Summary
Highlights
The story begins with ten suns, who are brothers, living on a large tree called Fusang in the sea. They took turns ascending to the sky each day with their mother, Seahor, to provide light and warmth to the world. This routine continued peacefully for thousands of years.
One night, tired of their routine, all ten sun brothers decided to fly into the sky together to play before their mother arrived. This collective presence of all ten suns caused a disaster on Earth: extreme brightness and heat, rivers drying up, crops burning, and people suffering.
Alerted to the chaos, the suns' father, Di Chun, became angry and commanded the skilled archer Hou Yi to teach his sons a lesson. Armed with a bow and ten arrows, Hou Yi, accompanied by his wife Chang'e, descended to Earth. Witnessing the suffering, he initially tried to scare the suns, but they ignored him.
To save humanity, Hou Yi began shooting the suns. He shot down the first sun, which transformed into a golden crow. The remaining nine suns panicked. He then shot down four more, bringing the temperature down, but still not enough. Finally, he shot down another four, returning the weather to normal and bringing joy to the people.
As Hou Yi prepared to shoot the tenth and final sun, he found his last arrow missing. Humans had hidden it, pleading with him not to shoot the last sun, as life on Earth would be impossible without it. Thus, only one sun remained, allowing life to thrive.