Ten Suns- Chinese GroupCollective"Sons of Di Jun"

The Golden Crows

The Ten Suns were born to the sky god Di Jun and the sun goddess Xihe, taking the form of three-legged golden crows, jīnwū, that dwelt in the branches of Fusang, the colossal mulberry tree growing on an island in the eastern sea. Nine perched in the upper branches while one worked. Each morning, Xihe bathed the day's sun-crow in the glowing waters of Tanggu at the tree's base, placed him in her chariot, and drove him from the east across the heavens to the western horizon. The next morning, another brother took his turn. This rotation, one sun per day and nine at rest, structured the ten-day week (xún) that organized time in ancient China and kept the world at the precise temperature life required.

The Day They All Rose

One day, the ten brothers abandoned their rotation and rose into the sky together. Whether from boredom or defiance, all ten golden crows left Fusang's branches simultaneously, and their combined heat was catastrophic. Rivers dried to cracked earth. Crops withered and burst into flame. Forests burned, and strange beasts emerged from the scorched wilderness to prey on the suffering people. The world Xihe had so carefully managed was coming apart.

The archer Houyi climbed to the highest ground, nocked his arrows, and shot the suns from the sky one by one. Each arrow struck a golden crow, and each crow fell trailing fire, its body crashing to earth as a dead three-legged bird. Nine arrows, nine suns destroyed. The tenth survived, because Houyi held his hand, or because someone hid his last arrow, or because even in his fury he understood that one sun was what the world needed. The lone surviving crow continues his daily journey across the sky, no longer taking turns with brothers who no longer exist, carrying the light alone.