Chinese Mythology · Heroic epic / seasonal legend
Hou Yi Shoots the Suns and Chang'e Flies to the Moon
He shot down nine suns and saved the world — yet could not keep the wife who took the elixir of immortality and flew to the Moon Palace.
Stories and legends
In the time of Yao, ten suns rose together, scorching the grain, killing the grasses and trees, while fierce beasts — Zaochi, Jiuying, Dafeng, Yayu, and Xiushe — ran rampant and the people had nowhere to hide. Yao sent Yi to slay Zaochi in the wilds of Tiaohua, kill Jiuying at the Ferocious Waters, fetter Dafeng at Qingqiu, shoot the ten suns, kill Yayu, and cut down Xiushe at Dongting. Yi climbed Mount Kunlun, drew his bow and shot in succession; nine three-legged golden crows fell, the myriad people cheered, and Yao ordered him to leave one sun for the everyday sky. After his feat, Yi obtained the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West and entrusted it to his wife Chang'e for safekeeping. His disciple Pangmeng (also written 蓬蒙/逄蒙） took advantage of Yi's absence to force Chang'e to hand over the medicine; in desperation Chang'e swallowed it, her body grew light, she passed through the window and flew upward. She had meant to fly to the Heavenly Palace, but missing her husband she landed instead on the moon, the place nearest to the human world, and took up residence in the Guanghan Palace (Palace of Vast Cold), with only the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine and Wu Gang felling the cassia tree for company (one early account, in Zhang Heng's Ling Xian （灵宪） and other early records, says that Chang'e first turned into a toad upon reaching the Moon Palace — quite different from the beauty of later tradition). Yi returned home in utter grief and set out in the courtyard the fresh fruits and honeyed foods Chang'e loved, offering them to her from afar — the people imitated him, and so began the custom of worshipping the moon at Mid-Autumn. The hero saved the world but could not save one person's reunion; that is exactly why this story has endured for a thousand years.
Origins of the story
The shooting of the suns is found in the Huainanzi · Benjing Xun （本经训）, which cites Yao sending Yi to shoot the ten suns; the flight to the moon is found in fragments of the Guicang （归藏） and in the Huainanzi · Lanming Xun ("Heng'e steals the medicine"); silk paintings from the Han-dynasty Mawangdui tombs in Changsha depict Chang'e and the moon toad. The association between the "nine suns" image in the Jiangjun Cliff rock paintings in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, and the sun-shooting myth is scholarly conjecture (a hypothesis). Sheyang County built its Hou Yi cultural narrative on the local tradition that Hou Yi shot the suns and Chang'e flew to the moon in connection with the area — a local legend / claim submitted for recognition, with no pre-Qin text directly identifying Sheyang as the place of the shooting.
Customs
In the tradition of Mid-Autumn moon worship, an incense table is set facing the moon, and mooncakes are offered first and shared afterwards; do not use broken or incomplete offerings, and do not point a finger directly at the moon (in many places there is an admonitory folk belief for children that "pointing at the moon gets your ear cut" — a folk saying); pears are avoided among sacrificial offerings (a homophone for "separation," a custom in some regions); when admiring the moon, do not frolic or take photos in front of another household's altar and steal the scene.
Places you can visit
Hou Yi Park / Hou Yi–themed cultural venues in Sheyang, Yancheng, Jiangsu (local culture-and-tourism facilities whose exhibitions centre on the local sun-shooting narrative); Mid-Autumn folk scenes across the country — moon worship, burning pagodas, fire-dragon dances; the National Museum of China and Hunan Museum (replicas / originals of the Mawangdui silk paintings in special exhibitions). Mid-Autumn activities are as officially announced each year.
Image source · Shajinss · CC BY-SA 4.0