![]() ![]() Further mirroring the ancient myths, Xingyin becomes an ally to the dragons of legend, and her friendship with the wise creatures give her power beyond even the Celestial Emperor's abilities. In original mythology, the legends describing the realm of Heaven is strikingly similar to how the Celestial Kingdom is described in the novel, with an established bureaucracy ruled by a supreme emperor. She integrates various aspects of ancient Chinese mythology into the novel. In this fantastical world, Xingyin is an immortal like her mother and lives in a realm of other immortal beings in an ethereal city in the sky called the Celestial Kingdom. Tan continues this legend in her fantasy retelling as if the the ill-fated couple had a secret daughter, Tan's protagonist and narrator Xingyin. As the Moon Goddess, she is tasked with lighting lanterns to light the moon each night. She drinks the immortality potion herself and flees to the moon, thus becoming the Moon Goddess. In the original legend, Chang'e steals an immortality potion from her husband, the king Houyi, in order to stop his tyrannical actions. The original legend tells of King Houyi and his wife Chang'e, once a mortal woman who becomes the Moon Goddess. In Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Tan expands upon the Chinese legend of the Moon Goddess, celebrated each year in many East Asian countries with the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The following version of this book was used to create this guide: Tan, Sue Lynn. ![]()
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