Every ethnic group in the world has myths about multiple days. Why is it possible that Hou Yi shot the sun in real history?

The sun brings light and hope to people. In the early days of human society, many peoples in the world had myths about the sun. In the early myths of the sun god, the sun was closely related to birds.

1. Golden Crow and Hibiscus Tree

In Greek mythology, the human incarnation of the sun god Apollo is a crow. For the ancient Egyptians, the eagle was the incarnation of the sun god, while in the concepts of North American Indians, the bird (representing the sun) and the snake (representing the earth) combined to give birth to the Indians. The Mayans, who respect the sun god the most, also believe that the crow is the incarnation of the sun god.

Golden Crow

In China, there are many myths and legends about the close relationship between the sun and birds. The most famous one is the myth of Hou Yi shooting the sun. "Huainanzi" records: "In the time of Yao, ten suns came out at the same time, and the vegetation was withered. Yao ordered Yi to shoot upwards for ten days, and nine of the nine crows in the sun died and lost their wings, so he was left alone for one day. ?The image of the sun is the Golden Crow. When the Golden Crow is shot to death, the sun also dies. "Huainanzi" was written in the Han Dynasty, but the concept of the sun as a golden crow had already appeared in the pre-Qin period. It is recorded in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" written in the pre-Qin period: There is a support tree on the Tang Valley. It only arrives in one day and leaves in one day. They are all recorded in Wu. ?An important message is also conveyed here, that is, the habitat of the Golden Crow is the hibiscus tree.

In ancient solar myths, magical trees like fusang were mentioned. The Golden Crow, the incarnation of the sun, lives in a place called Yanggu in the East China Sea. There is a hibiscus tree growing here. This tree is 300 miles high, and the Golden Crow lives on this tree.

Sanxingdui Bronze Divine Tree

In pre-Qin literature, Fusang has other names. It is called "Ruomu" in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", and it is also called like this in "Zhuangzi". In the real world, mulberry trees cannot grow in seawater, so how did the legend of the hibiscus tree come about? According to scholars' research, "Fuso" in the earliest language represents the clouds rendered by the radiance of the sun between the sea and the sky. Because it is shaped like a tree, the ancients imagined it as a sacred tree. As word of mouth passed down from generation to generation, people became more and more convinced that there were hibiscus trees in the sea and that the sun resided here. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, Fuso gradually developed into an oriental place name, and in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Fuso became a synonym for Japan.

The Fusang tree in film and television dramas

2. The historical connotation of Hou Yi shooting the sun

Hou Yi shooting the sun is one of the most famous myths in China. Who was Hou Yi? Is the story of him shooting the sun just a legend? In ancient history, Hou Yi was a Dongyi tribe in the east, which was not the same ethnic group as the Chinese people in the Central Plains. Hou Yi once entered the Central Plains. Around the time of Taikang in the Xia Dynasty, Taikang was immoral and the people were in dire straits. The leader of the Youqiong clan, Yi, led his troops to drive away Taikang. However, Yi thought he was good at shooting and was unrivaled, so he became arrogant and extravagant, so he took the throne. It was quickly taken back by the Xia people.

Hou Yi

Hou Yi shooting the sun actually symbolizes a calendar reform in ancient times. In ancient times, although there were no 10 suns in the sky, there was a 10-month timing system, that is, there were 10 months in a year and 365 days in a year. 36 days were allocated to each month, and the remaining 5 days were leap days. . Under the influence of this concept, people believe that the reason why the cold and heat changes greatly in a year is because there are 10 suns in the sky that govern 10 months respectively. But we all know that after many reincarnations, the world corresponding to the months will change greatly, causing the weather to be inconsistent with the corresponding seasons.

Hou Yi entered the Central Plains to replace the royal family of the Xia Dynasty, and was responsible for the Xia people's administration. The calendar used by the Dongyi people is different from the calendar used by the above-mentioned Huaxia people. They use a lunar month that is roughly equivalent to ours today. In the structure of the myth, Hou Yi shot down 9 suns, leaving only one sun on duty every day.

The descendants shot the sun

But this explanation is also far-fetched and cannot convince everyone. Therefore, some scholars pointed out that Hou Yi shot down Jiu Ri because there were nine rebellious tribes at that time. Hou Yi conquered the nine tribes and restored peace to the world. No matter what the real history is, what is reflected behind the myth of Hou Yi shooting the sun should be that Hou Yi performed revolutionary deeds at that time.

3. Ancient Sun Sacrifice

Despite the legend of Hou Yi shooting the sun, ancient China still worshiped the sun god very much. Chinese emperors of all dynasties have made sacrifices to the sun, which is the so-called "Mid-Spring Festival to the Sun, Mid-Autumn Festival to the Moon".

The ancient Chinese believed that the ancestors of mankind were Fuxi and Nuwa, and scholars believe that the word "xi" in Fuxi refers to the sun. From Fuxi to Taihao, then to Gaoyang, until Huangdi, it can be said that they are all changes in the name of the sun god. In the silk paintings unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in the Han Dynasty, there are images of Fuxi as the sun god and Nuwa as the moon god.

Mawangdui Silk Paintings

The "Chu Ci" also records the early belief in the sun god in southern China. The sun god in Chu mythology is Dongjun. The first four sentences of the article "Dongjun" read: "Tun will come out of the east, and the fusang will shine on my threshold." Fuyu's horse is driving safely, and the night is bright and clear. ?The gods of Chu are personified. Compared to the Sun God of the Central Plains, who is the Golden Crow, Dongjun is a handsome young man who rides on a chariot pulled by six dragons. Dongjun starts from the east along the established track every day, and then goes to the west.

The article "Dongjun" describes the grand scene of worshiping the sun god in Chu. After a grand singing and dancing event, Dongjun slowly appeared in a peaceful atmosphere. The scene was very beautiful.

Fu Baoshi's "Nine Songs Atlas" Dongjun

4. Sun legends of various ethnic groups

There are richer sun myths further south in China . Many ethnic groups in the south have myths or epics about shooting the sun, especially the Miao people who have many myths about shooting the sun.

In the Miao mythology, the king of heaven and the king of earth dug up 9 suns and 9 moons, and the crops withered. The moon hid, and the hero called out the rooster. The general plot of other myths is similar.

Miao Nationality

In the mythology of the Yi nationality, there is another myth of "Burying the Sun". Seven suns appeared in the sky and almost scorched people to death. A hero named Ala carried them on his back. Holding the basket, he picked off the six suns and buried them in the soil.

The sun god in the Naxi area is even more bizarre. The drought demon released 9 suns to work with the original sun. There was a beautiful Yinggu girl in the local village. In order to save the villagers, she took the initiative to go to the Dragon Palace for help. After she traveled over the mountains and ridges to the seaside, she attracted the third prince of the Dragon Palace with her beautiful singing. The two fell in love with each other, and the Dragon King was also very satisfied. He ordered the third prince to follow her back to his hometown to rescue her. Unfortunately, the Third Prince Long was also defeated by the Drought Demon. At this time, a great god passed by and saw the tragic situation, so he ordered a snow dragon to help. After defeating the drought demon, the great god ordered the snow dragon to swallow seven suns, and asked the snow dragon to carry the eighth sun on its back to cool it and place it in the night sky as the moon.

Naxi people

In the legend of the Dulong people, there was a pair of suns, a male and a female, in the sky. A hero shot the male sun out of his eyes, so he could only sleep at night. Come out and be the moon. The female sun hid, and the hunter asked the rooster to call her out every day. After the hunter dies, his soul goes up to the sun and becomes the black dot on the moon that we can see. This myth of "shooting the sun into the moon" is also found among the Gaoshan people. The fact that the moon comes from a sun actually reflects the simple concept of our ancestors that the light of the moon comes from the sun. This is indeed a scientific fact.

Dulong Tribe

There are also legends of shooting the sun in the sun myths of northern peoples, such as the Manchus, Mongols, Tibetans, etc., all have stories of heroes shooting the sun.

Looking around the world, there are also multiple sun myths in India and America. All nations in the world have sun myths. What is the explanation for this phenomenon? This should be a period of great drought experienced by early humans. The ancestors could not explain this phenomenon, so they invariably came up with myths and legends about the sun. This is just like the legends of great floods that exist among all ethnic groups in the world. In China, there is Dayu who controlled the floods, and in the West, there is Noah's Ark. Perhaps the early human beings all experienced a period of flooding at the same time.