[ **up: [[Lepus (Genus)]] | [[Lagomorphs]]** ] --- # Chinese hare (*Lepus sinensis*) [[2024.0523. Hares are common in China, especially in the North.|'The hare, Lepus sinensis, is a common in the Yangtze valley and the northern regions.']][^1] ![[Wikimedia Commons - Lepus sinensis - from Thomas Hardwick'es 'Illustrations of Indian Zoology', Vol. 2, c. 1833, licenced public domain.jpg]] Illustration of *Lepus sinensis*. From Thomas Hardwicke’s *Illustrations of Indian Zoology*, vol. 2 (c. 1833), via Wikimedia Commons ([Public Domain Mark](https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/).[^2] --- ## Taxonomy - **[[Life (Biology)]]** - **[[Eukaryotes|Eukaryota (Domain)]]** - [[Animals|Animalia (Kingdom)]] - [[Chordates|Chordata (Phylum)]] - [[Mammals|Mammalia (Class)]] - [[Therians]] - [[Placentals|Eutherians]] - [[Lagomorphs|Lagomorpha (Order)]] - [[Rabbits|Leporidae (Family)]] - [[Lepus (Genus)]] - [[Chinese hare|Lepus sinensis]] <small>CHINESE HARE</small> --- ## Chinese zodiac [[2024-0523. The Chinese hare 'represents the fourth of the Twelve Terrestrial Branches.'|The Chinese hare 'represents the fourth of the Twelve Terrestrial Branches.']][^3] (*See:* [[Rabbit (Chinese zodiac)]]) --- ## Folklore ### Longevity [[2024-0523. The Chinese hare as a symbol of longevity.|The Chinese hare is a symbol of longevity.]][^3] --- ### The moon [[2024-0523. Chinese hares are associated with the moon in various legends.|Chinese hares are associated with the moon in various legends; in one Buddhist legend, the hare 'offered up its body as a willing sacrifice' and was therefore 'rewarded for its devotion by transmigration to the moon'.]][^4] --- ### Genderless [[Chinese legends render hares genderless; hares fall pregnant by licking new shoots (and give birth by spitting out their young).|‘According to many texts, there are no male hares, and hares become pregnant by licking newly sprung plant shoots: to give birth, she spits the young from her mouth.’]][^5] [^1]: C.A.S. Williams, *[[Williams. 'Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives', 1974.|Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives: An alphabetical compendium of antique legends and beliefs, as reflected in the manners and customs of the Chinese]]*, (Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 1974), p. 220. [^2]: Thomas Hardwicke, ‘Lepus sinensis Hardwicke‘, *Wikimedia Commons*, c. 1833, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lepus_sinensis_Hardwicke.jpg. Licenced: [Public Domain Mark](https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/). [^3]: C.A.S. Williams, *[[Williams. 'Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives', 1974.|Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives: An alphabetical compendium of antique legends and beliefs, as reflected in the manners and customs of the Chinese]]*, pp. 220-221. [^4]: C.A.S. Williams, *[[Williams. 'Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives', 1974.|Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives: An alphabetical compendium of antique legends and beliefs, as reflected in the manners and customs of the Chinese]]*, p. 221. [^5]: Wolfram Eberhard, [[Eberhard. 'A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols', 1986.|A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought]] (London: Routledge, 1986), s.v. ‘Hare’.