There are many stories that are associated with the Mid Autumn festival; in this article, you will read about the amazing story of 吴刚 the woodcutter.
The story of 吴刚 starts off as any other, a typical man earning an honest wage, but always wanting more. 吴刚 was a woodcutter who was tired of doing the same thing every day and had a longing desire to become immortal.
However, the emperor did not like 吴刚 due to his lousy attitude; 吴刚 had a condition called chronic laziness. When 吴刚 came to the emperor to ask to become immortal, the Jade Emperor decided to teach 吴刚 the lesson of a lifetime. The Jade emperor planted a cherry bay tree on the moon and sent 吴刚 up to the moon to chop it down. He then promised 吴刚 that after he finished chopping the tree down, that he would be immortal.
With all the excitement, the Jade Emperor “forgot” to tell 吴刚 that the tree was magical. The tree would constantly regenerate, leaving the tree impossible to knock down. As 吴刚 attempted to cut down the tree to become an immortal soul, he hacked day after day and it never fell; it is said that on Mid Autumn Festival, you can see and hear 吴刚 continuously hacking at the tree trying to make his way to an immortal being. Due to the fact that the tree never actual falls, you can say that the Jade Emperor’s task was really the lesson of a lifetime.
As you worship the moon on Mid Autumn festival, right along side 吴刚 you may see 嫦娥, the goddess of the Moon and the Jade Rabbit. Happy celebrating!
In class on Friday, I was in a group, and we were assigned to retell this exact story to the class. However, my group performed a slightly different version of the story, in which Wu Gang meets a teacher in the mountains, who tries to teach him multiple things, such as healing, Chinese chess, and the secret to gain immortality. However, he is very lazy, and gives up all three times. Finally, his teacher sends him to the moon to chop down the healing tree, which regenerates, so in a way he did reach immortality. This story is quite different from the version my group retold, but it has the same lesson regardless. It’s interesting to see how the same story can be interpreted and retold in many different ways. Great article!
I find the lesson taught to 吴刚 suited 吴刚 pretty well. A woodcutter by profession, bored of cutting wood, gets offered immortality if he can cut down a single tree. What he didn’t realize is the tree would never be cut down. Therefore, he would spend the rest of his life chopping the wood, something he highly dislikes. Since he didn’t have the right attitude, the emperor gave 吴刚 an impossible assignment. Great article!
星期五在班里我们的队也有表演这个故事。描述了吴刚听说有一棵树如果被砍的话会掉金子。吴刚然后就叫了一个马车拉他去了那棵树。结果确实是有掉金子，然后他就不停的砍，怎么砍也砍不完。
Nice article Dylan! Whenever I see this story I can’t stop laughing because all I remember when I see this is the class skit we had to do. However, something I didn’t know about this story was the fact that 吴刚 wasn’t told that the tree was magical. I always thought that he kept chopping the tree because the tree gave him wealth and he was so greedy that he never stopped chopping the tree. I guess you learn something new everyday.
Wow this is a very interesting tale! It’s funny how the Jade Emperor “forgot” to tell 吴刚 about the tree being able to constantly regenerate. It’s also ironic that by trying and failing to cut down the tree throughout the years, 吴刚 is technically immortal! He just didn’t get to enjoy his immortality the way he thought he would. In addition, with 吴刚 being so lazy, I have to give props to him for trying so hard to cut it down! I guess he thought that the gift of immortality was worth all the work.
Amazing job with the article, Dylan! (Thanks again haha.) It’s super ironic how 吴刚 – who was once characterized as lazy – is insistent on trying to chop down the tree. I guess that goes to show how selfish humans are. I know there are different versions of this story. In one version, 吴刚 continues to chop the tree because the tree grants him wealth. It’s fascinating how the same story can be told in such a variety of ways. I suppose some things change when stories are orally past down generations!
吴刚的惩罚是无穷无尽的，一课无论怎么砍也砍不完的树，这也正是对这种贪婪之人的一种惩罚吧？
Interesting article, Dylan. It’s so cool to see how all these stories connect. The Mid Autumn Festival has many tales to tell, and it’s so interesting to see how one story impacts another. For example, when Wu Gang displayed a bad attide, he was forced to cut down a regeneraing tree. But, he was replaced by the Jade Rabbit, who made the mistake of letting the immortality pill end up in Hou Yi and Chang’e’s hands. Nice work!
Great article! It is nice to read about Wu Gang after learning about all the moon stories in class. My group had this story, and I actually played Wu Gang. The fact that Wu Gang spend eternity trying to cut down a tree that can’t be cut down is very funny but has a deep meaning as well. This was the first time that I have heard about Wu Gang, but I think that it should be shared more often. It is an interesting story and I will tell it to all my friends.
awesome and interesting article! wow i never even heard of these stories but they seem so interesting! and i love how they convey messages and lessons. but i found it kind of harsh how the emperor played a joke on the wood cutter keeping him busy for a lifetime.
hhahah i can’t believe that chronic laziness is an actual illness. I think that if Wu Gang was actually so lazy, he would eventually stop hacking at the tree. This story actually reminds me of Prometheus from Greek Mythology! Different cultures have such interesting and similar stores. Nice article, Dylan!
This was such a funny article. I thought that when you are lazy it was because the person doesn’t want to do anything but it’s an actual illness. The emperor was kinda harsh since he was playing jokes on the woodcutter for keeping him busy for his whole entire life.
吴刚伐树的故事我们在周五上课的时候刚刚有小组演绎过，这也是个关于月亮的成语故事。月亮在中国通常代表美好的象征，这个故事是少数不多的有写出关于月亮的另一面。对于吴刚来说，在月亮上是一种惩罚。象征着孤独，孤寂
People can’t be too greedy. If you want to be immortal, you must work hard on your own. If you are tired of doing things every day, this helpless attitude will make you farther and farther away from the people you want to do. The Emperor Jade Emperor is very good because he can educate him.
这个故事告诉我们做人不能太贪，事不能做的太过，否则就很有可能落得吴刚这样的下场
I find the Jade Emperor’s task for 吴刚 to be somewhat cruel. 吴刚 was a typical man who cut trees, but was tired of his job and wanted to become immortal. When 吴刚 asked the emperor to become immortal, the emperor sent 吴刚 up to the moon to chop down a tree. After he finished chopping the tree, the emperor promised 吴刚 to become immortal. However, he did not tell 吴刚 that the tree was impossible to cut down. Yes, 吴刚 did not have the right attitude about his job, but this means nothing if 吴刚 was an honest man. He definitely does not deserve to cut down a tree for the rest of his life.
我记得在周五的课上，我们的group演了吴刚伐木。这是一个经典的成语故事。这个成语故事告诉我们做人不能太懒也不能太贪心。我记得从小时候我的父母就经常给我将这些经典的成语故事，并且在讲完故事以后会给我讲它的道理。但是我当时还小，不明白其中的道理，但是长大以后再看就很能明白这个道理了。并且时时刻刻的提醒自己做人不能太兰也不能太贪心佛则总有一天会吃亏。
This story was very entertaining. I find that many of these old Chinese stories always end with someone suffering for all eternity. It seems that the punishment for the character’s laziness was too harsh. A less severe punishment, such as making him pay a fine, is more suitable to the case. Is it inferred that the man does gain immortality since he is still trying to chop down the tree?
In class, my group presented this story and the plot was so interesting. I think that the symbolic message that this tale is conveying is very important and different. This story teaches us that greed and laziness will lead to a lifetime of punishment. I think that Chinese stories are very unique and can teach us all important life lessons. Wu Gang is just one example of this. Thank you for sharing!
This is a very interesting story. All the Mid-Autumn Festival stories revolve around the idea of immortality which is very fascinating. This story also shows the Chinese values of the cleverness of the Jade Emperor who gave a very suitable punishment to someone who was too lazy but expected too much. Thanks for retelling the story Dylan as I haven’t heard of this story before.
This story about 吴刚 was very interesting and also a little bit funny. I really liked the short and sweet nature of the story. I also never would have expected that The Mid Autumn festival was based on this one story of a lumberjack. I also thought the use of words like “chronic laziness” made the article a bit humorous. The story also taught the lesson that you should be happy with what you have instead of always trying to gain more.
This story was very entertaining. I acted out this scene in class and had lots of fun doing it and learned a lot. This story goes into much more depth, thank you for informing me of this!
I love reading stories and legends like this. They are all so unique and interesting. This reminded me of the skit we had to do in class and it made me laugh. I feel like this story taught me a very valuable lesson. Great article, I look forward to more.
I just came from the article about the Jade Rabbit. It seems that the story of Wu Gang here the story of Wu Gang there are different. But this is to be expected with retellings of folk stories again and again. I like hearing about the various versions! Interesting how some view Wu Gang as the former medicine maker, and others as a lousy human. Good article, Dylan!
Great article Dylan! This story preaches an important lesson: to not take what you are given for granted. He already had a fulfilling life, but he wanted even more. These lessons are often taught in many cultures through various stories. A story with similar punishment as Wugang’s was the tale of Sisyphus. His punishment was to push a boulder up a hill, but every time it reached the top, it would roll back down. This is just like Wugang’s punishment of having to cut down a tree, only to have it regenerate again.
It is always great to read moon stories for the upcoming Mid Autumn Festival. Although the story is funny and entertaining, it has a more deep and meaningful lesson behind it, just like all other Chinese stories. It teaches us how we should never be lazy and greedy in life. Instead, you should be appreciative towards the things you already have. This is the first time I have heard of this story and I will be definitely pass it on!
This is such an amazing story. Even though I am chinese I have never been told this story. I love how it teaches us the consequences of being lazy and the clever trick the emperor played. However I do have one question. If the tree kept regenerating why didn’t he stop? After all he is lazy and he should have learned by now the tree was immortal. All in all though a great story.
I heard this story this Friday in class where we shared this story together. I really like this story, where wu gang is the main character who is lazy and greedy who wanted immortality but don’t want to work for it and his is punished to forever chop the tree of life. This tell us to work hard and take what you get. This really inspires me to work hard and stay humble. I would like to read more of these.
This article was very interesting because I never heard this version of the story. In this version, Wu Gang was sent right away to chop down the tree. In the version I know from class, Wu Gang’s teacher first tried to teach him other things, then sent him to chop down the tree. I think this story teaches people to always work hard for what they want. Wu Gang was very lazy and wouldn’t work to become immortal, so he was punished forever.
This was a really great article! I have heard of this story before, but i haven’t heard of this version. It is really cool to hear about this version about how he will never stop chopping this tree because of his greed. I believe that this story can teach many people to control their actions and greed. Therefore Wu Gang is punished forever to chop the tree.
Cool article Dylan! I just read a similar article about the story of Wu Gang, and this seems to go more in depth about Wu Gang. For instance, this story talks about if Wu Gang was able to chop down the tree, he would be granted immortality. These punishments are very interesting because of how they revolve around either being immortal or being related with the moon. I wonder why majority of the stories are related with one of these two ideas. To me, these stories are very interesting and entertaining; thus, I hope to read more stories like these.
有的人正如吴刚一样懒惰而贪婪，这些人就应该得到惩罚。故事里的吴刚一辈子就只能在月亮上砍树。现实中的懒惰之人，也是只能一辈子坐着平庸的工作。由此可见，中国的小故事都带有一定的教育意义。除了这个故事以外，嫦娥奔月，后羿射日一样能展现中华文化的魅力。
做人不能懒惰更不能贪婪。没有人能够一步登天。如果你想走捷径如同吴刚最后的结果可能是一辈子的后悔。玉帝实现了吴刚的梦想让他长生不老可也惩罚了吴刚让他感受了无期限惩罚。所以做人要一步一步脚踏实地努力了就会有结果。
小组在星期五演出的故事非常精彩！为我制造了一个想去了解这个故事的契机。仔细了解后，吴刚伐木变成了我最喜欢的故事之一，读这个故事总让我想起我自己。月亮是美好的，但是学到的一些有关月亮的故事却让我感到悲伤。很多的结局都是给予了人们惩罚。
So there’s another side to the story of the Mid-Autumn festival? That’s quite the story to leave out. Well, “chronic laziness” can’t really be that serious, but this was interesting nonetheless. This kinda makes me wonder about the stories behind other Chinese festivals, and if they leave something out. I guess if there is, this website will find out.
Great article. I loved how you told the story. You made it very interesting and fun to read. We went over this in class but this really helped me understand the story. The moral of the story is amazing. People should not be greedy and lazy like 吴刚. I also feel like its really cool that people say you can see 吴刚 in the moon.
Great article. I loved how you told the story. You made it very interesting and fun to read. We went over this in class but this really helped me understand the story. The moral of the story is very deep and everyone can learn from it. People should not be greedy and lazy like 吴刚. I also feel like its really cool that people say you can see 吴刚 in the moon.
This is a great article You made this very interesting to read and comprehend. The lesson on this story is very out there and very easy to pick up. The tree is impossible to knock down. This means that in the chinese culture trees are very strong. This also means that they hold a great place in the mid autumn festival. This article does a great job of describing the mid autumn festival.
Nice article. I remember when I see this is the class skit we had to do. However, something I don’t understand about this story was the fact that the magical tree and Wu Gang were both on moon. I don’t understand how Wu Gang managed to fly to moon. Also, Wu Gang kept chopping the tree because the emperor will grant him wealth and immortality, but the tree can regenerate forever!!! I guess you learn something new everyday. Smarter Everyday 🙂
Wow what a great article. You told the story in a very interesting way. It is a great story about morals, and how one should not be greedy just like 吴刚 was. I love Chinese folk tales because they allow people from all different cultures to learn about things that are common to all of us. In American culture, there aren’t many tales like these, so they are both entertaining and teach good values.
其实这种惩罚对吴刚是好的，中国还有很多这种故事，有兴趣的话你也可以去了解一下
Nice article Dylan! I’ve never heard about this story, but it’s pretty interesting. I found it funny that the emperor “forgot” to tell Wu Gang that the tree constantly regenerates. I also found it interesting that Wu Gang was diagnosed with “chronic laziness”. The part about when he was chopping down the tree teaches us about man’s greediness. Keep up the great work!
Great article! I have heard of this story before but I haven’t really paid attention to it. The fact that 吴刚 is punished but he doesn’t realize it and he doesn’t stop cutting the tree shows his determination of becoming immortal. I think that 吴刚’s punishment seemed worth it to me because he doesn’t seem as lazy anymore. I hope he learned his lesson!