   chang'e, originally known as heng'e, is the chinese goddess of the moon. chang'e is the subject of several legends in chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elements: houyi the archer, a benevolent or malevolent emperor, an elixir of life, and of course, the moon. in modern times, chang'e has been the namesake of china's lunar exploration program. ==tales== there are many tales about chang'e, but there's well-known story regarding the origin of the mid-autumn moon festival. in a very distant past, ten suns had risen together to the heavens, thus causing hardship for the people. the archer yi shot down nine of them and was given the elixir of immortality as a reward, but he did not consume it as he did not want to gain immortality without his beloved wife chang'e. however, while yi went out hunting, fengmeng broke into his house and forced chang'e to give up the elixir of immortality to him, but she refused to do so. instead, chang'e drank it and flew upwards towards the heavens, choosing the moon as residence to be nearby her beloved husband. yi discovered what had transpired and felt sad, so he displayed the fruits and cakes that his wife chang'e had liked, and gave sacrifices to her.yang & an 2005, 89-90 & 233. ==worship== the recently rediscovered divination text guizang contains the story of chang'e as a story providing the meaning to hexagram 54 of the i ching, "returning maiden". on mid-autumn day, the full moon night of the eighth lunar month, an open-air altar is set up facing the moon for the worship of chang'e. new pastries are put on the altar for her to bless. she is said to endow her worshipers with beauty. file:the moon goddess chang e - unidentified artist, after tang yin.jpg|the painting the moon goddess chang e, ming dynasty ==space travel==  chang'e was mentioned in a conversation between houston [[fl
Chinese_goddesses Lunar_goddesses