Quick Answer
Tu’er Ye (兔儿爷, Tù’ér Yé), or Lord Rabbit, is a Beijing festival figure with a rabbit’s head and a human body. At Mid-Autumn (中秋节, Zhōngqiū Jié), households used the figure in observances connected with moon worship, and children also played with clay rabbits. The medicine pestle in some versions recalls the Jade Rabbit (玉兔, Yùtù) of moon lore.[1][2][3]
- The holiday: Historical accounts describe clay rabbits sold at Mid-Autumn alongside other goods for the festival.[1][2]
- The wish: In Beijing folklore, a moon rabbit helps people in distress. A festival figure can express hopes for health and safety.[2][3]
- The distinction: Lord Rabbit belongs to a Beijing moon-festival tradition. Tu’er Shen (兔儿神, Tù’ér Shén) names Hu Tianbao (胡天保, Hú Tiānbǎo) in a separate Qing tale.[2][4]
A temple-fair object, a household offering and a child’s toy can look alike. The setting and the way people use the figure tell us more than the ears alone.[1][2][5]
A late Qing account places the rabbit on two different objects sold for the same holiday. As part of a paper moon image, it accompanies a lunar deity. As a clay figure, it might wear armor, ride a tiger or sit alone.[1][2]
What Beijing Families Did at Mid-Autumn
The Record of Seasonal Customs in Beijing (燕京岁时记, Yānjīng Suìshí Jì) describes families presenting fruit outdoors when the moon was full. It also records a paper image for moon offerings, showing a deity above and a rabbit working a pestle below. Shops sold versions in different sizes for households to use in the observance.[1]
In a separate passage, the book describes stalls selling clay figures. Some rabbits wore official clothes, others armor and a banner, and some rode tigers. The heritage inventory says children could play with the figures after the offerings ended. The same object could move from a vendor’s stall to a family table and then into a child’s hands.[1][2]
Why Lord Rabbit Carries a Medicine Pestle
Chinese stories place a medicine-pounding hare in the moon. In a Beijing legend described in the heritage record, the hare associated with Chang’e (嫦娥, Cháng’é) comes down to help people during an epidemic. The pestle on the clay figure remembers the hare’s aid. In the household tradition, a model could make the wish for good health visible on the festival table.[2][3]
The Palace Museum describes a small clay Lord Rabbit from the late Qing imperial collection sitting on a city wall with a camel beside it. The museum says figures in the palace were purchased outside. This example helps explain how a figure sold by artisans could find a place in the imperial household. For the wider lunar imagery behind the pestle, see the <a href="/es/”https://www.chinaculturepro.com/jade-rabbit/”/">history of the Jade Rabbit</a>.[3]
How the Festival Figure Is Used Today
The official intangible heritage entry for Beijing Lord Rabbit records the craft as a tradition passed through families and apprenticeships. A Beijing government profile describes artisan Zhang Zhongqiang (张忠强, Zhāng Zhōngqiáng) making new forms and teaching in schools and community settings. People also buy Lord Rabbit as a gift at temple fairs and cultural shops. The figure has a place beyond a single night’s offerings.[2][5]
Those different settings also make the name worth checking. A painted rabbit at a Beijing festival belongs to a local tradition of moon observance and festive craft. In the Qing writer Yuan Mei’s (袁枚, Yuán Méi) story, Tu’er Shen is the title of Hu Tianbao, who is charged with affairs of desire between men. Those titles sound similar in English. One points back to a Beijing seasonal custom and the other to a story centered on Hu Tianbao.[2][4][5]
FAQs About Tu’er Ye
Is Lord Rabbit the Jade Rabbit from the moon?
Lord Rabbit draws on the moon hare, especially its medicine-pounding image. The Beijing figure gives it human dress and a place in Mid-Autumn observances.[2][3]
Was Lord Rabbit worshipped or played with?
Both uses are documented. The heritage entry describes children playing with the clay figures after moon offerings ended.[2]
What did people hope for when they honored Lord Rabbit?
Beijing heritage sources associate Lord Rabbit with wishes for health, safety and family reunion, alongside the wider practice of honoring the moon at Mid-Autumn.[2][5]
Fuentes
[1] Fucha Dunchong. Record of Seasonal Customs in Beijing, eighth lunar month
[2] China Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Museum. Beijing Lord Rabbit clay sculpture
[3] Palace Museum. Late Qing clay Lord Rabbit
[4] Yuan Mei, translated by David K. Jordan. The Rabbit Spirit
[5] Beijing Municipal Government. Lord Rabbit and the work of Zhang Zhongqiang