Chinese people's fondness for rabbits is also tied to their worship of Chang'e, the Goddess of the Moon in Chinese mythology. There are accounts of Chang'e in several ancient books such as the Book of Mountains and Seas, a work of folk geography that includes myths written during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) and early Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 220); and The Huainanzi, a work of eclectic learning compiled in the Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 9). The legend states that Chang'e in mortal life stole an elixir of life from her husband. After swallowing the potion she flew to the Moon, where she became immortal but was cloistered forever. Accompanying her in the cold, cheerless Moon palace were the Jade Rabbit whose duty was to pound medicine in a mortar, and a man named Wu Gang who cut a laurel tree day and night. According to legend, the human world once suffered an outbreak of plague. In response, Chang'e sent the Jade Rabbit to Earth, where it used the miraculous tonic to save mankind.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, an important traditional Chinese festival falling on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, is also closely related to the Moon and the rabbit. According to the Survey of Scenery and Monuments in the Imperial Capital, a 17th century Chinese prose classic, people traditionally offered sacrifices to the Moon Goddess and Jade Rabit for the Mid-Autumn Festival. According to popular legend, Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) strictly observed this ritual even as she was fleeing from Beijing in 1900 following invasion by the Eight-Power Allied Forces.