China: Ink drawing of the solar goddess Xihe, from the Chinese text 'Shan Hai Jing', c. 1930

Xihe, Mother of the Suns, was a solar deity from Chinese mythology and Chinese folk religion. Alongside Changxi, she was one of the two wives of Di Jun, God of the Eastern Heaven, and the mother of the ten three-legged sunbirds who lived in a mulberry tree in the East Sea known as the Fusang.

Every day, one of her sunbirds would travel with her on her sun chariot, pulled by a dragon-horse (kirin). Together they would bring light to the mortal world, but one day the sunbirds became restless and mischievous, and all left the Fusang at once. This resulted in great calamity throughout the earth, leading to the divine archer Houyi shooting down all but one of Xihe's errant offspring.

Copyright:

Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Credit:

Pictures From History