Along the river, an adventure of Pitt the Rabbit
Here are some elements to accompany you in reading the album Along the River, an adventure of Pitt the Rabbit.
The area of Guilin
Guilin is a city in Guangxi Autonomous Region, China, located on the Li River. It takes its name from a tree called osmanthus.
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Founded over 2,000 years ago during the Qin Dynasty, Guilin is one of Guangxi's best-known tourist destinations. Tourists appreciate its landscapes made up of thousands of karst mountains with magical shapes. The best known of these is Elephant Trunk Hill, which inspired this story.
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The Guilin region is rich in agricultural land. Rice is grown there, but also cereals, citrus fruits, taro and chestnuts.
The legend of the Jade rabbit
The legend of the Jade Rabbit tells the story of a little rabbit who keeps company with the goddess Chang'e, in the Moon Palace.
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Among the different legends that explain the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival, here is the one on which Pitt's story is based: The Jade Emperor disguised as an old man and came to beg for food from the monkey, the otter, the jackal and the rabbit. The monkey picked fruit from the trees and the otter brought fish from the river. The jackal stole a lizard and a pot of curd. The rabbit could only collect grass. As he knew that humans did not eat grass, the rabbit decided to offer his own body to the man and threw himself into the fire that the latter had lit. Suddendly, the old man revealed himself to be the great Jade Emperor! Deeply touched by the rabbit's selfless sacrifice, he sent it to the moon to become the Immortal Jade Rabbit.
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It is said that if you look at the moon, you can see the silhouette of the Jade Rabbit.
The mid-autumn festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival is celebrated in various Asian countries on the evening of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.
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The Mid-Autumn Festival represents one of the two most important events in the Chinese calendar, the other being the Chinese Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year; it is a public holiday in many Asian countries.
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For the occasion, families come together and enjoy mooncakes of various tastes.