Hou Yi Shoots Down the Suns (Campfire Story)

Long, long ago, there wasn't just one sun in the sky. There were ten. The ten SUNS were brothers, the sons of the Emperor of Heaven, and they lived in a giant mulberry tree at the eastern edge of the world. Every day, one of them would take a turn crossing the sky, while the other nine rested in the branches.

But one morning, the ten SUNS got bored with taking turns. 'Let's all go together!' said the eldest. 'It'll be fun!' And up they rose, all ten at once.

It wasn't fun for anyone on Earth. With ten SUNS blazing in the sky, the rivers dried up. The crops shriveled. The rocks grew so hot they cracked. People hid in caves, and animals panted in the shade, and the whole world began to burn.

The Emperor of Heaven called for his greatest archer. His name was HOU YI, and he could shoot a sparrow out of the air from a mile away. 'Go down to Earth,' said the Emperor, 'and scare my sons into behaving. But do not hurt them.'

So HOU YI came down to Earth with a red bow and a quiver of white arrows. He shouted up at the SUNS, 'Stop this! Go back to taking turns!' But the SUNS only laughed at him and blazed hotter.

Then HOU YI looked around him, at the dry rivers and the burned fields and the people crying for water. And he made up his mind. He drew back his bowstring and let fly. HOU YI! The arrow struck the first sun, and it burst into sparks, and fell to Earth as a three-legged golden crow.

He drew again. HOU YI! A second sun fell. And again. And again. One after another, the SUNS fell from the sky, until there were nine golden crows lying on the ground, and the air began to cool.

Hou Yi reached for one more arrow. But a wise old man grabbed his arm. 'Stop! If you shoot the last one, the world will freeze in darkness forever!' Hou Yi lowered his bow. The last sun, terrified, raced across the sky and has crossed it, once a day, all by itself, ever since.

The people of Earth cheered Hou Yi as a hero. But the Emperor of Heaven was heartbroken and furious that nine of his sons were gone. 'You may never return to Heaven,' he told Hou Yi. 'You and your wife will live on Earth, and grow old, and die like everyone else.'

Hou Yi's wife was named Chang'e, and she was as kind as she was beautiful. Hou Yi didn't want her to suffer for what he had done. So he journeyed far to the west, to the Queen Mother of the West, who gave him a single pill of immortality. 'Take half each,' she said, 'and you'll both live forever on Earth. But if one person takes it all, they'll rise up to Heaven.'

Hou Yi brought it home and gave it to Chang'e to keep safe. But one night, while Hou Yi was away, one of his students broke into the house to steal it. Chang'e had no time to think. Rather than let the thief have it, she put the whole pill in her mouth and swallowed it.

At once, she began to float. Out the window, over the rooftops, up past the clouds, higher and higher. She didn't want to leave her husband behind on Earth, so she stopped at the closest place to him that she could find. She stopped on the MOON.

When Hou Yi came home, he found her gone. He looked up, and there she was, a tiny figure on the bright full MOON. He set out her favorite fruits and sweet cakes in the garden, as an offering, to show her he still loved her.

And that's why, every year at the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the MOON is fullest and brightest, families in China go outside, and eat mooncakes, and look up. Some say that if you look closely, you can still see Chang'e up there, with a little white jade rabbit to keep her company.

Storyteller tips: try this on a night with a full moon, and point it out at the end. Pairs well with Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow and William Tell and the Apple for an archery-themed campfire.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, usually in September or early October.