What is the story of Hou Yi and the ten suns?

Long ago ten suns rose into the sky at once, scorching the crops and drying up the rivers. The archer Hou Yi shot down nine of them with his red bow and white arrows, leaving one sun to light the world.

How many suns did Hou Yi shoot down?

Nine. The Han-dynasty commentator Wang Yi says nine suns were hit and the crows that lived inside them fell to earth, so one sun was left in the sky.

Is Hou Yi the husband of Chang'e?

Yes. In Chinese mythology Chang'e is Hou Yi's wife. The Huainanzi says Yi obtained the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West, and Chang'e took it and flew to the moon.

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Chinese myth · VoiceSmiths adaptation · 4:06

Hou Yi Shoots Down the Suns

Ten mischievous suns rise all at once and scorch the earth. The archer Hou Yi climbs the highest peak, warns them first, then shoots down nine.

Narrator

Xihe, the Sun Mother

The Sun Brothers

The Littlest Sun

Emperor Yao

Hou Yi

0:000:00

其他語言版本 · 2 種語言

🇨🇳 中文 🇺🇸 English

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關於這個故事

Hou Yi Shoots Down the Suns is one of China's best-known ancient myths. The Huainanzi, compiled in the 2nd century BC, says that in the time of the sage-king Yao ten suns rose together and scorched the crops, so Yao sent the archer Yi to shoot them; the Han-dynasty scholar Wang Yi, commenting on the poem Heavenly Questions in the Songs of Chu, adds that Yi hit nine and left one. The Classic of Mountains and Seas describes the ten suns bathing beneath the Fusang tree and names Xihe as their mother. This version makes the suns a gang of mischievous brothers and lets Hou Yi warn them before he shoots.

故事告訴我們

Great strength is for protecting others, and Hou Yi tries words before arrows. The littlest sun shows children that rules exist to look after everyone, and that owning up to a mistake earns a second chance.

適合

Ages 4–10

講給孩子聽的小貼士

Speed up as the arrows fly, and let your child count the falling suns with you.
Afterwards, ask: what did the sun brothers do wrong, and why did one sun have to stay?
Follow it with Chang'e Flies to the Moon. In the old stories, Hou Yi is Chang'e's husband.

常見問題

What is the story of Hou Yi and the ten suns?: Long ago ten suns rose into the sky at once, scorching the crops and drying up the rivers. The archer Hou Yi shot down nine of them with his red bow and white arrows, leaving one sun to light the world.
How many suns did Hou Yi shoot down?: Nine. The Han-dynasty commentator Wang Yi says nine suns were hit and the crows that lived inside them fell to earth, so one sun was left in the sky.
Is Hou Yi the husband of Chang'e?: Yes. In Chinese mythology Chang'e is Hou Yi's wife. The Huainanzi says Yi obtained the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West, and Chang'e took it and flew to the moon.