The famed Tang poet Li Bai, relates how "The rabbit in the moon pounds the medicine in vain" in his poem, "The Old Dust".

When an old man begged for food from them, the monkey gathered fruits from the trees and the otter collected fish, while the jackal found a lizard and a pot of milk-curd.

It may be found in diverse cultures in China, Japan, India, Korea, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

Taiyin replies, "The demon you are facing is the Jade Rabbit, who guards the mystical frost elixir in my Guanghan Palace.

Sun Wukong reluctantly agrees, and Taiyin Xingjun takes the Jade Rabbit to the Moon and assigns her duties.

[9][10] Presumed to be arising likewise, through lunar pareidolia, legends of Moon rabbits also exist among some indigenous cultures of North and Central America.

[citation needed] According to an Aztec legend, the god Quetzalcoatl, then living on Earth as a human, started on a journey and, after walking for a long time, became hungry and tired.

Humble Nanahuatzin sacrificed himself in fire to become the new sun, but the wealthy god Tecciztecatl hesitated four times before he finally set himself alight to become the Moon.

In Canada and the United States, a Cree cultural legend tells a different story, about a young rabbit who wished to ride the Moon.