Archer Yi and the Ten Wild Suns

Since the universe began, there has existed on the edge of the Eastern Sea, a place known as Tanggu. In that place, there is a tree. Fusang is its name. Fusang is a mighty tree ten thousand rods tall. t its very tip, a !ade cock perches. This celestial bird crows when it is time for each new day to begin and its voice is echoed by other cocks all around the world. In ancient times, the ten sons of the "eavenly #ing $i%&un and his 'ueen (i%"e also lived in this tree. Each morning, the celestial )ueen would harness six !ade dragons to a beautiful chariot. Then she would drive the chariot across the sky with one of her sons seated behind her. In this way, they provided the world with heat and light. Each day a different brother would ride in the chariot. (et after ten thousand years of service, they became weary of their duty. Each son began to grumble whenever it was his turn to light up the vault of the

heavens. *+ur lives are boring,* they lamented, as children will. *,e never have any fun-* +ne day, the brothers decided that enough was enough. Early in the morning, !ust as their mother was hitching up the !ade dragons, they sprang from the tree all at once and rushed out into the sky. 'ueen (i% "e called and waved her arms. She ca!oled and scolded. .ut none of the suns heard her. They were too busy laughing and chasing each other across the sky. (ears passed and the earth was racked by terrible suffering. /ivers dried up and crops withered in the fields. Those people who did not succumb to the heat or die of starvation watched helplessly as fires raged and thirsty monsters crept out of their lairs to prowl the land and drink their fill of human blood. #ing $i%&un was greatly dismayed by the suns0 disobedience and the suffering they caused. "e sent for a celestial being named (i, a member of $i%&un0s court and a mighty warrior. The heavenly ruler bade (i to pursue the suns and bring them back to Fusang. (et $i%&un was an indulgent father who loved his children, so he asked the warrior to avoid using force against the

brothers. The king gave (i a red bow and a )uiver of magical arrows. *If you threaten them with these, my sons will surely see reason,* he said. So (i bade farewell to the court and descended to earth with his wife 1hang%E. ,hen (i saw how parched and desolate the earth had become, he was moved to tears. Especially terrible was the people0s bitter hatred of the ten suns. (i wasted no time in fitting an arrow to his magic bow and drawing it. "e called out to the suns and warned them that he was about to shoot. .ut the brothers were so spoiled, so full of their own power that they merely stared at (i as if daring him to take action. s (i stood there with the bowstring taut, his patience drained away. It was replaced by such a terrible anger that he forgot $i% &un0s orders and released the arrow. It whistled through the air and struck one of the brothers in a shower of sparks. The ill%fated brother weaved through the sky as if drunk before plummeting to earth. (et the nine remaining brothers were not cowed by this. Instead, they became vengeful, spitting tongues of flame at the place where (i stood and 2ooming towards him

as if to reduce the warrior to ashes. So (i nocked another arrow and shot down another of the suns. ,ith two of them gone, the air was noticeably cooler. The people gathered around (i, cheering him on and praising his skill with the bow. ,hen the third sun fell to earth, the remaining brothers at last became frightened. */un,* they shouted to each other. *"e means to end our lives-* .ut the people pleaded with (i. *$on0t spare them- If you do, they will return to wreak havoc once again.* So (i fired until his )uiver was empty and only one sun remained in the sky. The last brother fled to Fusang and hid there for a few days. $uring that time the rains came to fill the rivers and bring life to the parched earth. fter that time, the sun rode )uietly in the back of his mother0s chariot. "e served the people 345 days a year and never again made mischief in the sky. ,hen the people saw that the sun was sincere about his duties, they at last put away their hatred. A Chinese legend transcribed by

Denise Kaisler

kaisler@astro.ucla.edu

Pangu and the Creation of the World

In the beginning there was darkness everywhere, and 1haos ruled. ,ithin the darkness there formed an egg, and inside the egg the giant 6angu came into being. For aeons, safely inside the egg, 6angu slept and grew. ,hen he had grown to gigantic si2e he stretched his huge limbs and in so doing broke the egg. The lighter parts of the egg floated upwards to form the heavens and the denser parts sank downwards, to become the earth. nd so was formed earth and sky, (in and (ang. 6angu saw what had happened and he was pleased. .ut he feared that heaven and earth might meld together again, so he placed himself between them, his head holding up the sky and his feet firmly upon the earth. 6angu continued to grow at a rate of ten feet a day for 78,999 years, so increasing the distance between heaven and earth, until they seemed fixed and secure, 39,999 miles apart. :ow exhausted, 6angu went back to sleep and never woke up. 6angu died, and his body went to make the world and all its elements. The wind and clouds were formed from his breath, his voice was thunder and lightning, his eyes became the sun and moon, his arms and his legs became the four directions of the compass and his trunk became the mountains. "is flesh turned into the soil and the trees that grow on it, his blood into the rivers that flow and his veins into paths men travel. "is body hair became the grass and herbs, and his skin the same, while precious stones and minerals were formed from his bones and teeth. "is sweat became the dew and the hair of his head became the stars that trail throughout heaven. s for the parasites on his body, these became the divers races of humankind. lthough 6angu is dead, some say he is still responsible for the weather, which fluctuates according to his moods.

The Young Man and the Weaver Girl

In the myths and legends which have clustered about the observations of the stars by the 1hinese there are sub!ects for pictorial illustration without number. +ne of these stories is the fable of )uila and ;ega, known in 1hinese mythology as the "erdsman and the ,eaver%girl. The latter, the daughter of the Sun%god, was so constantly busied with her loom that her father became worried at her close habits and thought that by marrying her to a neighbour, who herded cattle on the banks

of the Silver Stream of "eaven <the =ilky ,ay>, she might awake to a brighter manner of living. :o sooner did the maiden become wife than her habits and character utterly changed for the worse. She became not only very merry and lively, but )uite forsook loom and needle, giving up her nights and days to play and idleness? no silly lover could have been more foolish than she. The Sun%king, in great wrath at all this, concluded that the husband was the cause of it, and determined to separate the couple. So he ordered him to remove to the other side of the river of stars, and told him that hereafter they should meet only once a year, on the seventh night of the seventh month. To make a bridge over the flood of stars, the Sun%king called myriads of magpies, who thereupon flew together, and, making a bridge, supported the poor lover on their wings and backs as if on a roadway of solid land. So, bidding his weeping wife farewell, the lover%husband sorrowfully crossed the /iver of "eaven, and all the magpies instantly flew away. .ut the two were separated, the one to lead his ox, the other to ply her shuttle during the long hours of the day with diligent toil, and the Sun%king again re!oiced in his daughter0s industry. t last the time for their reunion drew near, and only one fear possessed the loving wife. ,hat if it should rain@ For the /iver of "eaven is always full to the brim, and one extra drop causes a flood which sweeps away even the bird%bridge. .ut not a drop fell? all the heavens were clear. The magpies flew !oyfully in myriads, making a way for the tiny feet of the little lady. Trembling with !oy, and with heart fluttering more than the bridge of wings, she crossed the /iver of "eaven and was in the arms of her husband. This she did every year. The husband stayed on his side of the river, and the wife came to him on the magpie bridge, save on the sad occasions when it rained. So every year the people hope for clear weather, and the happy festival is celebrated alike by old and young.

Yu the Great Conquers the Flood

(u The Areat, the best loved and best known of several legendary rulers, is now considered to have been an actual person, the first #ing of the Bia dynasty <c C7st %74th centuries .1>. "e is best remembered for his battle against flooding. s the story goes, a great flood inundated the valley of the "uanghe <(ellow> /iver. It covered even the hills, so that the people could find no food. #ing Shun ordered the official (u to control it. (u organi2ed the princes who ruled various localities and the

people in them to cut channels and build other pro!ects to drain the waters away to the sea. "e worked for 73 years before bringing the flood under control. "is betrothed was :u &iao, described as a )uiet and beautiful maiden. ,hile he was busy with his flood controlling work she sent her maid every day to the southern foot of Tushan "ill to wait for him to pass, but he did not appear. So dedicated was he that, though in 73 years he passed her door three times, he did not stop. :u &iao, so the story goes, wrote a song which ranD Waiting for you, the time seems so long... t least an ancient song exists with these words, and people attribute it to her. Finally he came home and they were married. .ut four days later he left again for his engineering pro!ects.

The Ginseng Maiden

*E+ne of the legends about ginseng says thatF many years ago on 6hoenix =ountain in 1hina, ginseng plants grew without medicinal powers. +ne large ginseng plant grew larger and larger until it suddenly transformed itself into a young maiden. +ne day she scurried into the forest to protect her new woodland friends from the torrential rains. She found that they had all become sick from the wetness. The sun then appeared and told the ginseng maiden that there was a very old wise man who lived a long distance from her and could help with special medicines made from herbs. +nce back in her forest, she administered the elixir he made to her friends, and they immediately recovered. She had a small amount left and sprinkled it on a ginseng plant that was suffering from the long dry summer. +nce the ginseng plant absorbed the elixir, it ac)uired strong medicinal powers, and from that day on ginseng became an effective medicinal herb.*