In ancient times, during the reign of Emperor Yao, there lived a legendary archer named Yi, who famously shot down nine of the ten suns from the sky. Yi had a beautiful wife named Chang'e.
Once, the moon goddess Chang'e heard that the Queen Mother of the West on Mount Kunlun possessed an elixir of immortality—whoever consumed it would live forever. So she asked her husband, the legendary archer Hou Yi, to journey to the Queen Mother and request the potion.
Hou Yi, deeply devoted to his wife, journeyed across mountains and rivers, enduring countless hardships, until he finally reached the Kunlun Mountains and met the Queen Mother of the West.
The Queen Mother of the West, knowing Yi was a hero who rid the people of harm, gave him some elixir of immortality. She specifically instructed, "This elixir is just enough for you and your wife. If you both take it, you will live forever; if one person takes it, they can even become an immortal and ascend to heaven!"
After expressing his gratitude to the Queen Mother of the West, Yi returned home and entrusted the elixir of immortality to Chang'e, planning for them to take it together the next day.
But when Chang'e heard that taking the elixir alone could grant ascension to heaven, she secretly swallowed every last dose while Hou Yi lay fast asleep.
After swallowing the elixir, Chang'e felt her body grow light as air, drifting upward against her will. It was night, and a bright moon hung high in the sky—she found herself flying helplessly toward it.
Upon reaching the moon, she discovered a silver palace and stepped inside. The Moon Palace was exquisitely beautiful, yet eerily empty—no one was there, save for a single little white rabbit darting back and forth.
She found the Moon Palace far too cold and lonely, and deep regret filled her heart. She longed to return to Yi's side, but that was now impossible.
From that day forward, Chang'e lived a profoundly lonely life in the Moon Palace. When Hou Yi awoke and discovered that Chang'e had secretly consumed the elixir of immortality and flown to the moon, he could only gaze up at the heavens and let out a long, helpless sigh.
Later, the idiom "Chang'e in the Moon" was often used to describe a beautiful fairy in the moon.
Source: *Huainanzi*, Chapter "Surveying Obscurities"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "月里嫦娥" came to describe a beautiful fairy in the moon.