The Jade Rabbit Spirit (in Chinese: 玉兔精) is a supporting antagonist of the 16th-century Chinese classic novel Journey to the West by the late Wu Cheng'en, and its multiple adaptations.
She is actually the moon rabbit in Guanghan Palace (in Chinese: 廣寒宮) on the Moon, and desired revenge against Su'e for slapping her once. After Su'e reincarnated in the mortal world as the princess of India, the moon rabbit kidnapped and impersonated her. Knowing that Tang Sanzang would come to India, she decided to marry him so that she could absorb his yang and increase her powers.
In the classic 1986 adaptation series, she was portrayed by Li Lingyu.
Biography[]
Past[]
The moon rabbit worked to pounds a mortar and pestle in Guanghan Palace. At one point, Su'e slapped her, thus she desire revenge. After Su'e reincarnated on Earth as the princess as India, the moon rabbit kidnapped and impersonated her. The princess was then locked up by the elder of the Gubu Golden Temple so that the monks couldn't defile her. Knowing that Tang Sanzang would travel to india, she plotted to marry him so that she could absorb his yang and increase her powers.
Journey to the West[]
When Sanzang's group travel to India, they rest at the Gubu Golden Temple, in which the elder tells Sanzang and Sun Wukong the story and begs them to find out if the princess in the palace is the real one, to which they promise to do. When they attend her hydrangea-throwing ceremony, the Jade Rabbit Spirit throws the hydrangea at Sanzang, meaning he must marry her. Wukong takes this advantage to find out the true nature of the princess. Eventually, Wukong, Sanzang, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing arrange a plan. The disciples pretend preparing to continue the journey and leaving the master behind. Wukong then disguises himself as a honeybee to console Sanzang, and discovers that the princess is indeed a fake one.
Wukong then transforms back to his true form and attack the fake princess, and the two engage in a fight on the sky, only for her to escape. Thanks to the Earth deities, Wukong finds out where she is hiding and the two fight her once more. Just then Chang'e appears and reveals to him the whole backstory behind the fake princess' motivation, and forces her to revert back to her true form. The fake princess complies and reveals herself to be none other than the moon rabbit. Wukong and Chang'e then come to the palace to show the king and the queen who the fake princess really is, before Chang'e takes the rabbit back to Heaven.
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