The Legend of Hou-Yi and the Ten Suns

1
The Legend of Hou-Yi and the Ten Suns

• English I- Louise S. McGehee School
• 2005
• By JaNét, Shannon, and Michelle
• (Fark.)

2
The Legend

• Long ago, there were ten suns, who were brothers.
  They usually came out one at a time, but
  sometimes they came out in groups. The people in
  China were suffering because the suns were
  scorching the earth, and the wild animals were
  attacking the people, because they could not
  stand the heat (One).

(Hou Yi)
3
The Legend cont..

• The townspeople asked the great archer, Hou-Yi to
  save them. He loaded his quiver with ten arrows,
  climbed Mount Kun Yun, and began to shoot down
  the suns, one by one (One).

(One)
4
The Legend cont

• After Hou-Yi had shot down many of the suns, a
  wise old man quietly hid one of the arrows. He
  knew that having too many suns was bad, but
  having no suns was worse (Chinese).

(Mid-Autumn)
5
Changer
(Chang-Er.)
After Hou-yi shot down the suns, he received an
immortality elixir from the Great Mother of the
West. She told him to wait for about a year
before giving it to Changer. Changer grew
impatient and obsessed with immortality, so she
drank the elixir too soon and flew to the moon.
She now lives on the moon as the Moon Fairy. She
is represented by a rabbit, which was believed to
help her fly to the moon (Wang).
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Other Legends

• Others believed that Hou-Yi and his wife were
  actually gods who came down to save the people of
  the village from the terrible heat (Hou).
  
  

(DnDCC.)

• They say that after Hou-Yi shot down the suns, he
  became so full of himself that the other gods
  punished him to live as a mortal. After this,
  his wife got angry, drank an immortality potion,
  and flew to the moon (Hou).

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Kun-Lun Mountains
(Photo Gallery 4.)

• The Kun-Lun mountains are a mountain range in
  China.
• They are the home of the Great Mother of the
  West
• (Mid-Autumn).
• No one before Hou-Yi had successfully climbed the
  mountain.
• Before reaching the top, one has to go through
  horrible storms and freezing weather (Balsanek).

8
The Legend in China Today

• In China there is a festival called the
  Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival. It takes
  place on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month
  (August). At the festival, people gather to look
  up at the moon when it is supposedly at its
  biggest and brightest in the night sky. They
  also eat moon cakes.

(Mid-Autumn) (Wang)
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Similar Myths

• Hou-Yi and Changer, a couple who represents the
  sun and moon, are very similar to the Greek god
  Helios, the god of the sun, and the goddess of
  the moon, Selene (Helios sister.)
• Other moon goddesses are Artemis and Hecate.
  (McCabe Selene).
• Another mythological husband and wife who are two
  very different subjects are the Greek god,
  Uranus, and the goddess, Gaea. Uranus is the sky
  and Gaea is the earth. (McCabe GAEA).

(Bergeron)
10
Works Cited

• Balsanek, Kristy. The Legend of the Mid-Autumn
  Festival. World Wise Schools- Students. Peace
  Corps. 11 January 2005. lthttp//www.peacecorps.g
  ov/ wws/students/folktales/festival.htmlgt.
• Bergeron, Joe. Artemis. Joe Bergerons Art,
  Astronomy, and SF Site. Joe Bergeron. 26
  October 2004. 11 January 2005.
  lthttp//homepage.mac.com/joe bergeron/artemis.
  htmlgt.
• Chang-Er chines moon goddess. Casa Cenina.
  Casa Cenina. 6 January 2005.lthttp//www.casacenin
  a.com/catalog/ product_info.php?products_id306gt.
• Chinese Fable Changer Flew to the Moon.
  Sample Chinese Fable Chang'er Flew to the Moon
  Worksheet. edHelper. 5 January 2005.
  lthttp//www.edhelper .com/ReadingComprehension_Geo
  graphy_23_1.htmlgt.
• DnDCC magic_item. 6 January 2005.
  lthttp//www.fapse.ulg.ac.be/lab/COG/staff/fs/tiles
  /web/magic_item/potion2.jpggt.
• Fark.com. 3 January 2005. Fark.com. 4 January
  2005. lthttp//forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.p
  l?IDLink875499gt.
• Hou Yi and Changer. Legends of China. 2004.
  Chinatown Online. 4 January 2005.
  lthttp//www.chinatown-online.co.uk/
  pages/culture/legends/index.htmlgt.
• McCabe, Walter. GAEA The Earth Goddess.
  Walter McCabes Little Piece of the Web.
  Walter McCabe. 11 June 2004. 11 January 2004.
  lthttp//waltm. net/gaea.htmgt.
• McCabe, Walter. Selene, the moon goddess.
  Walter McCabes Little Piece of the Web. Walter
  McCabe. 11 June 2004. 11 January 2005.
  lthttp//waltm.net /selene.htmgt.
• Mid-Autumn Festival in China. HELLO online.
  National Association of Teachers of English. 5
  January 2005.lthttp//www.hello-online.ru/content.p
  hp?contid 1340gt.