Beijing's Rabbit God Gains Popularity in Year of the Rabbit

As China embraces the Year of the Rabbit, a variety of bunnies have taken shopping malls, craft shops, and social media by storm. And not even 兔儿爷 Tù'eryé, the Rabbit God, is immune. In fact, the Rabbit God has become so popular that one specialty shop situated along Yangmeizhu Byway near Qianmen has sold out of Rabbit God figurines.

This shop is owned by Zhang Zhongqiang, a fifth generation inheritor of 泥彩塑 ní cǎisù, the intangible cultural heritage of making and painting clay figurines.

The thing is, Zhang makes figurines based on a very particular Beijing legend.

The legend of the Rabbit God goes like this: centuries ago, right before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Beijing was hit by a terrible plague. In order to help the city, Chang-e sent her pet rabbit to help combat the disease. Chang-e's rabbit was thanked by being deified by the local residents, with the rabbit being seen as a good luck charm.

This year the orders for Rabbit God figurines have soared, with Zhang's shop seeing crowds of tourists from all over China coming to the store to buy a Rabbit God to bring back home with them. “We were sold out within a few days during the Spring Festival this year" he tells me. "We keep on getting more customers, but we've had to tell them they need to wait a month and a half for us to be able to replenish our supply."

It'd be easy to write off the sudden popularity as having to do solely with the fact that it's a rabbit year in the Chinese zodiac, but Zhang says it goes beyond just this.

“Because it's the Year of the Rabbit, many people are out hunting for rabbit-themed clothes or toys, but another reason has to do with the timing of easing Covid rules. Since everything has reopened, the Rabbit God has become a symbol of good health in the post-Zero Covid era" he explains.

Growing up in a hutong neighborhood, Zhang has distinct memories associated with Mid-Autumn Festival from when he was a child. “Believe it or not, when I was young, the Rabbit God was a rarity because not every household could afford to get these kinds of things for their children. If a child ever got their hands on a Rabbit God figurine during Mid-Autumn Festival, they would instantly become everyone’s favorite.”

Zhang became fond of the figurines when he was younger, and this fondness is what inspired him to open a shop touting Rabbit God and zodiac animal figurines outside the former Xuanwumen Hotel in the 1980s. "Many students from Hong Kong frequented my shop," Zhang remembers. "Looking back, I have to thank them for showing interest in my products. Their interest is one of the reasons I opened my first craft shop in Liulichang."

For Zhang, though, making these figurines isn't just a job. Zhang also teaches crafts classes at an elementary school, with the mission of inspiring a love for local folk art in every child he teaches.

“There was a mother who came with her child to my store earlier this year. She told me that her child still cherished the memories of making a Rabbit God figurine at my store when she was only five-years-old. Her daughter is in high school now, but they decided to visit my store after many years. I frankly didn't remember her, but it felt good knowing the seed I planted in this girl's mind had florished."

In the future, Zhang's dream is to open an interactive museum dedicated to the Rabbit God. He also plans on making a series of subway-themed Rabbit God sculptures. “I want to put each figurine into a blind box and each station can have a different themed Rabbit God so that people can try to collect as many as they want. It's a huge undertaking considering there are more than 1000 subway stations in Beijing, but I've started on a few drafts, so that's a first step."

Old Beijing Tu'erye 老北京兔儿爷 (杨梅竹斜街店)
19 Yangmei Zhuxie Street, Dashilan, Qianmen
前门大栅栏杨梅竹斜街19号

READ: Beijing Bunnies: Famous Beijingers Born in the Year of the Rabbit

Images: Irene Li