Changxi － 常羲

The most ancient Chinese moon goddess.
(also 常儀、尚儀)

Blurb on Changxi:

-wife of Di Jun
-created the 12 moons, or 12 months of the lunar calendar
-bathes in the moon

Sources:

Classic of the Mountains and Seas《山海經》:

This Classic contains one of the only mentions of Changxi in written literature. It only contains a few details about her: that she was the wife of Di Jun, one of the most prolific polygamist kings in ancient Chinese mythology, that she gave birth to the twelve moons (or months), and that she bathed in the moon.

「有女子方浴月。帝俊妻常羲，生月十有二，此始浴之。」
There was a girl who bathed in the moon. Di Jun married Changxi, and they gave birth to twelve moons, and from then on she began to bathe there.

This passage is one of the very obvious instances that early mythology was symbolic for very real concepts: although Changxi can be taken on a literal level as having given birth to twelve physical moons, it is obvious that moons refer to the twelve months of the lunar calendar. Thus Changxi was not only the goddess of the physical moon, but also of the calendar system.
*The Shanhaijing 《山海經》, or Classic of the Mountains and Seas, is a many genred classic which continually changed in form from about 400 BC until about 100 BC, when it reached the form which can be seen today. Its author(s) are unknown.

Lv Shi Chun Qiu 《呂氏春秋》:

The Lv Shi Chun Qiu took the myth of Changyi and its meaning (the creation of the calendar), and demythologized it, trying to make it appear more like written history rather than myth. Still, the story of Shangyi (or Changxi) creating the moon/lunar calendar was still conveyed in this passage. However, since the author claimed that both Xihe and Shangyi (in the Classic of the Mountains and Seas, both wives of Di Jun) were ancient ministers, he thus masculinized them and made them into Confucian officials rather than early powerful women.

「⋯⋯羲和作占日，尚儀作占月，后益作占歲，胡曹作衣，夷羿作弓，祝融作市，儀狄作酒⋯⋯此二十官者，聖人之所以治天下也。」
Xihe created divination by the sun, Shangyi created divination by the moon, Hou Yi created divination by the years, Hu Cao created clothing, Yi Yi created the bow, Zhurong created the city, Yi Di created wine… these were the twelve ministerial positions, and thus the ancient sage could govern all that is under the sun.
*The Lv Shi Chun Qiu was compiled around 239 BC by Qin Dynasty chancellor Lv Buwei, and is an enormously long encyclopedic book with essays on many varied topics.

——
Since there were so few mentions of Changxi in early written tradition, perhaps taking a look at Di Jun, another mythological figure who also only appears in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, will give us a better idea about Changxi’s place in the early mythological imagination.

Di Jun － 帝俊

In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Di Jun mostly appears as the father of various races of people and countries. For example, Di Jun was responsible for the birth of the Zhongrong people, the Baimin people, the Black Teeth people, the Siyou people, and the Jili people.

「有中容之國。帝俊生中容，中容人食獸，木實，使四鳥：豹、虎、熊、羆。」
「有白民之國。帝俊生帝鴻，帝鴻生白民，白民銷姓，黍食，使四鳥：虎、豹、熊、羆。」
「有司幽之國。帝俊生晏龍，晏龍生司幽，司幽生思士，不妻；思女，不夫。食黍，食獸，是使四鳥。」
「有黑齒之國。帝俊生黑齒，姜姓，黍食，使四鳥。」
「有襄山。又有重陰之山。有人食獸，曰季釐。帝俊生季釐，故曰季釐之國。有緡淵。少昊生倍伐，倍伐降處緡淵。有水四方，名曰俊壇。」



He was also the father of many legendary mythological figures, who in turn were the inventors of many early objects and concepts. One example is Hou Ji, an agricultural early king surrounded by legends.

「帝俊生后稷，稷降以百穀。稷之弟曰台蠒，生叔均。叔均是代其父及稷播百穀，始作耕。」
Di Jun was the father of Houji, who brought down the hundred grains. His brother was Tai Jian, the father of Shu Jun. Shu Jun replaced his father and Houji in sowing the hundred grains, and was the first to plow.


Di Jun was also the father of Ou Hao:
「帝俊生禺號，禺號生淫梁，淫梁生番禺，是始為舟。」
Di Jun was the father of Ou Hao, who was the father of Yin Liang, who was the father of Fan Ou. He was the inventor of boats.


Di Jun’s son Yan Long was also an inventor:
「帝俊生晏龍，晏龍是為琴瑟。」
Di Jun was the father of Yan Long, who was the creator of the qin and the flute.


In addition to instruments, Di Jun’s other sons were also musicians:

「帝俊有子八人，是始為歌儛。」
Di Jun had eight sons, who were the inventors of singing and dancing.


Another son created carpentry:

「帝俊生三身，三身生義均，義均是始為巧倕，是始作下民百巧。」
Di Jun was the father of San Shen, San Shen was the father of Yi Jun, Yi Jun created carpentry, the first to invent clever crafts.


In addition to enumerating Di Jun’s sons, the Classic of Mountains and Seas also mentions his wives. Obviously, Changxi was one of his wives, but there was also Xihe and Ehuang.

「帝俊妻娥皇，生此三身之國，姚姓，黍食，使四鳥。」
Di Jun married Ehuang, and they gave birth to the Sanshen people. Their surname was Yao, they ate milled, and they tamed the four birds.

「東南海之外，甘水之間，有羲和之國。有女子名曰羲和，方浴日於甘淵。羲和者，帝俊之妻，生十日。」
Beyond the southeastern seas, between the sweet springs, there was the country of Xihe. There was a girl named Xihe, and she bathed in the sweat springs of the sun. Xihe was the wife of Di Jun, and she gave birth to the ten suns. (A week in ancient China was composed of 10 days.)

The story of Xihe is very comparable to that of Changxi, in that she bathed in sweet springs, married Di Jun, and gave birth to a part of the calendar system. This method of expression seems to intimate that bathing in springs and Di Jun were symbols of the act of reproduction, and this act in turn gave birth to the cycle of time, or days and moons. Both the female and male elements, Di Jun and his wives, were integral in this production.

In addition to giving birth to numerous peoples of the earth and the sun and moon, Di Jun was also tied closely to bird symbolism.

「有五彩之鳥，相鄉棄沙，惟帝俊下友，帝下兩壇，彩鳥是司。」
There was a five colored bird who also lived in Qisha, and his only friend was Di Jun. Beneath Di Jun’s two altars, this colored bird was his servant.

It has been surmised by scholars that since the bird is a symbol for the male reproductive organ in Chinese thought, this makes Di Jun the male mythological symbol for reproduction in the cosmology of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and the mythological system that it represented.

——

Returning to Changxi, through the analysis of Di Jun and the symbolism represented by the figure of his wives in general, we can see that Changxi represents an ancient Chinese female reproductive symbol who was the catalyst for the creation of the system of months or moons in the lunar calendar. She can both be taken as the literal wife of Di Jun who gave birth to twelve moons and henceforth bathed in them, and also as a mythological symbol of female reproduction, who created the lunar calendar cycle.