Xihe (), was a

solar deity A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The ...

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

. One of the two wives of

Di Jun Di Jun () also known as Emperor Jun is one of the ancient supreme deities of China, now known primarily through five chapters of the ''Shanhaijing'' (Yang 2005, 97). Di Jun had two wives, or consorts: Xihe and Changxi, and Di Jun figures in several ...

(along with

Changxi Changxi () or Changyi () is a Chinese lunar goddess worshiped in the traditional Chinese mythology, Chinese pantheon. Known from ancient times, the earliest historical information on Changxi can be traced back to the ''Classic of Mountains and Sea ...

), she was the mother of ten

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

s in the form of

three-legged crow The three-legged (or tripedalism, tripedal) crow is a Legendary creature, mythological creature in various mythology, mythologies and arts of East Asia. It is believed to inhabit and represent the Sun. Evidence of the earliest bird-Sun motif or to ...

s residing in a

mulberry tree ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

, the

Fusang Fusang () refers to various entities, most frequently a mythical tree or location east of China, described in ancient Chinese literature. In the ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'' and several contemporary texts, the term refers to a mythological ...

, in the East Sea. Each day, one of the sun birds would be rostered to travel around the world on a

carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...

driven by Xihe. Folklore also held that once, all ten sun birds came out on the same day, causing the world to burn;

Houyi Hou Yi () is a mythological Chinese archery, archer. He was also known as Shen Yi and simply as Yi (). He is also typically given the title of "Lord Archer". He is sometimes portrayed as a god of archery descended from heaven to aid mankind. Oth ...

saved the day by shooting down all but one of the sun birds.

Literature

In the poem ''Suffering from the Shortness of Days(苦晝短)'',

Li He Li He ( – ) was a Chinese poet of the mid-Tang dynasty. His courtesy name was Changji, and he is also known as Guicai and Shigui. He was prevented from taking the imperial examination due to a naming taboo. He died very young, and was note ...

of the Tang dynasty is hostile and even deviant towards the legendary dragons that drew the sun chariot as a vehicle for the passage of time. The following is the relevant excerpt of that poem: :"I will cut off the dragon's feet, chew the dragon's flesh, :so that they can't turn back in the morning or lie down at night. :Left to themselves the old won't die; the young won't cry." Wu liang shrine relief depicting xihe, yi, and fusang tree

Wu liang shrine relief depicting xihe, yi, and fusang tree

In the ''

Huainanzi The ''Huainanzi'' is an ancient Chinese text that consists of a collection of essays that resulted from a series of scholarly debates held at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, sometime before 139. The ''Huainanzi'' blends Daoist, Confuci ...

'', the journey of the sun and the attendant of the sun chariot is described: :"The sun rises up from the Bright Valley, bathes in the Pool of Xian(咸), and rests in the Fusang Tree. This is called Dawn Light. :Ascending the Fusang Tree, it thereupon commences its journey. This is called Emergent Brightness. :

hen the sun Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other galliformes, gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway *Hen, Buskerud, a villa ...

reaches the Bent Slope, this is called Dawn Brilliance. :

reaches the Steaming Spring, this is called the Morning Meal. :

reaches the Mulberry Field, this is called the Late-Morning Meal. :

reaches the Balance Beam of Yang, this is called within the Angle. :

reaches Kun Wu, this is called the Exact Center. :

reaches the Bird Roost, this is called the Lesser Return. :

reaches the Valley of Grief, this is called the Dinner Hour. :

reaches Woman’s Sequence, this is called the Great Return. :

reaches the Angle of the Abyss, this is called the Raised Pestle. :

reaches Carriage Stone, this is called the Descending Pestle. :

reaches the Fountain of Grief, it halts; its female attendant rests her horses. This is called the Suspended Chariot. :

reaches the Abyss of Anxiety, this is called Yellow Dusk. :

reaches the Vale of Obscurity, this is called Definite Dusk. :The sun enters the floodwaters of the Abyss of Anxiety; sunrise emerges from the drainage stream of the Vale of Obscurity. :

he sun He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

travels over the nine continents, assing throughseven resting places, overing a distance of507,309 li. :The divisions f its journeymake dawn, daylight, dusk, and night."

References

{{reflist

Literature

See also

References

Further reading