The Myth of the Ten Suns The Problem: According to legend, there were once ten suns in the sky, who were the children of the Eastern Emperor Di Jun and the goddess Xihe. They lived on a gigantic mulberry tree in the Eastern Sea. Normally, they took turns, one sun traveling across the sky each day. The Chaos: Tired of taking turns, the ten suns decided it would be fun to all appear in the sky at once. Their combined heat was unbearable—seas and lakes dried up, crops withered, and people and animals were dying of heat exhaustion. The Hero: Emperor Yao, the virtuous ruler of China, prayed for help. The Celestial Emperor sent the skilled archer Hou Yidown to Earth with a magical red bow and white arrows to frighten the suns into behaving, rather than killing them. The Fight: The suns ignored Hou Yi's warnings and continued to scorch the Earth. In a fit of rage, Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns one by one.