The Archer Who Shot Down Nine Suns

In the old Chinese telling, the sky once held ten suns, sons or grandsons of the Jade Emperor. For a long time they behaved, crossing the heavens one at a time, sharing the burden of light. But one day, restless and playful, all ten decided to rise together, and the world below began to burn.

Crops withered, rivers dried, and the people cried out for relief. Emperor Yao, ruler of the mythical age — in some versions it was the Jade Emperor himself — turned to a man known as Hou Yi, called the Lord Archer, sometimes described as a god of archery or a xian sent down from heaven to aid mankind.

Hou Yi first tried words. He appealed to the ten suns to return to their old order, to take turns as before. When persuasion failed, he raised his bow and pretended to shoot, hoping fear alone would scatter them back into rhythm. It did not work. The suns pressed on, indifferent to warning, and the land kept scorching.

So Hou Yi began to shoot in earnest. One by one, the suns fell from the sky, and as each was struck, it transformed into a three-legged crow. Nine suns dropped this way, until only one remained. King Yao and Xihe, the mother of the suns, begged Hou Yi to spare the last one — for without any sun at all, humanity could not survive. In other versions of the story, his final arrow never even flew: it was stolen, either by a brave boy or by Yao himself, who understood that the earth still needed its light.

Hou Yi's bow was not reserved for the sky alone. Yao also sent him after a menagerie of monstrous beasts — Yayu, Zaochi, Jiuying, Dafeng, Fengxi, and Xiushe — creatures that terrorized the people. He killed some, maimed others, and imprisoned what remained, clearing the world of threats no ordinary hunter could face.