The Osmanthus tree, is a species containing over 30 different varieties, most of them hailing from Asia, but one native to the United States as well. It gives a lovely dried petal of bright yellow, and can be drunk on their own if desired for health reasons, or combined with black or green tea leaves in much the same manner the more familiar jasmine tea combines jasmine flowers with tea leaves.
Osmanthus also has mythological status as the Tree of the Immortals, and features in fairy tales that are told on certain holidays. Because osmanthus flowers are usually linked with the moon, they feature in many stories told on related holidays, when old grandmothers sit in courtyards with young children eating moon cakes and telling stories about the flower, the orb, and the strange beings who live upon its surface.
One of these beings is a beautiful
princess who lived high up in a crystal palace. She was the wife of a great warrior who did many brave deeds, and her name was Chang’e.
Originally she lived on Earth, but did something to earn herself banishment. Among the possibilities are that she was unfaithful or that she stole a pill of immortality that was forbidden to mortals.
She was banished to the moon to live in her shimmering prison, though she was not entirely alone there.
Also there was a legendary figure named Wu Gang, whom the Jade Emperor sentenced to live out his life there trying to cut down an unchoppable tree. If you guessed that that tree was osmanthus, you’re right: no matter how many times he swung his axe, the tree kept healing itself, making Wu Gang’s exile permanent.
Underneath that tree is a rabbit, Yu Tu, who grinds the osmanthus into an elixir of immortality, granted only to a few.
The story of the jade rabbit goes like this:
One day the rabbit together with other animals, driven by the desire to do good, decided to get food for an old traveller.
The rabbit was the only one who could not find food, so he proposed himself as a dish and launched himself into the flames. But Chang’e, struck by the courage and noble heart of the little rabbit, saved him and took him with her to the moon.
It is said that when the Moon is full, if you look at it well, you can see the image of Cheng’e and Yu Tu.
Fun fact:
The Chinese love the legends linked to Cheng’e and Yu tu so much that they dedicated the names of the Moon exploration mission to them, called “Chang’e 4”, and the mission rover called YuTu 2, in honour of the pure and agile figure of the jade rabbit.