Yellow Millet Dream

The legend has it that one night when Lü Yan was in Chang'an or Handan,
he dozed off as his yellow millet was cooking in a hotel.
He dreamed that he took the imperial exam and excelled,
and thus was awarded a prestigious office and soon promoted to the position of vice minister.
He then married the daughter of a prosperous household and had a son and a daughter.
He was promoted again and again, and finally became the prime minister.
However, his success and luck attracted jealousy of others, so he was accused of crimes that caused him to lose his office.
His wife then betrayed him, his children were killed by bandits, and he lost all his wealth.
As he was dying on the street in the dream, he woke up.

Although in the dream, eighteen years had passed, the whole dream actually happened in the time it took his millet to cook.
The characters from his dream were actually played by Zhongli Quan in order to make him realize that one should not put too much importance on transient glory and success.
As a result, Lü went with Zhongli to discover and cultivate the Dao/Tao.
This dream is known as "Dream of the Yellow Millet" (Huang Liang Meng) and is described in a writing compiled by Ma Zhiyuan in Yuan Dynasty.

Image source: Wikimedia The frescoes about a Chinese ancient fable: Huangliangmeng (Yellow Millet Dream)   commons.wikimedia.org

Image source

It is of a young Chinese scholar, Chu, who went with a friend for a stroll in the mountains. There they chanced on the ruins of a temple, where among the broken walls an old monk had established his hermitage. Catching sight of the two arriving, the old fellow, adjusting his robe, came toddling forward to show them around.

There were some statues of the immortals, as well as, here and there on the remaining walls, a number of lifelike paintings of people, animals, and flowery scenes. Both Chu and his friend were enchanted, and particularly so when, high on one of the walls, they noticed the view of a pretty little town with a lovely girl standing in the foreground, holding flowers in her hands. Her hair was down, which meant that she was unmarried, and Chu no sooner saw her than he was lost altogether in love. His imagination was holding him to the lovely smile on her lips, when, before he knew it – by the power of the foxy old monk, who thought to teach him a lesson – he was there in that little town street himself, and there too was that lovely girl.

She gladly greeted him and led him to her home. And they became engaged immediately in a passionate affair of love that went on for several days. Her friends, discovering them living that way together, laughed and teased and said to her, “Oh, oh! And your hair is still down?” They brought enabled hairpins, and when her hair had been nicely put up, poor Chu was more in love with her than ever. However, a day came when there was heard out in the street a very frightening noise of voices, rattling chains, and heavily tramping boots, which brought them to their window, and they saw a company of imperial officers coming to scout out unregistered aliens. The terrified girl told Chu to hide, which he did. He hid beneath the bed. But then, on hearing a still greater commotion outside, he leaped out from under and, rushing to the window to look, felt his sleeves suddenly fluttering and found that he had passed right out the picture and was coming down through the air to his friend and the old monk below. The two were standing where all three had been but a few brief moments before; and when Chu, coming down, rejoined them, both he and his friend were amazed. They turned to the monk for an explanation.

“Visions are born and die in those who behold them,” he said simply. “What can an old monk say?” But he raised his eyes, and they theirs, to the picture. And what do you know? The girl’s hair was up.

Chang'e Flying to the Moon 嫦娥奔月

There are many tales about Chang'e, but there's well-known story regarding the origin of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. In a very distant past, ten suns had risen together to the heavens, thus causing hardship for the people. The archer Yi shot down nine of them and was given the elixir of immortality as a reward, but he did not consume it as he did not want to gain immortality without his beloved wife Chang'e. However, while Yi went out hunting, Fengmeng broke into his house and forced Chang'e to give up the elixir of immortality to him, but she refused to do so. Instead, Chang'e drank it and flew upwards towards the heavens, choosing the moon as residence to be nearby her beloved husband. Yi discovered what had transpired and felt sad, so he displayed the fruits and cakes that his wife Chang'e had liked, and gave sacrifices to her.

Space travel - The Search for Chang'e

Image source: Wikimedia Chang'e Flying to the Moon

April moon'梅月嫦娥图'扇页
Painted by Fei yi-geng/ Zhang xiong《梅月嫦娥图》扇页，清，费以耕/张熊绘，金笺，设色，纵17.9cm，横52.8cm

Image source: www.dpm.org.cn   bbs.artron.net  

The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl 牛郎織女
Artwork in the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace, Beijing depicting the reunion of the couple on the bridge of magpies颐和园长廊上的彩绘：牛郎织女鹊桥会

The general tale is about a love story between Zhinü (織女; the weaver girl, symbolizing Vega) and Niulang (牛郎; the cowherd, symbolizing Altair). Their love was not allowed, thus they were banished to opposite sides of the Silver River (symbolizing the Milky Way). Once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month (七夕 Chinese Valentine's Day), a flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite the lovers for one day. There are many variations of the story. The earliest-known reference to this famous myth dates back to over 2600 years ago, which was told in a poem from the Classic of Poetry.

The tale of The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd has been celebrated in the Qixi Festival in China since the Han dynasty. The story is now counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales, the others being the Legend of the White Snake (Baishezhuan), Lady Meng Jiang, and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The tale has been alluded to in many literary works. One of the most famous one was the poem by Qin Guan during the Song dynasty:

"鵲橋仙"
纖雲弄巧，飛星傳恨，銀漢迢迢暗渡。 金風玉露一相逢，便勝卻人間無數。 柔情似水，佳期如夢，忍顧鵲橋歸路。 兩情若是久長時，又豈在朝朝暮暮。

"Meeting across the Milky way"
Through the varying shapes of the delicate clouds, the sad message of the shooting stars, a silent journey across the Milky Way, one meeting of the Cowherd and Weaver amidst the golden autumn wind and jade-glistening dew, eclipses the countless meetings in the mundane world. The feelings soft as water, the ecstatic moment unreal as a dream, how can one have the heart to go back on the bridge made of magpies? If the two hearts are united forever, why do the two persons need to stay together—day after day, night after night?

Left: The Moon of the Milky Way (Ginga no tsuki) Japanese Painting of "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl 牛郎織女" by Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年 (1839-1892)
Right: The original wall painting and modern illustration of "Cowherd and the Weaver Girl 牛郎織女"
GoTo Koguryo Kingdom/Tokhung-ri Tomb
    Top: The Koguryo-era wall painting depicting "Cowherd the Weaver Girl" inside the famous Tokhung-ri Tomb (Deokheung-ri Tomb 德興里古墳), built in 408 ce, located in Nampho, North Korea.
    Bottom: The modern painting illustrating the above wall painting.

Tanabata (The Story of Orihime and Hikoboshi)

Tanabata Story by Katsuhiko Funzaki舟崎克彥/Eimori Eimori二俁英五郎
Image sources: Amazon.co.jp   Multiple sources  

Tanabata (七夕, meaning "Evening of the seventh"), also known as the Star Festival, is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi (七夕) Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime (織り姫) and Hikoboshi (彦星) (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively). According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar.

On Tanabata, people write wishes on small pieces of colored paper called tanzaku (短冊) and hang them on bamboo branches.. These become beautiful wish trees. On the following day, the decorated trees are floated on a river or in the ocean and burned as an offering. There are many celebrations all over Japan, which also include parades, food stalls, colorful decorations, and fireworks.

Tanabata is the story of two lovers. Princess Orihime, the seamstress, wove beautiful clothes by the heavenly river, represented by the Milky Way. Because Orihime worked so hard weaving beautiful clothes, she became sad and despaired of ever finding love. Her father, who was a God of the heavens, loved her dearly and arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi, the cow herder who lived on the other side of the Milky Way. The two fell in love instantly and married. Their love and devotion was so deep that Orihime stopped weaving and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to wander the heavens.

Orihime’s father became angry and forbade the lovers to be together, but Orihime pleaded with him to allow them to stay. He loved his daughter, so he decreed that the two star-crossed lovers could meet once a year--on the 7th day of the 7th month if Orihime returned to her weaving. On the first day they were to be reunited, they found the river (Milky Way) to be too difficult to cross. Orihime became so despondent that a flock of magpies came and made a bridge for her. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies will not come, and the two lovers must wait another year to be reunited, so Japanese always wish for good weather on Tanabata. There are many variations of this story, but this version is the most widely held.