Mid-Autumn Festival shock: Chang'e is actually a toad spirit?

The moon palace must have a special feeling, every autumn the sky becomes half as clear. The clear light is not seen here, where can the white hair grow?

It is a pity to occupy the idle land, the dark window is only bright after it is divided. Be diligent and grow laurels in the coming year, don't let ordinary people complain about injustice.

Mid-Autumn Moon by Xu Zhou of the Tang Dynasty

Warning for fear of dense and snakes

Using a toad to represent the moon is a common metaphor in ancient Chinese, such as the toad moon, the toad palace, the toad palace, the toad light, etc. However, most of the folk sayings related to toads are not good words, such as "a toad wants to eat swan meat", "a toad lying on the feet - it doesn't bite, but it annoys people", "a toad is a bed foot - it will suffer in vain", etc.

How did the flawless Mitsuki get involved with this scabby creature? Before we review the relevant history, let's first get to know the protagonist of today's article - the Chinese toad .

Chinese toad with a serious expression | Yao Zhongyi

Different distances, heights and depths

The Chinese toad is the most widely distributed toad in China . It is distributed in all provinces and regions except Xinjiang, Hainan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. It is found abroad in Russia and the Korean Peninsula.

It was once a subspecies of the European giant toad (Bufo bufo), and appeared in early literature under the name "Chinese giant toad" (B. b. gargarizans). Later, its taxonomic status was re-upgraded to the species level , and the corresponding Chinese name was also adjusted accordingly - but the word "big" was missing in the middle, so some friends who are used to calling it this may not be used to it.

Two-month-old giant toad | André Karwath / wikimedia

The geographical distribution of Chinese toads is quite large . As the terrain gradually rises from east to west, different populations at different altitudes will show obvious differences in body shape and color . Individuals living in low-altitude areas are generally larger, usually more than 10 cm in length, with a body color of mostly earthy yellow, and irregular black spots scattered on the ventral surface.

Common body colors of Chinese toads, photographed in Liaoning | DrewHeath / wikimedia

The population living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau used to be an independent species named Tibetan toad (B. tibetanus). They are small and black with a distinct light-colored vertical stripe on their backs. However, sequence comparisons have shown that Tibetan toad is not a valid species, but a special phenotype adapted to life on the plateau . It is now considered a secondary synonym of Chinese toad (synonyms are easy to understand, the earlier the publication time is the primary synonym, and the later the secondary synonym).

Tibetan Toad in the Water | Shi Jingsong

What is the cost of being toxic?

Toads are listed as one of the "Five Poisonous Creatures" by the public. Their venom comes from the oblong auricular glands behind the ears and the serous glands scattered throughout the body. It is the presence of these venom glands that makes toads look bumpy . Although they suffer a loss in appearance, in the world of toads, a good-looking face cannot be eaten, right?

The parotid gland is the largest poison gland in the toad's body. When encountering an enemy, milky white venom will seep out from under the skin .

The venom collected and dried is called "toad venom" . Its active ingredients are a class of complex steroidal compounds, collectively known as bufadienolides. After separation and purification, it is mainly used as a cardiotonic in clinical practice . Although it is a common medicine, the toxicity of toads should not be underestimated. Every year, there are cases of poisoning and even death caused by eating toads by mistake, so no animal in nature is willing to provoke this guy.

You can tell at first glance that he is not someone you can easily mess with | Qi Shuo

Can you really do whatever you want?

However, there is also the law of "one thing conquers another" in nature, and toads cannot rest easy just because they have venom. For example, the tiger-necked snake (Rhabdophis tigrinus), commonly known as the "pheasant neck" , mostly lives in wetlands and swamps, and its favorite food is toads and other tailless amphibians.

Tiger-striped collared snake | Qi Shuo

You may know that snakes can swallow prey thicker than their heads with their delicate joint structure, but toads can also use "toad skills" in critical moments, inhaling suddenly to inflate themselves into a ball , making it difficult for predators to bite them. However, when facing a frog-eating professional like the tiger-striped neck snake, this trick will also seem to be exhausted.

"Angry, hard to appease." | Hyunjung Kim / wikimedia

The tiger-necked snake has two rows of fine teeth on its upper jaw, among which there are two large flat and sharp teeth , which are specially used to puncture the lungs of toads and frogs. The toads whose lungs are punctured will collapse like a deflated ball.

Eh? Wait, didn't we just say that toads can use venom to defend themselves? Why is the venom of the tiger-necked snake just a decoration? Sorry, it really is a decoration. The tiger-necked snake and the toad have a long history of co-evolution, and the former has long been immune to the toad's venom .

Does immunity to venom mean you can do whatever you want? Sorry, immunity to venom really means you can do whatever you want. What's even more outrageous is that snakes of the genus Colubridae absorb toad venom and store it in their neck glands to use against enemies .

The neck glands of the tiger-striped neck snake can also secrete venom | Qi Shuo

Maybe Chang'e is a toad spirit?

After watching the fight between the two poisonous creatures, let’s return to the story of Mid-Autumn Festival and the toad.

The Mid-Autumn Festival originated from the ancient Chinese custom of worshipping the moon in autumn. It was first started by ancient court scholars and then spread to the people. As for the word "Mid-Autumn", it was first seen in the "Book of Rites: Monthly Ordinances" which said " In the middle of autumn, people take care of the elderly and eat porridge." However, it was not until the Northern Song Dynasty that the 15th day of the eighth lunar month was officially designated as the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the seasonal food "small cakes that look like chewing the moon, with crisp and sweet fillings inside" appeared.

When talking about Mid-Autumn Festival, we have to mention the Northern Song Dynasty writer Su Shi and his poem "May we live long and share the beauty of the moon together even though we are thousands of miles apart" | Zhao Mengfu/ Portrait of Su Shi (partial)

The origin of the toad and the moon is even older than the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and is related to the well-known myth "Chang'e Flying to the Moon". The famous astronomy book "Ling Xian" written by Zhang Heng, an astronomer in the Eastern Han Dynasty, recorded Chang'e flying to the moon as follows:

Yi asked the Queen Mother of the West for the elixir of immortality, and Chang'e stole it and flew to the moon. Before leaving, she consulted You Huang about the divination, and You Huang said, "Auspicious. The graceful girl will return to the west alone. When the sky is dark, do not be alarmed or afraid, for you will prosper greatly in the future." Chang'e then took possession of the moon and became a toad.

The story is basically the same as the current version, except that at the end it mentions that Chang'e turned into a toad after flying to the moon. What? The cool and beautiful Chang'e turned out to be a toad spirit ? I believe that friends who hear this little-known fact for the first time will definitely be shocked.

Hou Yi, who was separated from his lover, did not care about these details | Werner, ETC / Myths & Legends of China (1922)

As to why the ancients linked the toad with the moon, "Ling Xian" also mentioned: "The moon is the essence of yin, which accumulated to form a beast, like a clam and a rabbit." "Shi Tui Du Zai", which was written in the same period, gave a clearer explanation: "The moon becomes a soul on the third day and becomes light on the eighth day. The body of the toad is formed and its nose begins to sprout." From this, it can be seen that using the toad to represent the moon should be the result of the ancients' rich imagination of the waxing and waning shadows of the moon .

Whether it is because of its appearance or its venom, the toad has always been unpopular among the general public. But if you put aside your prejudice and think about it as the "incarnation" of Chang'e, you will find it quite cute if you look closely.

A relatively rare red variant of the Chinese toad | Yao Zhongyi

Finally, don’t forget to share the moonlight, as well as more beauty in life and nature, with people around you or even far away.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

Author: Qi Shuo

Cover image source: Werner, ETC / Myths & Legends of China (1922)