine suns which burnt the earth.
Only one sun remained. As a reward, the queen of heaven gave him a bottle of the elixir of immortality.
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But his wife, Chang’e drank the elixir and flew to the moon.
Chang’e became the Goddess of the Moon.
The grief of the loss of his wife changed Hou Yi completely. He became violent, and changed from a hero welcomed by the mortals to being hated as a tyrant. He was murdered.
Later, the spirit of Hou Yi ascended to the sun. So, Chang'e and Hou Yi have come to represent the yin and the yang, the moon and the sun.
Chang’e and Hou Yi were separated by 'different worlds'.
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Likewise, Wang So or King Gwangjong of Goryeo (949-975) (played by Lee Joon Gi) and his beloved, Hae Soo (played by IU) are also from different worlds.
She, from twenty-first century Korea, has been teleported to the tenth century Goryeo Dynasty.
Later, she returns to the twenty-first century.
The MOON
As
A Masculine Symbol
WANG SO
(The Moon)
MOON LOVERS
(LOVERS OF WANG SO)
THOSE WHO LOVE WANG SO
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The title conjures up the romantic notion of the ‘moon’ being a masculine symbol. It is a symbol of an attractive man.
Wang So could be likened to the moon. He, being the leading character of the story, could be someone who is loved or admired by many people, men and women, so, they are the lovers of Wang So, the moon.
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TSUKIYOMI
THE JAPANESE MOON GOD
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Unlike the myths of certain cultures, the Japanese moon god is male. In Japanese and Shinto mythology, Tsukiyomi is the moon god.
Tsukiyomi was the second son of Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the god who created the land of Onogoro-shima.
Tsukiyomi was born when Izanagi was cleansing himself of his sins after escaping from the underworld.
It was said that Tsukiyomi was washed out of Izanagi’s right eye. In a different version of the story, Tsukiyomi was born from a mirror of white copper in Izanagi’s right hand.
After climbing a celestial ladder, Tsukiyomi lived in the heavens.
MR MOON AND MISS SUN
A KOREAN FOLKTALE
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Just like the Japanese story of Tsukiyomi, in the Korean folktale of ‘Mr Moon And Miss Sun’, the Moon is also male.
In the tale, a boy and his sister were chased by a tiger one night. They were forced to climb a tree to evade the tiger but the tiger found a way to get up the tree.
The children prayed to their god for help and their god let down a rope. They held onto the rope and they were pulled up to the sky.
The tiger also prayed to that god and another rope came down from the sky but it was a rotten rope. When the rope was moving up the sky, the tiger fell to the earth.
The boy became the sun and the sister became the moon.
The sister was scared of the night, so the brother took her place and became the moon. And, the sister became the sun.
(In Korean folklore, Dae(soon)-nim, the moon, is referred to as the brother of the Sun, so the moon is a masculine symbol)
THE OLD MAN UNDER THE MOON
YUE LAO
THE CHINESE GOD OF MARRIAGE
The Chinese have many folktales about the moon and related to the moon. They have sometimes depicted the moon as feminine / yin and the sun as masculine / yang. But in this story, the hero who is related to the moon is an old man.
Yue-lao, ‘The Old Man Under the Moon’ or ‘The God of Marriage’ is the one who decides on all mortal marriages. That means the marriage of any couple is prearranged by him. There are many versions of the story.
Yue-lao ties the future husband and wife together with an invisible silken cord that never breaks as long as life lasts. At the appropriate time, the cord brings the predestined mates together and they wed. This has been a subject of Chinese poetry and song since the ancient times.
One day, Wei Gu, of the Tang dynasty, took a trip to the city of Sung. He came upon an old man leaning against a large cloth bag and reading a big, thick book.
He learnt that the book records marriages and the bag contains red ropes to tie a man's foot to a woman's foot. The two would become man and wife.
The old man pointed to a small girl and said, "That is your future wife."
Wei Gu was very angry and ordered his servant to stab the girl with his knife.
Years later, the provincial governor gave his daughter to Wei Gu as a wife. The bride was extremely beautiful, except that she had difficulty walking. There was a scar on her back. It was said that someone had injured her when she was young.
Upon hearing this, Wei Gu finally believed what ‘The Old Man’ had said.
A Masculine Symbol
(Wang So)
(played by Lee Joon Gi)
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