Preface: This story, from *Youyang Zazu: Tianzhi* ((酉陽雜俎: 天咫), recounts how a Tang Dynasty scholar, lost in the Songshan Mountains (嵩山), encountered a “moon man 《修月人》” repairing the moon. The character describes the moon as a sphere composed of seven precious materials and suggests that the light and shadow on its surface are caused by the sun’s rays. He then gives the two scholars mysterious food and guides them on their way.
Background: The story’s protagonists are Zheng Renben’s (鄭仁本) cousin (Duan Chengshi (段成式)notes he forgot his name) and a scholar named Wang, not Duan Chengshi himself. • Plot Summary: The two get lost in Mount Song (嵩山) and encounter a white-clad man lying asleep in the grass, using a bundle as a pillow. Upon waking, the white-clad man claims to be one of the “Moon Repairers 《修月人》” and reveals the astonishing statement that “the moon is a sphere composed of seven treasures, and its light is produced by the sun illuminating its convex parts.”
Point of view: The Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) concluded approximately 1,119 years ago as of 2026. How did they know that the moon was a sphere made of seven precious materials? People in the Middle Ages or ancient times generally believed that the Earth was flat, but educated people and scholars knew as early as ancient Greece (around the 5th to 3rd centuries BC) that the Earth was a sphere. This shows that no one knows the details of the moon.
From the Song Dynasty(宋代) to the Ming and Qing Dynasties(明清): Minor adjustments to the text rather than plot modifications. Song Dynasty(宋代) scholars (such as when compiling the Taiping Guangji (太平天國光記)) widely quoted this passage. Subsequent Ming Dynasty(明代) editions, such as the Wang Shixian edition (王世賢本), the Mao Jin Jigu Pavilion edition(毛錦極閣本), and the Qing Dynasty Siku Quanshu edition 《清代四庫全書》, all preserved the core plot of this story without any alterations to the storyline.
These seven dominant elements, which make up about 98% to 99% of lunar rocks, include:
- Oxygen (41% – 45%)
- Silicon
- Aluminum
- Calcium
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Titanium
The remaining 1% to 2% of the Moon’s surface material contains trace amounts of other elements like manganese, sodium, potassium, and phosphorus.
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