Year of the Rabbit sees much-loved creature hop onto centre stage

BEIJING: A new stainless-steel sculpture, named Two Rabbits, created by renowned artist Yuan Xikun, was unveiled at the Solana Mall in the capital’s Chaoyang district in January. Hundreds of people took photos of the sculpture, especially with children in the frame.

Yuan, founder of Beijing Jintai Art Museum, has been designing this rabbit sculpture since the beginning of 2022. He has created 12 Chinese zodiac signs, but all in single form, and this time he chose to design a pair of rabbits because in Chinese culture even numbers have an auspicious meaning.

“I want to use the sculpture to express my wishes that everyone is happy and healthy in the new year, as the rabbit is a sign of safety and good health,” Yuan says.

Under the Chinese zodiac, 2023 marks the Year of the Rabbit. In China, people’s lives are associated with elements of the animal whether his or her Chinese zodiac sign is a rabbit or not. They may wear rabbit-shaped hats or shoes after birth, play with rabbit-shaped lanterns or a Tu’er Ye (the rabbit god) toy, or eat rabbit-shape snacks or steam buns.

The rabbit, which is a translation from the Chinese character tu, ranks fourth among the 12 animals of the zodiac, coming in after the rat, ox and tiger. The fourth name of the 12 Chinese zodiacs is maotu, and mao means the time between 5 am and 7 am.

According to Hou Yangjun, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association, the ranking of the 12 zodiacs is related to the animals’ living habit.

“In folklore, the rabbit has the habit of getting up early and likes grass, spring and the sunshine in the morning, so it is linked with mao, the early time of a day in the 12 zodiacs,” Hou says.

The rabbit is quite popular in Chinese folk culture as it’s a deft and cute animal that can jump high and climb with agility. In folk crafts, whether in embroidery, paper-cutting, clay sculpture or dough modeling, rabbits are often depicted.

“People like the rabbit as it has the symbolic meaning of fast development and being promoted step by step,” Hou says.

Folklore says the jade rabbit on the moon is transformed from Chang’e, a Chinese moon goddess, meanwhile some believe that Chang’e flew to the moon with the jade rabbit.

According to Hou, it is widely believed that the earliest record of linking the rabbit and the moon is from Qu Yuan’s poem Tianwen (“questions to heaven”), yet some scholars think Qu was referring to the toad. — China Daily/ANN