Character Archive

Myths featuring Xihe

Explore myths where Xihe appears across cultures, conflicts, sacred places, and recurring themes.

3 myths currently featured for Xihe.

The Divine Bird Sun-Crow Carrying the Golden Sun Across the Sky Each Day

🐉 Chinese MythologyEast China Sea, ChinaXihe • Dijun • Hou Yi

In ancient Chinese cosmology, the sun is personified as a divine three-legged crow known as the Jinwu or Yangwu. These celestial birds reside in the mythical Fusang tree in the East Sea, from which they take turns flying across the firmament to provide light and warmth to the world. This cycle represents the eternal balance of the cosmos, though it is most famous for the legend where ten...

The Sun Birds Plummeting to Earth as Three-Legged Crows

🐉 Chinese MythologyKunlun Mountains, Xinjiang, ChinaHou Yi • Xihe • Di Jun

In ancient times, ten sun birds rose simultaneously, threatening to incinerate the Earth with their combined heat. The divine archer Hou Yi was dispatched to the heights of the Kunlun Mountains to save humanity, shooting down nine of the rogue suns. As each arrow struck its mark, the blazing suns transformed into three-legged golden crows and plummeted to the earth, leaving only one sun to...

Houyi Aiming His Divine Bow to Shoot Down Nine of the Ten Scorching Suns

🐉 Chinese MythologyKunlun Mountains, Xinjiang, ChinaHouyi • Emperor Yao • Dijun

When ten sun-spirits appeared simultaneously in the sky, scorching the Earth and bringing humanity to the brink of extinction, the celestial archer Houyi was dispatched to save the world. Using a divine bow and crimson arrows, Houyi ascended the Kunlun Mountains and shot down nine of the suns, which transformed into golden crows as they fell. He spared only the final sun to provide the world...